EXTRACTS: The Modesty Blaise Companion Expanded Edition © 2018 The Book Palace (425 PAGES in Full edition)

T H E M O D E S T Y B L A I S E C O M P A N I O N I I 384 TARRANT, Sir Gerald (continued) “MODESTY BLAISE” P 1 He has been given responsibility for the security of the ten million pound consignment of diamonds to be paid to Sheik Abu-Tahir of Malaurak for an oil concession. The diamonds are to be sent by sea from Cape Town to Beirut and he is concerned at rumours that they are to be stolen en route. By giving Modesty information that enables her to save Willie’s life he puts her in his debt, one she is more than willing to both acknowledge and repay. However she still makes him separately request Willie’s help before they enter the fray. He provides Modesty with Paul Hagan, one of his best agents, but becomes alarmed when she and Willie abandon Hagan and appear to be making a criminal comeback. They behave as if they intend to steal the diamonds themselves. Disabused and brought up to date by Modesty he is able to keep a watching brief so that when the major international criminal Gabriel steals the diamonds he is able to arrive in the nick of time, with Sheik Abu-Tahir and his men, to help Modesty and Willie recover the loot. “SABRE TOOTH” P 24 Suspects the very obviously risible Free Kuwait Government may be a cover for something rather more sinister. He has become increasingly alarmed at the disappearance of a number of well known mercenary soldiers from circulation. Discusses his hunch with Modesty and Willie and is gratified when they take him seriously and agree to put themselves in line for recruitment as mercenaries. When Fraser visits them in Tangier he is doped and they disappear. When he learns that the orphan child they take care of has also vanished he is convinced they have been coerced. When his Minister refuses to take seriously the brief but vital message Modesty has managed to get to him he gives the information to her friend John Dall who uses his influence to initiate action by the U.S. government. When he learns the full story of what Modesty faced to get the message to him he sets about the removal of his Minister. Relieved when his fears Modesty may resent his inability to support her prove unfounded. Drawn by John Burns TARRANT, Sir Gerald (continued) His position has provided him with a number of contacts and counterparts in similar departments in the world wide but exclusive security community. The closest of these is René Vaubois the head of the Deuxième Bureau in Paris with whom he and his department have had dealings over many years. There exists a strong bond of mutual respect between them. Both men have also had dealings in the past with The Network. These were usually handled by Willie on behalf of Modesty. With The Network now disbanded and both Modesty and Willie comfortably rich and apparently retired he has assessed that Modesty will not be satisfied with her new quiet life. When he is faced with a problem that she is uniquely qualified to deal with, he contrives an excuse that will enable her to undertake it for him. He quite deliberately becomes the deus ex machina that precipitates her new, post Network, career. His relationship with Modesty, initially formal and businesslike, develops into one of deep mutual friendship and respect, verging upon that of father/daughter surrogates for them both. As a widower who lost both his sons in the Second World War, the new relationship is very important to him. While of necessity completely ruthless in his professional capacity, he shows an increasing reluctance to involve Modesty in his operations. As a young man he was a fencer of international standard and represented his country in the sport. He is a member of Rand’s Club and smokes Punch-Punch claro cigars. He features in all of the novels, several short stories and over half of the strip stories. He appeared in the very first strip published in the Evening Standard (Modesty did not appear until Strip No. 2) and is one of the most important and influencial characters in the story of Modesty Blaise. Drawn by Jim Holdaway