During his time with eagle, from 1950 to 1961, hampson worked on a variety of other strips including the great adventurer, tommy walls, rob conway and the road of courage. Of the five artists who drew modesty blaise 19632001, jim holdaway 196370 was by far the best, while my least favourite was pat wrights brief stunt, one and a half stories 1980. Modesty blaise was a newspaper strip featuring a multitalented spy, created by. Hampsons obsession with accuracy made his scifi worlds vivid and believable. This is the first novel in the series, and introduces the setting and most of the main characters.
Epsom, surrey, 8 july 1985, creator of dan dare, was inspired as a child by american comic strips by hal foster, milton caniff and alex raymond, in newspaper supplements sent by relatives in canada. Dan dare creator frank hampson was first choice of the express. Synopsis modesty blaise and willie garvin must foil a multi million pound diamond heist. The great newspaper adventure strip, modesty blaise could lazily be described as a female james bond, but shes much, much cooler than that. Gender, race and sexuality in peter odonnells modesty. In 1963 he did some specimen strips for modesty blaise the original proposed illustrator was dan dare creator frank hampson, according to peter odonnell, despite the odonnellholdaway connection from romeo brown. In this wonderful blog piece on forgotten books, canadian author vicki delany has this to say about modesty blaise. Unlike the printed version, the original art appears without the word balloons.
Hampson wasnt quite suited for modesty, but his tryout panels were nevertheless breathtaking in their detail and depth, and you can see some. Modesty blaise project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Somewhere over five years ago, i wrote a column on englands fabulous, feminine answer to james bond, namely the comicstrip heroine, modesty blaise. Yet there is another side to his work that rarely gets the credit that it perhaps deserves the illustrations he painted for ladybird books.
Frank hampson was almost the cocreator of modesty blaise. Odonnells first novel about her, titled simply modesty blaise, came out in 1965. Titan books will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide updates and marketing. Wonder woman toy leak reveals a comics accurate cheetah. Strictly speaking modesty isnt one of hampson s lost characters, in the sense she was never submitted to eagle, and she did get published. Titan books will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with. Hampson was also approached by author peter odonnell to interpret a new script, called modesty blaise. I can certainly understand why odonnell rejected frank hampsons version seeing his three pencilled panels.
Sir gerald apologises for coming at an embarassing moment. For sale modesty blaise by frank hampson original comic. Between 1984 and 1988, titan books published eight volumes of reprints of. May 11, 2018 and now im going to commit some kind of heresy. Peter odonnell has 221 books on goodreads with 15950 ratings.
I read the modesty blaise books when i was in my late twenties, settled down with house and children and dog. Its the best of british as, once more, dan dare takes to the stars in this latest volume in titans sumptuous collectors editions of this legendary series. Modesty blaise the lost characters of frank hampson. Sir gerald tarrant arrives with assistant john fraser as modesty, armlocking sandford, heaves him from the floor. Spotlight on peter odonnell and jim holdaways modesty blaise. Madeline brent novels part 1 article on odonnells other series of novels. Modesty blaise first appeared in a cartoon strip in 1963, and was a permanent presence in british newspapers until 2001, largely unaltered in style. One of eight sample modesty blaise strips drawn by frank hampson. Vintage fawcett paperback, first in the modesty blaise series features a sexy blaise on the cover in all black with spike heels and weapon. Kennedy aitken, who was beaverbrooks strip cartoons editor, suggested they should invite frank hampson creator of dan dare to interpret odonnells script. The strip follows modesty blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talents and a criminal past, and her trusty sidekick willie garvin. Aug 27, 2012 modesty blaise, the tough young adventuress with a criminal past, is the creation of writer peter odonnell and artist jim holdaway, but before holdaway came on board the gig originally went to frank hampson, creator of british space hero dan dare. Titan panini graphic novels, collections and trade.
Dune photos reveal first look at the scifi epics cast. Below is a list of peter odonnells modesty blaise books in order of when they were originally published which is also their chronological order. Its a profile of fans of the other frank of british comics. I think those books were my first realization that adult women could still be strong and fearless and independent. The express turned down modesty on 11 april, but she was accepted by the evening standard on 22 april. This is the original art used for an episode of the jericho caper the 12th modesty blaise adventure, and appeared in the london evening standard on saturday 18th november 1967. The strip follows the adventures of modesty blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talents and a criminal past, and her trusty sidekick willie garvin. Monica vitti and terence stamp starred as modesty and willie, with harry andrews as sir gerald.
Frank hampson 11 scott handcock 1 rich handley 2 edward b. Believed dead after they successfully saved the earth from the threat of the red moon. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Frank hampsons modesty blaise art sample up for sale for a cool. However, there is an introduction from lawrence blackmoor, who wrote the even more limited edition book the modesty blaise companion, and histories of these artists and writer peter odonnell himself as well as the strip story list. Modesty blaise is a british comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same. Guest post garth groombridge on the artists who drew. While modesty blaise arose from the same era, it was something else all together. Titan books will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch. In 1962 beaverbrook newspapers asked peter odonnell to suggest a new strip idea.
Wright was a good enough artist rather in the brian lewis mode, just not the right no pun intended artist for modesty blaise. He is best known as the creator of the popular dan dare, pilot of the future. When modesty dreams that willies in danger she gets her millionaire lover to lay on a rescue helicopter in a trice. This site has partially restored copies of birney, raff royal, mary lee, dawn odare, monogram, the chalmers, bird boyd and peter rock. The modesty blaise character was created in 1963 and appeared in her first novel in 1965, appropriately titled modesty blaise. The violence in frank hampsons version is implied with sound effects thud in the last frame rather than seen. In that column linked above, i gave short shrift to the comic strip version of our heroine, concentrating mainly on the written and filmic versions.
What you see here is a row of hampsons modesty, followed by a row of the same strip drawn by jim holdaway. Kennedy aitken, who was beaverbrooks strip cartoons editor, suggested they should invite frank hampson creator of dan dare to interpret o. Aug 11, 2005 i learned of modesty blaise when reading the psychology of the girl with the dragon tatoo by robin s. Modesty blaise started life as a cartoon strip, but odonnell then put his creation into novel form, and did a superb job in both formats. Over on comic art fans here to be precise, the earlist known example of modesty blaise art is up for sale and whats better is that it. Modesty blaise, the tough young adventuress with a criminal past, is the creation of writer peter odonnell and artist jim holdaway, but before holdaway came on board the gig originally went to frank hampson, creator of british space hero dan dare.
I wrote all these books in the first person, as opposed to the modesty blaise books which are all in the third person. The madeleine brent books are all romantic adventure mysteries set around the turn of the 19th century, the last years of queen victoria. Whoah, i think warren ellis knows what im talking about. Frank hampson was almost the cocreator of modesty blaise cbr. Modesty blaises adventures have been reprinted by titan books. Frank hampson 11 don harley 3 andy hartnell 1 dean haspiel 1 alan hebden 2. At the age of thirteen he entered a competition run by meccano magazine, and not only won, but sufficiently impressed the. It was adapted into films in 1966, 1982, and 2003, and from 1965 onwards eleven novels and two. Frank hampson was a british comic artist and illustrator. Modesty is a tough, brilliant and beautiful woman along the lines of the avengers mrs. While frank hampson did work on other strips in eagle comic, he will be forever associated with the creation of dan dare. Jun 05, 2015 the great newspaper adventure strip, modesty blaise could lazily be described as a female james bond, but shes much, much cooler than that. My forgotten book, isnt a single book, but a series, a character really. The titan books are especially appealing because each one contains an introduction by odonnell, covering the history of modesty blaise in all her incarnations, his own writing career, and the inspiration for many of the individual stories.
Modesty blaise, the tough young adventuress with a criminal past, is the creation of writer peter odonnell and artist jim holdaway, but before. Hampson was the choice of beaverbrooks editor of strip cartoons kennedy aitken. A commentary is forthcoming, but in the meantime, wed be remiss if we didnt suggest you check out a real find. However, there is an introduction from lawrence blackmoor, who wrote the even more limited edition book the modesty blaise companion, and histories of these artists and writer. Im not against stylistic drawing, but for something like modesty, id prefer someone like gil kane, or even frank hampson creator of dan dare, who was rejected by o. Modesty blaise is a british comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by author peter odonnell and illustrator jim holdaway in 1963. Click here for more pictures and a bit of background. Modesty blaise was a newspaper strip featuring a multitalented spy, created by writer peter odonnell and artist jim holdaway frank hampson tried out for the strip, but his drawings were considered not sexy enough in 1963, originally in the london evening standard, later syndicated to. A full list of titans modesty blaise reprints can be found in the comics bibliography store, as can a full list of modesty blaise novels.
This is what modesty could have looked like had frank hampson been picked up as the illustrator of modesty blaise instead of jim holdaway. Definitions of modesty blaise, synonyms, antonyms, derivatives of modesty blaise, analogical dictionary of modesty blaise english. Modesty blaise peter odonnell works archive of our own. Modesty blaise s adventures have been reprinted by titan books.
Mar 04, 2016 when i first saw book there, i thought that would be all it would contain. Remember the time modesty blaise was almost drawn by handsome frank hampson. Sep 14, 2015 modesty blaise first appeared in a cartoon strip in 1963, and was a permanent presence in british newspapers until 2001, largely unaltered in style. Frank hampson attempted to sell several strips to eagle after hed finished the road of courage. Modesty, not embarrassed, dumps sandford in the lift. Modesty blaise uk comics wiki fandom powered by wikia. In these columns i hope to shine a light on some underappreciated films, books, comics, and albums. Modesty also has a willie garvin, who himself has a shady past. The violence in frank hampson s version is implied with sound effects thud in the last frame rather than seen.
I, lucifer by peter odonnell, modesty blaise by peter odonnell, the impossible virgin by peter odonnell, a taste for. Frank hampson 19181985 uk comics wiki fandom powered. The latest book from book palace books is a fine companion volume to titans reprints of the modesty blaise series. Rosenberg who mentions stieg larson was a big fan of the modesty books. Holdaway s version appeared in the evening standard. An archive of our own, a project of the organization for transformative works.
Modesty blaise, star of the books by peter odonnell, written roughly in the late 1960s and 70s. After holdaway died in 1970, the strip was drawn by enrique badia romero. Welcome, dear readers, to the first in a new ongoing column spotlight. Apr 20, 2011 while modesty blaise arose from the same era, it was something else all together. In fact i have two unread modest blaise books on my shelf. Odonnell wasnt happy with what hampson produced so ended up picking holdaway who hed worked with before.
Modesty blaise is a british comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by peter odonnell writer and jim holdaway art in 1963. Anyone who says there arent enough books with female protagonists is probably unaware of the modesty blaise series. Aug 17, 2015 in these columns i hope to shine a light on some underappreciated films, books, comics, and albums. Modesty blaise modesty blaise series paperback august 11, 2005. Buy modesty blaise by peter odonnell online at alibris. Hampson was born 21 december 1918, in audenshaw, near manchester, england. When i first saw book there, i thought that would be all it would contain. Before jim holdaway was given the assignment to illustrate this strip, dan dares creator frank hampson was given a tryout. About the author peter odonnell created modesty blaise as a strip cartoon that was syndicated in more than 42 countries.
En af parodierne pa modesty blaise er modesta blaize i bogen agent 0008 meets modesta blaze. There are a few more strange twists and turns to the modesty blaise story, but perhaps one of the most fascinating is the fact that that the artist originally nominated for the job was none other than frank hampson. Modesty and her partner sidekick willie garvin are retired master criminals, whove found the quiet life a bit dull, and who now take on cases for the british government, or sometimes out of their own, personal code of justice. Hampson left dan dare in the good hands of frank bellamy.
Modesty blaise was a newspaper strip featuring a multitalented spy, created by writer peter odonnell and artist jim holdaway frank hampson tried out for the strip, but his drawings were considered not sexy enough in 1963, originally in the london evening standard, later syndicated to newspapers all over the world. He thought long and hard and came up with modesty blaise. Raising the bar for the whole of the comic industry. 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.
Author of modesty blaise, sabretooth, and a taste for death. Of the five artists who drew modesty blaise 19632001, jim holdaway 196370 was by far the best, while my least favourite was pat wrights brief stunt, one. Modesty blaise was peter odonnells most famous literary creation and has appeared in many popular novels and newspaper strips for nearly 40 years. Odonnell books 1 to 16, lawrence blackmore books 17 to 24. She was drawn by a series of different artists, but odonnell wrote all the stories. Burns, men manuskripterne ligger langt tilbage i forhold til peter odonnells veloplagte manuskripter til modesty blaise. While some of the stories and plots were escapist and fairly silly, they appealed to an older audience, and it was all imbued with a sense of style, personality, and charm. Todays inaugural column focuses on the stellar 1960s actionadventure comic strip modesty blaise, written by peter odonnell and illustrated in its initial run by jim holdaway. Modesty blaise is introduced with a closeup of her legs in fishnet stockings, sitting on a couch by two magazines, one showing a color photo of actress monica vitti, and on top a full page copy of the modesty blaise comic strip where she is depicted as a huntress with a bowandarrow and a revolver. It was adapted into films made in 1966, 1982, and 2003 and a series of novels. These books are exceptionally well written and the comic series takes it one step ahead with some great illustrations as blaise and her male sidekick willie garvin take on international crime, spies, and assorted villains. I cant think why i chose to do that except it seemed to work for me.
1328 204 1081 1372 1124 1490 593 118 1277 1089 63 229 633 411 673 278 194 364 1103 145 1297 959 243 582 1537 257 1087 361 405 114 346 503 526 606 568 975 413 303 453