Modesty Blaise

Modesty Blaise
Cover of the first US printing of the
Modesty Blaise novel
Author(s) Peter O'Donnell
Illustrator(s) Jim Holdaway, Enrique Badia Romero, John M. Burns, Patrick Wright, Neville Colvin, Dan Spiegle, Dick Giordano
Current status / schedule Finished
Launch date 13 May 1963
End date 7 July 2002
Syndicate(s) Hall Syndicate (1966-1967)
Los Angeles Times Syndicate (1976-1980)[1]
Genre(s) Adventure

Modesty Blaise is a British comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by author Peter O'Donnell and illustrator Jim Holdaway in 1963. The strip follows Modesty Blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talents and a criminal past, and her trusty sidekick Willie Garvin. It was adapted into films in 1966, 1982, and 2003, and from 1965 onwards eleven novels and two short story collections were written.

Fictional character biography

In 1945, a nameless girl escapes from a displaced person (DP) camp in Kalyros, Greece. She remembers nothing from her short past and wanders through post-World War II Mediterranean, the Middle East, and regions of North Africa, where she learns to survive the hard way. She befriends Lob, another wandering refugee who is a Jewish Hungarian scholar from Budapest. He gives her an education and a first name: Modesty. Sometime later Modesty creates her last name, Blaise, after Merlin's tutor from the Arthurian legends.[2] When Lob dies is unclear, other than it being prior to her going to Tangier. In 'The Xanadu Tailisman' it is mentioned that Modesty has left Lob at a village to recover from a wound; she goes alone to sell a car tyre. In 1953 she takes control of a criminal gang in Tangier from Henri Louche and expands it into an international organization called the Network.[3]

During the years that she runs the Network she meets Willie Garvin. Despite his desperate lifestyle, she sees his potential and offers him a job. Inspired by her belief in him, he pulls through as her right-hand man in the Network and becomes Modesty's most trusted friend. Theirs is a strictly platonic relationship, based on mutual respect and shared interests. He always calls her "Princess", a form of address only he is allowed to use. Other members of the Network call Modesty "Mam'selle" (as in the French term "Mademoiselle" or "Miss"). Though their relationship has no sexual element, it is Modesty's various lovers who feel jealous of Garvin, rather than the other way around – as he is the only man who remains part of her life, while lovers come and go. By the same token, some of Willie's girlfriends are initially jealous of Modesty, before in some cases – such as Lady Janet – coming to understand how the dynamic between them works.

She obtains British nationality by marrying and divorcing an Englishman in Beirut; the husband (James Turner) dies a year later of alcoholism. Having made a point of not dealing in secrets belonging to H.M. Government, when she feels she has made enough money, she retires and moves to England and Willie Garvin follows suit. Bored by their new lives among the idle rich, they accept a request for assistance from Sir Gerald Tarrant, a high-ranking official of the British Secret Service. This is where the story really begins, although it is treated differently in the first comic strip and the first book. (See note in Differences between Comic Strip and Books, below.) Modesty's fortune is estimated at 500,000 pounds as of 1963. She lives in a penthouse in London overlooking Hyde Park, and also owns a villa in Tangier and a cottage two miles from Benildon, Wiltshire. She is 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm) tall and weighs 120 lbs (54 kg) as revealed in La Machine.

Many of her adventures are based on capers in which she and Willie Garvin become involved as a result of their association with Tarrant. However, they may also help perfect strangers or fight various eccentric villains in exotic locations of their own volition if the cause fits their values; "ghosts" from their Network past also emerge to haunt them from time to time. Although Modesty and Willie will not hesitate to kill if necessary, they avoid deadly force whenever possible, often relying upon their extraordinary physical combat and weapons skills. There are many occasions in the comic strip and novels where the two decide ahead of time whether to use deadly force ("for keeps") or less-lethal methods ("for sleeps") depending on the level of the perceived threat.

A dumbbell-shaped yawara stick, or "kongo" as it is called in the Modesty Blaise books and comic strips

In Willie and Modesty's fights there is a great emphasis on unarmed combat and unusual weapons. Modesty's weapon of choice is a "kongo" or yawara stick and as for firearms she begins by preferring the Colt .32 revolver and Mab Brevete .32 ACP auto pistol, although in later books she switches to carrying a Star PD .45 auto pistol. Willie's preferred weapon is the throwing knife, of which he usually carries two. Many other strange weapons (such as the quarterstaff, épée, blowgun, and sling) and unexpected fighting techniques are also featured.

In keeping with the "floating timeline" spirit of other long-running comic strip and literary characters, Modesty and Willie generally do not age over the decades, with Modesty always being depicted as being in her late twenties and Willie eight years older. The only exceptions to this rule occur in the comic strip origin story, "In the Beginning" and in the 1996 short story collection Cobra Trap, the final Modesty Blaise book, which contains five stories that take place where Modesty's age moves from 20 to 52 (approximately), and the 2003 film My Name Is Modesty, which is a prequel depicting Modesty in her late teens. In an essay written for Myths for the Modern Age: Philip José Farmer's Wold Newton Universe (Win Scott Eckert, ed., MonkeyBrain Books, 2005), author Chuck Loridans contributes an article entitled "The Daughters of Greystoke" wherein he posits that Modesty is the daughter of Tarzan and La of Opar.

Comic strip

Having conceived the idea after a chance meeting with a girl during his wartime service in the Middle East,[4] O'Donnell elected to work with Jim Holdaway, with whom he had worked on the strip Romeo Brown, after a trial period of collaboration with Frank Hampson, creator of Dan Dare, left O'Donnell dissatisfied. Modesty Blaise debuted in the London Evening Standard on 13 May 1963.[3] The strip was syndicated among a large number of newspapers ranging from the Johannesburg Star to the Detroit Free Press, the Bombay Samachar, The Telegraph (Calcutta, India), The Star (Malaysia), The West Australian (Perth) and The Evening Citizen (Glasgow, Scotland).

After Jim Holdaway's sudden death in 1970,[5] the art of the strip was provided by the Spanish artist Enrique Badía Romero.[6][7] Eight years later, Romero quit to make time for his own comics projects, and after short attempts by John Burns[8] and Patrick Wright, Neville Colvin drew the strip until 1986.[9] Then Romero returned to the job and continued until the end of the strip.

The strip's circulation in the United States was erratic, in part because of the occasional nude scenes, which were much less acceptable in the US than elsewhere, resulting in a censored version of the strip being circulated. (Modesty occasionally used a tactic that she called the "Nailer," in which she appeared topless, distracting the bad guys long enough to give Willie or herself a chance to incapacitate them.) An example of this censorship appears in the introduction to the 2007 Titan Books reprint volume Death Trap, which illustrated two segments of the story arc, "The Junk Men" that were censored by the Detroit Free Press when it published the strip in 1977;[10] in both cases a screen was drawn over scantily clad images of Willie and Modesty. Reportedly, O'Donnell did not approve of the changes, although they were made by the artist, Romero.[11]

The final Modesty Blaise daily comic strip, #10183. Unlike the printed version, the original art appears without the word balloons. The gist of the dialogue is that Modesty and Willie plan to unearth a treasure (the one left buried at the end of the book A Taste for Death) and anonymously donate it to the Salvation Army, and to take a break from adventuring. The final exchange at sunset: Modesty says, "NO VILLAINS, NO VICTIMS, NO BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS ... WE'LL TAKE A LITTLE BREAK, WILLIE LOVE, JUST YOU AND ME." Willie replies, "BEST BIT OF ALL, PRINCESS."

The final Modesty Blaise strip ran in the Evening Standard on 11 April 2001.[3] Some of the newspapers that carried the series, feeling that it had become a tradition for their readers, began running it again from the beginning. O'Donnell, to give Romero some additional work, gave the artist permission to adapt one of his short stories ("The Dark Angels") as a comic that was published in the Scandinavian anthology magazine Agent X9 in 2002, later being reprinted in the US in a special issue of Comics Revue.

From 1 December 2008, the Evening Standard, which had stopped including comic strips for some time, republished La Machine, using the original artwork. Following a change of ownership of the paper, they did not continue with subsequent stories.

Strip numbering

The ordinary strips are consecutive numbered from 1 to 10183. Outside this numbering are the two newspaper stories "In the Beginning" and "The Killing Ground" and the two comic book stories "Modesty Blaise" and "The Dark Angels".

Outside the ordinary numbering is also an amount of A-strips. An A-strip has the same number as the previous strip but followed by an A. They were used on days when not all the newspapers running Modesty Blaise were published. An A-strip is not vital for the continuity of the story and is often just supplementing the previous strip.

The first A-strip was 194A and was published during Christmas 1963 in Scottish newspapers.

Since December 1974, The Evening Standard has not been published on Saturdays. So, since then, and the story "Cry Wolf", a sixth of the strips have been A-strips and have not had their premiere in The Evening Standard.

A single strip is numbered with an X suffix, e.g., strip number 3641X, and is similar to the A-strips.

Reprints and comic book adaptations

Many reprint editions of the comic strip have appeared over the years, of varying quality. Most reprint the earliest strips, with strips from the 1980s and 1990s being the least-often reprinted.

In Sweden the strip has been in continuous distribution since 1969 in a monthly comic adventure magazine called Agent X9 (after the existing Modesty comic magazine Agent Modesty Blaise, started in 1967, was merged with the X9 magazine). Many of O'Donnell's stories premiered here (translated into Swedish), and the magazine continues to run a Modesty Blaise story every month, from the archives. When the daily strip was discontinued, artist Romero was given permission by O'Donnell to do a final Modesty Blaise story directly for Agent X9 magazine. The two-parter was published in 2002 and based on an unused script by O'Donnell entitled The Dark Angels, which O'Donnell had previously adapted for the short story collection Cobra Trap. Romero has for the past years also contributed with original painted covers for the Agent X9 magazine.

In India[12] Modesty has acquired a huge fan base and the stories have been published in various magazines starting in 1971. Modesty was featured in Kalki Magazine (1971), Kumudam Magazine (1972), Muthu Comics (1975), Lion Comics (1984 to date), Rani Comics (1990–2002) & Comic World (1998) in the Tamil language. They were also published in English in Spectrum Comics (1985–1986). Though other magazines stopped/ceased publishing Modesty Blaise, Lion Comics continues to publish her stories regularly. Considering the medium, certain images from the stories were edited to make them suitable for child readers.

One of the earliest reprints in book form occurred in 1978 when Star Books—an imprint of WH Allen Limited—published two paperback-sized compilations of the Holdaway-era stories: 1) "In the Beginning", "The Black Pearl", and "The Vikings", and 2) "La Machine" and "The Long Lever". These reprints suffered from poor reproduction that rendered many panels illegible.

Between 1981 and 1986, Ken Pierce Books Inc. of the United States, in conjunction with Eclipse Comics, published eight volumes of comic book-sized reprints dubbed the First American Edition series. The first four books featured Holdaway-illustrated stories from the 1960s, while the last four featured strips from the early 1980s as illustrated by Neville Colvin. These books also suffered from reproduction problems that resulted in many panels being reprinted too light, making them difficult to read.

In 1994, DC Comics released a graphic novel adaptation of Modesty Blaise (the novel), with art by Dan Spiegle and Dick Giordano ( ISBN 1-56389-178-6).[13]

Manuscript Press published two volumes of late-1980s Romero strips in 2003 (Live Bait and Lady in the Dark); it also published all of the stories not reprinted elsewhere in serialised form in its magazine publications Comics Revue and Modesty Blaise Quarterly, the former of which, as noted above, also published The Dark Angels for the first (and, to date, only) time in English. Comics Revue is continuing to reprint Modesty Blaise strips as of 2015, although a planned reprint of The Dark Angels in autumn 2014 was cancelled just before publication when the copyright holders withdrew permission.

The American magazine Comics Revue also continues to reprint the strip, and remains to date the only publisher to have released an English-language version of The Dark Angels.

Titan Books Old Series 1985 to 1990

Between 1984 and 1990, Titan Books of England published eight volumes of reprints of strips featuring art by Holdaway and Romero, covering the period 1963 to 1974. All of the covers were drawn by John M. Burns.

№TitlePublished DateISBNArticles
 OT1The Gabriel Set-UpJanuary 1985 978-0-907610-37-3Introduction by Peter O'Donnell
 OT2Mister SunOctober 1985 978-0-907610-48-9"Modesty Blaise Bloopers" by Peter O'Donnell
 OT3The Hell MakersAugust 1986 978-0-907610-58-8"Modesty Blaise The Film" by Peter O'Donnell
 OT4The Warlords of PhoenixMarch 1987 978-0-907610-74-8Introduction by Peter O'Donnell; photo of Jim Holdaway at work
 OT5Death of a JesterJuly 1987 978-0-907610-91-5Introduction by Peter O'Donnell; photo of Romero and "Dark Angels" script
 OT6The Pupper MasterOctober 1987 978-1-85286-009-7Introduction by Peter O'Donnell and reminiscences about his early work
 OT7The Iron GodNovember 1989 978-1-85286-026-4Introduction by Peter O'Donnell
 OT8Uncle HappyOctober 1990 978-1-85286-328-9Introduction by Peter O'Donnell

Titan Books New Series 2004 to 2017

Beginning in March 2004, Titan launched a new series of reprint volumes. These new versions use larger images and reportedly come from better source material than the editions published between 1984 and 1990, and the series has gone far beyond the mandate of the original run. The reprints continue to be published at a rate of one or two per year, more than 10 years after their launch.

As well as an introduction to each story by Peter O'Donnell (books 1 to 16), Lawrence Blackmore (books 17 to 24), Simon Ward (book 25), Rick Norwood (book 26), Rebecca Chance (book 28), and Daphne Alexander and Kate McAll (book 30), most books include articles about the series. The individual story introductions are absent from books 27 and 29.

So far, the new Titan series has reprinted the full run of the Holdaway years, the full run of Romero's first tenure, the short spells of John Burns and Pat Wright, and the full run of Neville Colvin. In October 2017, Titan completed its reprints of the entire newspaper strip run with the final stories from Romero's second tenure. It is not yet known if the company has the rights to reprint "The Dark Angels", a graphic novel-length story that was published in a European magazine after the retirement of the original strip, or the 1994 graphic novel adaptation of the first Modesty Blaise novel published by DC Comics.

№TitleYearISBNArticles
 T1The Gabriel Set-Up2004 978-1-84023-658-3"Blaise of Glory" Pt 1 by Mike Paterson and "Girl Walking" by Peter O'Donnell
 T2Mister Sun 978-1-84023-721-4"Blaise of Glory" Pt 2 and "Modesty Maker" Pt 1, an interview with Peter O'Donnell
 T3Top Traitor 978-1-84023-684-2"Blaise of Glory" Pt 3 and "Modesty Maker" Pt 2
 T4The Black Pearl 978-1-84023-842-6"Modesty's Sisters – The Madeleine Brent Novels" Pt 1 and "Modesty Maker" Pt 3; includes examples of Frank Hampson's rejected artwork.
 T5Bad Suki2005 978-1-84023-864-8"A Few Words about a Man I Never Met" about Jim Holdaway by Walter Simonson and "Modesty's Sisters" Pt 2
 T6The Hell Makers 978-1-84023-865-5"Modesty Blaise Doesn't Go To America" by Max Allan Collins, "Jim and Enric" by Peter O'Donnell, Holdaway's illustrations for the "Pieces of Modesty" book, and Pt 1 of a 1973 Comic Media interview with Peter O'Donnell by Nick Landau and Richard Burton
 T7The Green-Eyed Monster 978-1-84023-866-2A profile of Enric Badia Romero
 T8The Puppet Master2006 978-1-84023-867-9"Two Genuine Originals" by Jan Burke and "The Secret Weapons of a Femme Fatale" by Rob van der Nol
 T9The Gallows Bird 978-1-84023-868-6"Blue Bird – The Censoring of The Gallows Bird"
T10Cry Wolf 978-1-84023-869-3"The Truth behind Modesty Plays" by Russell Mael and Pt 2 of the 1973 Comic Media interview with Peter O'Donnell
T11The Inca Trail2007 978-1-84576-417-3Pt 3 of the 1973 Comic Media interview with Peter O'Donnell; includes examples of Frank Hampson's rejected artwork.
T12Death Trap 978-1-84576-418-0"Preserving Modesty's Modesty" by Lawrence Blackmore
T13Yellowstone Booty2008 978-1-84576-419-7"The Art of John Burns" by Lawrence Blackmore, including Burns' illustrations for the first Modesty Blaise novel
T14Green Cobra 978-1-84576-420-3"Naked Truth" by Lawrence Blackmore and Burns' illustrations for "Pieces of Modesty"
T15The Lady Killers2009 978-1-84856-106-9"Modesty McBlaise: The Glasgow Story" by Lawrence Blackmore (strips that only appeared in the Glasgow Evening Citizen)
T16The Scarlet Maiden 978-1-84856-107-6"Modesty McBlaise" Pt 2 by Lawrence Blackmore. Final volume to feature introductions by O'Donnell.
T17Death in Slow Motion2010 978-1-84856-108-3"Portrait of an Artist – Neville Colvin: An Appreciation" by Steve Epting
T18Sweet Caroline 978-1-84856-673-6– no additional articles
T19The Double Agent2011 978-1-84856-674-3"A Tribute to Peter O'Donnell" – short pieces by eleven writers and illustrators (first volume compiled since the death of O'Donnell in 2010); "A Modest Man" by Wallace Harrington, describing Neville Colvin
T20Million Dollar Game 978-1-84856-675-0– no additional articles
T21Live Bait2012 978-0-85768-668-8"O'Donnell's Circus" by Lawrence Blackmore
T22Lady in the Dark 978-0-85768-693-0– no additional articles
T23The Girl in the Iron Mask  2013 978-0-85768-694-7– no additional articles
T24The Young Mistress2014 978-1-78116-709-0– no additional articles
T25The Grim Joker 978-1-78116-711-3– no additional articles
T26The Killing Distance2015 978-1-78116-712-0– no additional articles
T27Ripper Jax2016 978-1-78329-858-7"Modest Morality" by Simon Barnes
T28The Murder Frame 978-1-78329-859-4"Meeting Modesty" by Rebecca Chance
T29Children of Lucifer2017 978-1-78329-860-0"Modesty Blaise: An Icon For Our Time" by Stef Penney
T30The Killing Game 978-1-78565-300-1"Modesty and Me" by Paul Michael and "All in the Mind" by Peter O'Donnell

Story list

There were 99 storylines produced for the Modesty Blaise comic strip and all its printed forms over almost forty years, and every story was written solely by Peter O'Donnell. The strips and comic books were drawn by Jim Holdaway (JH), Enrique Badia Romero (ER), John M. Burns (JB), Patrick Wright (PW), Neville Colvin (NC), Dan Spiegle (DS) and Dick Giordano (DG).

Sources:  A  (Comics Revue Annual), C  (Comics Revue), CM  (Comic Media Vol 2, No. 2), CS  (Comics Revue Special), F#  (First American Edition Series, Ken Pierce), LB  (Live Bait, Manuscript Press), LD  (Lady in the Dark, Manuscript Press), MB  (Comics Revue Presents Modesty Blaise), S#  (Star Books paperback reprints, 1978), OT#  (Titan Books, old series (1984–90)), T#  (Titan Books, new series (2004–2017)).

The Modesty Blaise comic strip and comic book stories
№TitleArtistStrip №№ of stripsDatesReprinted in
  1La MachineJim
Holdaway		1–1141141963-05-13 – 1963-09-21T1, OT1, C 189–191, 193, S2
  2The Long Lever115–211981963-09-23 – 1964-01-02T1, OT1, C 192–194, S2
  3The Gabriel Set-Up212–3541431964-01-03 – 1964-06-18T1, OT1, C 195–197
  4Mister Sun355–5001461964-06-19 – 1964-12-05T2, OT2, C 198–199
  5The Mind of Mrs. Drake501–612113 (112+1A)1964-12-07 – 1965-04-19T2, OT2, F2, C 201–203
  6Uncle Happy613–7431311965-04-20 – 1965-09-18T2, OT8, F2, C 204–207
  7Top Traitor744–8731311965-09-20 – 1966-02-19T3, F1, C 208–210
  8The Vikings874–9921191966-02-21 – 1966-07-09T3, F1, S1
(1)In the Beginning1–12121966-07-11 – 1966-07-23T1, OT1, C 188, CM, S1
  9The Head Girls993–11241321966-07-11 – 1966-12-10T3, F4
 10The Black Pearl1125–1235112 (111+1A)1966-12-12 – 1967-04-22T4, F4, S1
 11The Magnified Man1236–13491141967-04-24 – 1967-09-02T4, F4
 12The Jericho Caper1350–1461113 (112+1A)1967-09-04 – 1968-01-13T4, F3
 13Bad Suki1462–15741131968-01-15 – 1968-05-25T5, OT8, F3
 14The Galley Slaves1575–1629
1630A-1688		115 (114+1A)1968-05-27 – 1968-08-06
1968-09-11 – 1968-11-16		T5, OT3, MB24
(2)The Killing GroundA1-A36361968-10-07 – 1968-11-16T4, OT2, F3, C 207
 15The Red Gryphon1689–1794107 (106+1A)1968-11-18 – 1969-03-22T5, OT3, C 211–213
 16The Hell Makers1795–1919126 (125+1A)1969-03-24 – 1969-08-16T6, OT3, C 214–216
 17Take-Over1920–2043125 (124+1A)1969-08-18 – 1970-01-10T6, OT4, C 217–219
 18The War-Lords of Phoenix[14]2044–2099
2099–2162		1191970-01-12 – 1970-03-17
1970-03-17 – 1970-05-30		T6, OT4, C 220–222
Enric
Badía
Romero
 19Willie the Djinn2163–22821201970-06-01 – 1970-10-17T7, OT4, C 223–225
 20The Green-Eyed Monster2283–2388107 (106+1A)1970-10-19 – 1971-02-20T7, OT5, C 226–228
 21Death of a Jester2389–25071191971-02-22 – 1971-07-10T7, OT5, C 229–231
 22The Stone Age Caper2508–26271201971-07-12 – 1971-11-27T8, OT5, C 232–234
 23The Puppet Master2628–2738112 (111+1A)1971-11-29 – 1972-04-08T8, OT6, C 235–237
 24With Love from Rufus2739–28461081972-04-10 – 1972-08-12T8, OT6
 25The Bluebeard Affair2847–2970125 (124+1A)1972-08-14 – 1973-01-06T9, OT6
 26The Gallows Bird2971–30771071973-01-08 – 1973-05-12T9, MB2
 27The Wicked Gnomes3078–31971201973-05-14 – 1973-09-29T9, OT7
 28The Iron God3198–3309111[15]1973-10-01 – 1974-02-09T9, OT7
 29"Take Me to Your Leader"3310–3428120 (119+1A)1974-02-11 – 1974-07-01T10, MB3
 30Highland Witch3429–35481201974-07-02 – 1974-11-16T10, MB4
 31Cry Wolf3549–3638A106 (90+16A)1974-11-18 – 1975-03-25T10, MB5
 32The Reluctant Chaperon3639–3737120 (99+21A)[16]1975-03-26 – 1975-08-14T11, MB6
 33The Greenwood Maid3738–3829A111 (92+19A)1975-08-15 – 1976-01-02T11, MB7
 34Those About to Die3830–3931A123 (102+21A)1976-01-05 – 1976-05-28T11, MB8
 35The Inca Trail3932–4031A120 (100+20A)1976-06-01 – 1976-10-20T11, MB10
 36The Vanishing Dollybirds4032–4141A132 (110+22A)1976-10-21 – 1977-03-28T12, MB11
 37The Junk Men4142–4241A120 (100+20A)1977-03-29 – 1977-08-19T12, MB9
 38Death Trap4242–4341A120 (100+20A)1977-08-22 – 1978-01-20T12, MB12
 39Idaho George4342–4447A126 (106+20A)1978-01-23 – 1978-06-16T13, MB13
 40The Golden Frog4448–4542A114 (95+19A)1978-06-19 – 1978-10-31T13, MB14
 41Yellowstone BootyJohn
Burns		4543–4647A126 (105+21A)1978-11-01 – 1979-03-30T13, MB16
 42Green Cobra4648–4737A108 (90+18A)1979-04-02 – 1979-08-10T14, MB15
 43Eve and Adam4738-4767A
4768-4837A		120 (100+20A)1979-08-13 – 1979-11-24
1979-11-25 – 1980-01-04		T14, MB17
Patrick
Wright
 44Brethren of Blaise4838–4932A114 (95+19A)1980-01-07 – 1980-05-23T14, MB18
 45Dossier on PlutoNeville
Colvin		4933–5032A120 (100+20A)1980-05-27 – 1980-10-14T15, MB19
 46The Lady Killers5033–5127A114 (95+19A)1980-10-15 – 1981-03-03T15, F5, C 238–240
 47Garvin's Travels5128–5229A120 (102+18A)1981-03-04 – 1981-07-27T15, F5, C 241–243
 48The Scarlet Maiden5230–5329A120 (100+20A)1981-07-28 – 1981-12-16T16, F5, C 244–246
 49The Moonman5330–5424A114 (95+19A)1981-12-17 – 1982-05-07T16, F6, C 247–249
 50A Few Flowers for the Colonel5425–5519A114 (95+19A)1982-05-10 – 1982-09-24T16, F6, C 250–252
 51The Balloonatic5520–5619A120 (100+20A)1982-09-27 – 1983-02-18T17, F6, C 253–255
 52Death in Slow Motion5620–5719A120 (100+20A)1983-02-21 – 1983-07-15T17, F7, C 256–258
 53The Alternative Man5720–5814A114 (95+19A)1983-07-18 – 1983-11-28T17, F7, C 259–261
 54Sweet Caroline5815–5914A120 (100+20A)1983-11-29 – 1984-04-19T18, F7, C 262–264
 55The Return of the Mammoth5915–6014A120 (100+20A)1984-04-24 – 1984-09-14T18, F8, C 265–267
 56Plato's Republic6015–6114A120 (100+20A)1984-09-17 – 1985-02-06T18, F8
 57The Sword of the Bruce6115–6214A120 (100+20A)1985-02-07 – 1985-07-02T18, F8
 58The Wild Boar6215–6314A120 (100+20A)1985-07-03 – 1985-11-20T19, MB20
 59Kali's Disciples6315–6414A120 (100+20A)1985-11-21 – 1986-05-16T19, MB21
 60The Double Agent6415–6519A126 (105+21A)1986-05-17 – 1986-09-15T19, MB22
 61Butch Cassidy Rides AgainEnric
Badía
Romero		6520–6624A126 (105+21A)1986-09-16 – 1987-02-12T20, MB1, MB25
 62Million Dollar Game6625–6724A120 (100+20A)1987-02-13 – 1987-07-08T20, C 26–29
 63The Vampire of Malvescu6725–6829A126 (105+21A)1987-07-09 – 1987-12-03T20, A2, MB23
 64Samantha and the Cherub6830–6934A126 (105+21A)1987-12-04 – 1988-05-06T21, C 31–36, LB
 65Milord6935–7034A120 (100+20A)1988-05-09 – 1988-09-27T21, C 40–42, LB
 66Live Bait7035–7134A120 (100+20A)1988-09-28 – 1989-02-17T21, C 44–46, LB
 67The Girl from the Future7135–7239A126 (105+21A)1989-02-20 – 1989-07-21T22, C 47–49, LD
 68The Big Mole7240–7339A120 (100+20A)1989-07-24 – 1989-12-11T22, C 50–52, LD
 69Lady in the Dark7340–7439A120 (100+20A)1989-12-12 – 1990-05-08T22, C 53–56, LD
 70Fiona7440–7544A126 (105+21A)1990-05-09 – 1990-10-09T23, C 57–60
 71Walkabout7545–7649A126 (105+21A)1990-10-10 – 1991-03-11T23, C 61–63
 72The Girl in the Iron Mask7650–7749A120 (100+20A)1991-03-12 – 1991-08-02T23, C 64–66
 73The Young Mistress7750–7854A126 (105+21A)1991-08-05 – 1992-01-06T24, C 67–73
 74Ivory Dancer7855–7959A126 (105+21A)1992-01-07 – 1992-06-05T24, C 73–77
 75Our Friend Maude7960–8064A126 (105+21A)1992-06-08 – 1992-11-02T24, C 78–83
 76A Present for the Princess8065–8174A132 (110+22A)1992-11-03 – 1993-04-08T25, C 84–88
 77Black Queen's Pawn8175–8279A126 (105+21A)1993-04-13 – 1993-09-10T25, C 89–93
 78The Grim Joker8280–8384A126 (105+21A)1993-09-13 – 1994-02-09T25, C 94–99
 79Guido the Jinx8385–8484A120 (100+20A)1994-02-10 – 1994-07-05T26, C 100–104
 80The Killing Distance8485–8589A126 (105+21A)1994-07-06 – 1994-11-30T26, C 105–109
 81The Aristo8590–8694A126 (105+21A)1994-12-01 – 1995-05-03T26, C 110–114
(3)Modesty BlaiseDan Spiegle &
Dick Giordano		(141 pages)1994–12
 82Ripper JaxEnric
Badía
Romero		8695–8799A126 (105+21A)1995-05-04 – 1995-10-02T27, C 115–119
 83The Maori Contract8800–8904A126 (105+21A)1995-10-03 – 1996-03-01T27, C 120–124
 84Honeygun8905–9009A126 (105+21A)1996-03-04 – 1996-08-02T27, C 125–130
 85Durango9010–9114A126 (105+21A)1996-08-05 – 1997-01-03T27, CS, C 131–133
 86The Murder Frame9115–9219A126 (105+21A)1997-01-06 – 1997-06-06T28, C 134–138
 87Fraser's Story9220–9324A126 (105+21A)1997-06-09 – 1997-11-03T28, C 139–143
 88Tribute of the Pharaoh9325–9429A126 (105+21A)1997-11-04 – 1998-05-03T28, C 144–148
 89The Special Orders9430–9534A126 (105+21A)1998-05-06 – 1998-09-04T28, C 149–152
 90The Hanging Judge9535–9644A132 (110+22A)1998-09-07 – 1999-02-10T29 C 153–158
 91Children of Lucifer9645–9749A126 (105+21A)1999-02-11 – 1999-07-13T29, C 159–163
 92Death Symbol9750–9859A132 (110+22A)1999-07-14 – 1999-12-15T29 C 164–169
 93The Last Aristocrat9860–9964A126 (105+21A)1999-12-16 – 2000-05-19T30 C 170–175
 94The Killing Game9965–10069A126 (105+21A)2000-05-22 – 2000-10-17T30, C 176–181
 95The Zombie10070–10183135 (114+21A)2000-10-18 – 2001-04-11T30 C 182–187
(4)The Dark Angels(46 pages)2002-06-13 – 2002-07-11C 200, 208 (cover), 217 (cover)

The special stories

  1. Numbered SP1 or more commonly 8a. An introduction to the history of Modesty Blaise.
  2. Numbered SP2 or more commonly 14a. Produced to Scottish newspapers after an industrial dispute in England.
  3. Numbered SP3 or more commonly not numbered. A graphic novel from DC Comics based on the first novel with Modesty Blaise.
  4. Numbered SP4 or more commonly 96. A comic book version of the short story in Cobra Trap. Originally published in the Swedish magazine Agent X9 #7–8, 2002.

Differences between comic strip and books

Although the books generally reflect the characters previously established in the comic strip, there are a number of detail differences. One example of this is how Modesty is initially recruited to work for Sir Gerald Tarrant – although the strip story La Machine (1963) and the book story Modesty Blaise (1965) have similarities, and in both Tarrant achieves his aim by putting her under an obligation, in the strip story this relates to the validity of her marriage (and therefore her right to British nationality and residence) while in the book he provides her with information that enables her to rescue Willie Garvin and save his life. The name of her husband is given in the strip, with the marriage taking place in 1960 and him dying in 1961; in the novel he is unnamed and the marriage took place in 1962.

There are also cases where characters first appear in the books and then subsequently appear in the comic strip – Steve Collier first appears in I, Lucifer (1967) and his future wife Dinah in A Taste for Death (1969) but they do not appear in the strip until Lady in the Dark (1989).

In other media

Films

After the initial popularity of the comic strip British Lion Films announced a Modesty Blaise film to be written by Sidney Gilliat that was never made.[17]

A film entitled Modesty Blaise, loosely based on the comic strip, was filmed in 1966 as a comedy thriller. It was directed by Joseph Losey and starred Monica Vitti as Modesty, Terence Stamp as Willie Garvin, and Dirk Bogarde as Gabriel. Peter O'Donnell wrote the first draft of the screenplay for the film, but the script was heavily revised by others before shooting began, and the finished film bore very little resemblance to O'Donnell's vision in tone, theme, or characterisation. For example, a romance is established between Willie and Modesty, even though the comic strip firmly established only a platonic relationship between them. The film also incorporated several musical numbers. One sequence of the film establishes that the Modesty Blaise comic strip exists within the fictional universe of the film and is based upon the exploits of Vitti's character, who is seen dressing up as the illustrated version of herself. The film was unsuccessful.

In 1982, a one-hour pilot was made for a proposed Modesty Blaise television series, starring Ann Turkel as Modesty Blaise and Lewis Van Bergen as Willie Garvin. The film aired on the ABC Network to positive reviews, but no series resulted. This was a slightly more serious version of the stories than the campy 1966 comedy version. In this pilot the setting is moved from London to Hollywood, and both Willie and Tarrant are portrayed as Americans; Modesty's nationality is left unrevealed, however Turkel also plays her with an American accent.

In 2003, a direct-to-video film titled My Name Is Modesty was released under the "Quentin Tarantino Presents..." banner. The film was directed by Scott Spiegel and starred English actress Alexandra Staden as Modesty Blaise (to date the only British actress to play the role on screen). Although promoted as the first of a series, no others were made. One immediately noticeable difference between the film and the source material is that it is a prequel to Modesty's established backstory as a crime boss; as such, the character of Willie Garvin is omitted.

Quentin Tarantino has been interested in directing a Modesty Blaise film for many years, and at one point Neil Gaiman wrote a script treatment based upon O'Donnell's novel, I, Lucifer. So far, nothing has come of these plans. Tarantino "sponsored" the release of My Name Is Modesty by allowing it to be released under the label "Quentin Tarantino presents ..." In the Tarantino film Pulp Fiction, Vincent Vega is seen reading a copy of Modesty Blaise.[18] Nicole Kidman has also gone on record as being interested in making a Modesty Blaise film, and Jennifer Lopez was reported to be pitching for the part in 2003.[19]

Novels and short story collections

O'Donnell was invited to write a novelization of the 1966 film. The novel, released a year before the film itself, and based on his original screenplay for the movie, fared considerably better than the film. During the following decades he would write a total of eleven Modesty Blaise novels and two collections of short stories. Several of the short stories either adapt comic strip stories, or would later be adapted into comic strip stories themselves. Characters cross over between the two media. Except for "Pieces of Modesty", the books were originally issued in hardback and have subsequently gone through numerous paperback editions.

Modesty Blaise novels and short stories
YearBook title
1965  Modesty Blaise
1966 Sabre-Tooth
1967 I, Lucifer
1969 A Taste for Death
1971 The Impossible Virgin
1972
1973 The Silver Mistress
1976 Last Day in Limbo
1978 Dragon's Claw
1981 The Xanadu Talisman
1982 The Night of Morningstar
1985 Dead Man's Handle
1996

O'Donnell's final book, Cobra Trap, is a short story collection. Intended by O'Donnell to be his literary finale, the final story depicts the deaths of Modesty and Willie (with an implied afterlife). O'Donnell, however, would continue to write the comic strip for several more years, and chose to end it on a more optimistic note, though the comic strip's finale does not contradict the prose version.

Beginning in the early 2000s (decade), Souvenir Press began a series of paperback reprints of the Modesty Blaise book series, using the first edition hardback covers, and originally concluding with a reprint of Cobra Trap in 2006. Souvenir subsequently gained the rights to the short story collection Pieces of Modesty and issued their reprint of that book in March 2010, with a new cover design based on the original hardback cover from the first Modesty novel, at which point all the Blaise books fell under the same UK publisher for the first time.

In 2008, Penguin Books of India reprinted the full series.[20]

The 2012 Charles Stross book The Apocalypse Codex is, according to the author, a tribute to Modesty Blaise.[21]

Audio formats

Last Day in Limbo was adapted as a BBC World Service six-part radio drama in 1978 with Barbara Kellerman as Modesty, James Bolam as Willie and Richard Vernon as Tarrant.

I Had a Date with Lady Janet (the short story from Pieces of Modesty) was published as an audio tape reading by Pickwick Talking Books in the early 1980s, featuring John Thaw as Willie (the story is a first-person tale told from Willie Garvin's point of view).

BBC Radio 4 has broadcast adaptations of three of the books in their "15 Minute Drama" slot, each in five fifteen-minute episodes, adapted by Stef Penney and produced/directed by Kate McAll, starring Daphne Alexander as Modesty, with music by Will Gregory, arranged by Ian Gardiner.

A Taste for Death was originally broadcast from 17–21 December 2012, featuring Carl Prekopp as Willie and Alun Armstrong as Tarrant, with Sam Dale (Simon Delicata), Geoffrey Streatfeild (Steve Collier), Samantha Dakin (Dinah Pilgrim), Alex Fearns (McWhirter), Jeff Mash (Skeet Lowery) and Nigel Anthony (Sir Howard Presteign).[22]

Modesty Blaise was originally broadcast from 16–20 June 2014, featuring Neil Maskell as Willie and Alun Armstrong as Tarrant, with Ewan Bailey (Gabriel), Alex Fearns (McWhirter), Matthew Gravelle, John Hollingworth and Hannah Pakeman. [23]

The Silver Mistress was originally broadcast from 13-17 February 2017, featuring Paul Bazely as Willie and Ian McNeice as Tarrant, with Clare Grogan (Clare), Ewan Bailey (Sexton/Colonel Jim), Sara Markland (Lady Janet/Angel) and John Ramm (Quinn).[24]

Cars

During the years the comic strip ran, the vehicles used by Modesty and Willie reflected current trends in the motor industry, usually featuring the more glamorous or exotic models then available. As with some of the supporting characters, the books sometimes – but not always – reflected the comic strips. Just as in the contemporary James Bond films, the cars featured were an integral part of the character image conveyed by the stories.

  • Modesty drove an ivory-coloured Daimler Dart in the first two books, and it also featured in the comic strip stories La Machine (1963), The Long Lever (1963), The Mind of Mrs. Drake (1965) and The Head Girls (1966).
  • Modesty and Willie are also seen driving an Aston Martin DB5 in La Machine (1963), a car which did not become associated with James Bond until the release of the film Goldfinger the following year. (In the Goldfinger novel Bond drives the older Aston Martin DB Mark III). This car also featured in The Mind of Mrs. Drake (1965).
  • In the third book, I Lucifer, Modesty drives a Reliant Sabre Six.
  • In the comic strip story The Jericho Caper (1967) Willie owns a Jensen FF, the four-wheel drive version of the Jensen Interceptor, a car with an American V8 engine and handmade British coachwork. This car, driven by both Modesty and Willie, appeared in the strips on numerous occasions in the next few years and in the books A Taste for Death and The Impossible Virgin.
  • In A Taste for Death Willie also drives a Lotus Elan.
  • The comic strip story Willie the Djinn (1970) includes a cameo appearance by a 1911 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost.
  • Modesty has a Rolls-Royce as her luxury car, and is chauffeured by Weng, but the model varies. In the comic strip The Head Girls she has a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III Mulliner Park Ward Drop Head Coupe, while in the same year written The Black Pearl (1966) she has a Silver Shadow
  • During the days of The Network Garvin was driving a Mercedes 450 SL (as revealed in flashback in the 1982 book The Night of Morningstar). He also uses this car in a comic strip story Highland Witch (1974)
  • In a comic strip story Samantha and the Cherub (1987) Modesty and Willie are seen driving the famous odd experimental Mercedes-Benz C111
  • In a comic strip story The Wicked Gnomes (1973) Modesty and Willie are seen driving an Opel GT
  • In a comic strip story Top Traitor (1965) Modesty and Willie are seen driving a Series 1 Jaguar E-Type, while in the story The Greenwood Maid (1975) they drive the Series 3
  • In Top Traitor (1965), while in Austria, they are also seen driving a Mercedes W111. This car also has cameos in La Machine (1963), The Mind of Mrs. Drake (1965), The Magnified Man (1967) and Willie the Djinn (1970), owned by various supporting characters
  • In a comic strip story The Girl From the Future (1989) Modesty and Willie are seen driving Triumph Spitfire MK4s
  • In a comic strip story The Green-Eyed Monster (1970) Willie drives a Ford Mustang
  • In a comic strip story The Vanishing Dollybirds (1976) Willie drives a Lamborghini Miura
  • In a comic strip story Death in Slow Motion (1983) Willie drives a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
  • In a comic strip story The Girl in the Iron Mask (1991) Willie drives an Alpine A110
  • The theme song "Modesty (Modesty Blaise Theme)" from the Losey movie was sung by David and Jonathan, with music composed by John Dankworth and lyrics by Benny Green. This appeared on the soundtrack album issued by 20th Century Fox (S 4182) and also as a single on the Fontana label. The album was released on CD by Harkit (HRKCD 8003) in 2001.
  • Rock group Sparks wrote and recorded a song intended as the theme tune for the aborted TV series. Using an amended title "Modesty Plays" to avoid trademark infringement, it was released originally in 1982 as a France-only single and subsequently in a new version on their 1986 album Music That You Can Dance To. Singer Russell Mael admits that he is actually singing "Blaise" not "Plays".[25]
  • Closterkeller, a Polish Gothic band, recorded the song "Modesty Blaise" on their 1992 album Blue, based on the Modesty Blaise character.
  • The concept of the 1992 album Modesty by the former Yugoslav pop rock band Bel Tempo was inspired by the Modesty Blaise character.
  • Montt Mardié from Sweden opens his 2005 debut album Drama with a song entitled "Modesty Blaise".
  • British group the Direct Hits released their 4-track EP The Modesty Blaise Sessions on The Forbidden Label in 1986. The first track, "Modesty Blaise", alludes to the character, especially in her comic-strip form.
  • In the Hollywood film Pulp Fiction an assassin played by John Travolta reads Modesty Blaise while sitting on the toilet.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Enric Badia Romero," Who's Who of Comic Books: 1928–1999. Accessed Nov. 30, 2017.
  2. ↑ as revealed in The Xanadu Talisman
  3. 1 2 3 Don Markstein's Toonopedia. "Modesty Blaise". Archived from the original on 9 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Tillson, Frances (19 September 2004). "Modesty? That's one virtue she's lacking". London: The Observer. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  5. ↑ Lambiek Comiclopedia. "Jim Holdaway".
  6. ↑ Lambiek Comiclopedia. "Enrique Badia Romero".
  7. ↑ Holdaway died midway through illustrating the story The Warlords of Phoenix; Romero completed the illustrations.
  8. ↑ Lambiek Comiclopedia. "John M. Burns".
  9. ↑ Lambiek Comiclopedia. "Neville Colvin".
  10. ↑ Both versions of the frames can be seen at ComicWiki.dk
  11. ↑ Lawrence Blackmore, "Preserving Modesty's Modesty" in Modesty Blaise: Death Trap. Titan Books, 2007, no pagination
  12. ↑ Viswa, King (13 June 2010). "73, Modesty Blaise – Arguably, The Best Comics Character in Tamil".
  13. ↑ "GCD :: Issue :: Modesty Blaise". www.comics.org.
  14. ↑ According to Lawrence Blackmore: "Modesty McBlaise: The Glasgow Story" in The Lady Killers 2009, Glasgow's Evening Citizen printed stripe 2099 by Holdaway, while London's Evening Standard printed stripe 2099 by Romero. Both versions of stripe 2099 can be seen at ComicWiki.dk
  15. ↑ According to The Modesty Blaise Companion Companion, there were no strip with number 3276
  16. ↑ More correct there were 20 A-strips and one X-strip, numbered 3641X
  17. ↑ De Rham, Edith Joseph Losey 1991 Deutsch
  18. ↑ "Tarantino, Quentin and Roger Avary. "Pulp Fiction." schmuckswithunderwoods.com".
  19. ↑ "Evening Standard on-line report".
  20. ↑ "Penguin India". Penguin India.
  21. ↑ Stross, Charles (2013, July 28). Crib Sheet for The Apocalypse Codex, blog entry
  22. ↑ "Modesty Blaise - A Taste for Death, 15 Minute Drama - BBC Radio 4". BBC.
  23. ↑ "Modesty Blaise, 15 Minute Drama - BBC Radio 4". BBC.
  24. ↑ "Modesty Blaise - The Silver Mistress: Omnibus - BBC Radio 4 Extra". BBC.
  25. ↑ Interview in Titan reprint of "Cry Wolf" 2006

References

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