A GLASGOW academic is flying to France this week to argue that James Bond is as big a star as Tintin.

Dr Lawrence Grove, of the University of Glasgow, is to deliver a lecture to an international Bond conference - 2(007) - comparing the British Secret Service agent to France's favourite comic-strip hero.

Dozens of academics from around the globe are gathering in Paris in an attempt to encourage the French to appreciate the finer points of Scot Ian Fleming's famous literary creation.

And Dr Grove is on a mission to explore links between two of his favourite topics.

The lecturer said: "I see a lot of cultural similarities between Tintin and Bond, which I intend to highlight - Tintin is just James Bond without the girls.

"I was very flattered to be asked to speak, especially as so many distinguished academics will be attending."

The 41-year-old is a senior lecturer in French but wrote his PhD thesis on the exploits of Tintin and his pet dog Snowy, created by Belgian Georges Remi - known as Herge - and other comic strips such as Goscinny and Uderzo's Asterix the Gaul.

Organisers of the conference hope to show that Bond is a credible subject for study and his creator Fleming is an author of world importance.

Scholars will debate Bond's influence on everything from British identity to capitalism, food and relationships.

Researcher Vincent Chenille said: "Bond is a cultural phenomenon and it is worth asking ourselves how this character has managed to cross so many political time zones and remains with us today."

Although Bond movies are popular in France - more than 2.5 million people turned out to see the latest, Casino Royale - Fleming's novels have never made the bestseller lists there.