You Only Live Twice
| Publisher: |
Daily Express |
| Released: |
18th May 1965 to
8th January 1966 |
| Serial: |
#0275 to #0475 (Series Two) |
| Artist: |
John McLusky |
| Writer: |
Ian Fleming, Henry Gammidge |
Data Stream
| Villains: |
Dr. Guntram Shatterhand (Ernst Stavro Blofeld), Irma
Bunt, Kono, Kazama |
| Bond Girls: |
Kissy Suzuki, Mariko |
| Allies: |
Tiger Tanaka, Richard Henderson, Kannushi, M, Bill
Tanner |
| Locations: |
London, Tokyo, Fukuoka (Japan), Kuro (Japan), the
Garden of Death. |
|
|
Above: Tiger Tanaka transforms James
Bond with a Japanese appearance so he can work without being
noticed.
|
Capsule Synopsis
The Japanese secret service have created a machine capable of
cracking Soviet coded messages, and James Bond is sent to retrieve
the "Magic 44" technology for Britain in return for
performing a favour to the Japanese government. A mysterious outsider
has created a "Garden of Death" that is attracting an
increasing number of suicides, which the Japanese government is
determined to put a top to. When Tiger Tanaka, head of the Japanese
secret service, reveals to Bond the true identity of the elusive
Dr. Shatterhand, Bond has his chance to take revenge for Tracy's
death.
Above: The opening panel of "You
Only Live Twice" |
Above: James Bond unwittingly calculates
the precise length of Blofeld's trap door. |
|
Source To Strip
"You Only Live Twice" was Ian Fleming's penultimate
novel, and lovingly describes Japanese culture and the surroundings
James Bond finds himself in. But due to the graphic format,
writer Henry Gammidge cuts back on most of the prose, deciding
to focus on the central plot of the novel. Blofeld is portrayed
in a similar vein to the criminal mastermind of previous
strip adventures - with his plan to blackmail the Japanese
government.
Fleming's novel moves quickly over the "death"
of James Bond, but the strip incarnation spends a while
lingering over the routines that Tiger Tanaka and M go through
whilst concluding the case.
|
Best Line
Bond: "Now bring on the twelve she-devils and if they're all
as beautiful as Fraulein Bunt... We'll get Noel Coward to put it
to music and have it on Broadway by Christmas. How about it?"
Trivia
"You Only Live Twice" was the last strip adventure McLusky
and Gammidge worked on together, and the final cell in the story
was drawn by Yaroslav Horak, who would team up with writer Jim
Lawrence to continue the series with "The Man With The Golden
Gun".
MI6 Rating
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