James Bond 007 #[4]

8 months after Tracy's murder, M shakes Bond out of his depression with what he calls the "most important" mission of his life. Info from the CIA has slowed to a halt, and M wants to get his hands on "Magic 44"-- a Japanese decoding device. To do this, Bond must get into the good graces of Tiger Tanaka, head of the Japanese Secret Service. With the help of "Dikko" Henderson, Bond slowly becomes friends with Tiger, who passes on info that helps prevent the Russians from performing nuclear blackmail against England & the US. Tiger then asks a favor in exchange for the machine. A European, Dr. Shatterhand, has, with the blessing of the government, set up a botanical garden for rare plants from all over the world. However, he's stocked it with poisonous plants, man-eating fish, snakes, scorpions, spiders, effectively turning the place into a "Garden Of Death". In only 8 months' time, over 500 people have gone there to commit suicide! This is an embarrassment to the government, but as Shatterhand has broken no laws, Tiger asks Bond to go in and KILL him. Disguising Bond as a Japanese, and giving him some ninja training, Tiger takes Bond to Kuro, an "ama" island of pearl-diving girls, to recruit Kissy Suzuki, an ex-movie star who can guide Bond thru the dangerous currents. Bond discovers Shatterhand is really Blofeld-- the man who killed his wife-- but doesn't tell Tiger, as now, it's personal! Blofeld has set up his castle with the idea of blackmailing the Japanese government into paying him 10 million pounds so he'll leave! But he's also paranoid, and suspects the Japanese may be planning to stop him. Bond & Kissy sneak into the castle, but are caught. His cover blown, Bond fights Blofeld one-on-one, leading to a horrible demise for the villain. His wife, Irma Bunt, closes the outlet for a volcanic geyser, causing the entire castle and all within to be blown to smithereens. Bond & Kissy escape by balloon-- but Bond receives a head wound, and suffers amnesia. Kissy has fallen in love with Bond and doesn't want him to leave, and Tiger sends "Magic 44" to M-- along with the news of Bond's death. Mention is made of a friend of Bond who's published a series of books about him almost accurate enough to violate the Official Secrets Act. Mary Goodnight is sent to Jamaica on a new assignment. Kissy reveals to the Shinto priest that she's with child... but Bond believes he has some connection with Russia-- and goes there in search of the truth about himself.

Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).