# Yaroslav Horak

Yaroslav Horak (12 June 1927 – 24 November 2020) was an Australian illustrator and comics artist, of ethnic Czech-Russian origin, best known for his work on the newspaper comic strip James Bond.

## Biography

Yaroslaph (Yaroslav) Horak was born on 12 June 1927 in Harbin, China, the son and second child of Joseph Horak, a Czech-born engineer, and Russian mother, Zanidia. He and his older sister, Josephia (Josephine), grew up in the suburb of Novyi Gorod and attended the YMCA International School. In 1939, his family migrated to Sydney, Australia following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and prior to World War II. They settled in Centennial Park, where he attended St Mary's Cathedral College and subsequently undertook evening art classes at the Sydney Technical College.
He began his career as a portrait painter but switched to illustration for the larger Australian magazine publishers. In 1948 Horak's first accepted comic strips were for Rick Davis (a detective adventure) and The Skyman (a mysterious costumed flyer) in 1948. He then moved to Syd Nicholls' Publications where he worked on Ray Thorpe (an adventure series) and Ripon – the Man from Outer Space (sci-fi). Horak also did comic strips for a number of other Sydney publishers, before he moved to Melbourne where he drew Brenda Starr for Atlas Publications. In 1954 he created The Mask – The Man of Many Faces and an adaptation of the popular children's TV program Captain Fortune for Fairfax publications The Sun-Herald between 1957–1962 and Mike Steele – Desert Rider for Woman’s Day magazine.
Horak then moved to England in 1962, where he also drew adventure stories for D. C. Thomson of Scotland, the scripts being supplied by others. He was the second artist, taking over from John McLusky, for the Daily Express strip James Bond from 1966 to 1977, then for the Sunday Express and the Daily Star from 1977 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1984. In total Horak worked on 33 James Bond comic strips sequences.
Horak also created the comic series Jet Fury, in addition to working on other comic strips such as Andrea, Cop Shop and Sergeant Pat of the Radio Patrol.
Horak also achieved a degree of popularity during the 1960s when he was employed by Fleetway Publications (later IPC Magazines) to contribute art for 11 of their comic books in the War Picture Library and Battle Picture Library series.
Horak died on 24 November 2020 at the Whitehall Aged Care facility in Lindfield, New South Wales, after a decade-long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. He was cremated at the Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium on 4 December 2020.

## War Picture Library

* WPL 214 Rough Justice 1963
* WPL 303 Death Or Dishonour 1965
* WPL 304 Battle Drill 1965
* WPL 315 Cross For Courage 1965
* WPL 323 Passage Of Arms 1966
* WPL 648 The Curse 1971
* BPL 156 The Savage Sands 1964
* BPL 173 The Stronghold 1964
* BPL 190 Killers Code 1965
* BPL 197 Gun Crazy 1965
* BPL 231 Victory Cry 1965

### James Bond strips

| Title | Writer | Published date | Serial no. |
| The Man with the Golden Gun0 | Jim Lawrence0 | 10 January 1966 – 9 September 1966 | 1-209 |
| The Living Daylights | Jim Lawrence | 12 September 1966 – 12 November 19660 | 210-263 |
| Octopussy | Jim Lawrence | 14 November 1966 – 27 May 1967 | 264-428 |
| The Hildebrand Rarity | Jim Lawrence | 29 May 1967 – 16 December 1967 | 429-602 |
| The Spy Who Loved Me | Jim Lawrence | 18 December 1967 – 3 October 1968 | 603-815 |
| The Harpies | Jim Lawrence | 10 October 1968 – 23 June 1969 | 816-1037 |
| River Of Death | Jim Lawrence | 24 June 1969 – 29 November 1969 | 1038–1174 |
| Colonel Sun | Jim Lawrence | 1 December 1969 – 28 August 1970 | 1175–1393 |
| The Golden Ghost | Jim Lawrence | 21 August 1970 – 16 January 1971 | 1394–1519 |
| Fear Face | Jim Lawrence | 18 January 1971 – 20 April 1971 | 1520–1596 |
| Double Jeopardy | Jim Lawrence | 21 April 1971 – 28 August 1971 | 1597–1708 |
| Starfire | Jim Lawrence | 30 August 1971 – 24 December 1971 | 1709–1809 |
| Trouble Spot | Jim Lawrence | 28 December 1971 – 10 June 1972 | 1810–1951 |
| Isle Of Condors | Jim Lawrence | 12 June 1972 – 21 October 1972 | 1952–2065 |
| The League Of Vampires | Jim Lawrence | 25 October 1972 – 28 February 1973 | 2066–2172 |
| Die With My Boots On | Jim Lawrence | 1 March 1973 – 18 June 1973 | 2173–2256 |
| The Girl Machine | Jim Lawrence | 19 June 1973 – 3 December 1973 | 2257–2407 |
| Beware Of Butterflies | Jim Lawrence | 4 December 1973 – 11 May 1974 | 2408–2541 |
| The Nevsky Nude | Jim Lawrence | 13 May 1974 – 21 September 1974 | 2542–2655 |
| The Phoenix Project | Jim Lawrence | 23 September 1974 – 18 February 1975 | 2656–2780 |
| The Black Ruby Caper | Jim Lawrence | 19 February 1975 – 15 July 1975 | 2781–2897 |
| Till Death Do Us Apart | Jim Lawrence | 7 July 1975 – 14 October 1975 | 2989-2983 |
| The Torch-Time Affair | Jim Lawrence | 15 October 1975 – 15 January 1976 | 2984-3060 |
| Hot-Shot | Jim Lawrence | 16 January 1976 – 1 June 1976 | 3061-3178 |
| Nightbird | Jim Lawrence | 2 June 1976 – 4 November 1976 | 3179-3312 |
| Ape Of Diamonds | Jim Lawrence | 5 November 1976 – 22 January 1977 | 3313-3437 |
| When The Wizard Awakes | Jim Lawrence | 30 January 1977 – 22 May 1977 | 1-54 |
| Sea Dragon | Jim Lawrence | 1977 | 55-192 |
| Death Wing | Jim Lawrence | 1977-1978 | 193-354 |
| The Xanadu Connection | Jim Lawrence | 1978 | 355-468 |
| Shark Bait | Jim Lawrence | 1978-1979 | 469-636 |
| Snake Goddess | Jim Lawrence | 1983-1984 | 822-893 |
| Double Eagle | Jim Lawrence | 1984 | 894-965 |