Gretta was a intelligence operative and the girlfriend of the spy Mike Channing. The character served as an ally and Bond girl in the James Bond comic strip, Trouble Spot, which ran in The Daily Express newspapers between December 28, 1971 and June 10, 1972.
Biography[]
Gretta (surname unknown) was the girlfriend of a spy named Mike Channing. Armed with thigh-holstered pistol and frequently changing her surname, she was herself implied to have a shady intelligence background. She was intimately familiar with Channing's activities behind the Iron Curtain; including the existence of a mysterious box which he had brought back with him. Channing left the box with his wife, Folly Wilde, in Belluna, California, before departing on an ill-fated mission that ended with him imprisoned in Poland. After his escape, Gretta awaited him at a hotel in the French Riviera. However, she was met instead by James Bond, who had assumed the man's identity after his untimely demise in a traffic accident outside Paris.
The pair decided to cooperate - united by their common goal of obtaining the Box. She remained in the hotel while Bond went to meet with a mysterious contact, "S", and was subsequently abducted from the room. "S" was revealed to be Soviet agent, Baron Sharck, who quickly recognised 007 and attempted to extract the location of the Box from him by threatening to torture the girl. Fortunately, her kidnapping drew the attention of the local police; creating an opportunity for the pair to escape. With Gretta's assistance, Bond confirmed that the trail led to Channing's wife and the pair departed for California by plane. They were followed by Sharck's men; one of whom attempted (and failed) to co-opt Bond's assistance by a phoney poisoning attempt.
Arriving in Belluna, California, the pair asked around for Mrs Channing and determined that she was hiding in a nearby nudist resort; Camp Heliotrope. Gretta persuaded Bond to once again pose as Mike Channing in a bid to enlist the assistance of his visually-impaired wife (whose sight had only recently been restored). After he successfully gained Folly's confidence, the mistrustful Gretta forcefully tagged along; concerned that Bond might cut her out of the deal. Together, they travelled to a coastal cave where Folly hid the Box - unaware that Sharck and his men had followed them with a homing device. A tense, armed standoff ensued. As night fell, Gretta impatiently betrayed 007 - holding him at gunpoint, taking his sidearm and the Box. As she ran, she was mowed down by gunfire from Sharck's men before she could high-dive from the cliff. With her dying breath, she had a change of heart and used her remaining strength to throw back Bond's pistol.
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