Modesty Blaise comes to Radio 4

Daphne Alexander as Modesty Blaise. Photo copyright BBC

(with thanks to Reuben Wilmott) A radio adaptation of Peter O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise story A Taste for Death novel airs on BBC Radio 4 this week.

Starring Daphne Alexander - who was given a Modesty makeover for the serial's PR shots, above - the drama airs Monday to Friday in the 10:45/7:45 drama slot (see http://t.co/c1usOOcV), with an omnibus on Radio 4 Extra on Saturday (http://t.co/zabH4unn)

Modesty first started life in 1963 as a strip cartoon in the London Evening Standard - the first of the novels followed three years later.

Glamorous, intelligent, rich and very, very cool, Modesty Blaise has been called the female James Bond but she's much more interesting than that. With her expertise in martial arts and unusual weapons, the ability to speak several languages and her liking for fast cars, twenty-something Modesty became a female icon long before the likes of Emma Peel, Lara Croft, or Buffy.


In Stef Penney's brand new radio adaptation of Peter O'Donnell's novel, Sir Gerald Tarrant, Head of a secret British agency, tempts Modesty out of retirement and into a job involving a young woman with extra sensory powers, an exotic desert location, and a larger than life public school villain, intent on murdering his way to a vast fortune.

With its perfect cocktail of glamorous settings, hidden treasure, a twisting turning plot, and characters to root for, the BBC describe A Taste for Death as "an action packed treat - and a guilty pleasure".

"If one person stumbles across this adaptation and goes out to buy one of the books for the first time, I will be happy," says Stef Penney, whose previous adaptations include Moby Dick and her own novel, A Tenderness of Wolves. "If a few people do, I will be ecstatic."

Revealing she chose A Taste for Death, which is not the first Modesty novel, because it is both her favourite and she might not get another chance, Stef is full of praise for both O'Donnell's character and setting."James Bond is more popular than ever, and the films have changed with the times – different actors play the roles, wear different suits, drive different cars and deploy the latest technology," she notes in a feature for the BBC web site.

"By contrast, A Taste for Death is firmly set in the 1960s and that is very much part of the pleasure – Modesty wears the fashions of the time and uses shortwave radio. She drives a classic car (a 1950s Jensen Interceptor) and listens to Thelonius Monk.

"And, in any case, when the chips are down and you are held captive by sadistic criminals on a remote archaeological site in the Sahara, no technology is going to find the buried treasure or overcome the villains who have stripped you of all your gear.

"Only Modesty and Willie’s unique ingenuity and will power can do that. And only their sense of humour and irreverence can make the whole thing so much fun.

With an original score by Goldfrapp's Will Gregory, arranged by Ian Gardiner, and performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Ben Foster, produced and directed by Kate McAll, this definitely looks like a show to tune into.

• Stef Penney discusses her adaptation of A Taste for Death on the BBC web site

• Stef Penney's official web site: www.stefpenney.co.uk

In Review: Crikey! pays tribute to John Hicklenton, O'Donnell

The latest issue of Crikey! - which has notched up an imprejavascript:void(0)ssive 15 issues, none too shabby for an independently published comics magazine these days - has changed its planned line up to pay tribute to the passing of creators John Hicklenton and Peter O'Donnell.

Dropping a planned Dalek cover in favour of a striking image from John's upcoming graphic novel, 2000AD co-creator Pat Mills pays tribute to the controversial but never dull Judge Dredd artist, while Jody Kihara shares her thoughts on the sad passing of Peter O'Donnell.

Despite such downbeat items, both fitting tributes to the creators, Crikey! overall has plenty to celebrate, not least of which is a rare interview with veteran cartoonist Peter Maddocks, who now lives in Malaga. The artist talks extensively about his career, which includes his time as cartoon editor of Lord Beaverbrook's newspapers, which included nursing the early development of the James Bond newspaper strip, and his own strips such as Four D Jones. It's an informative piece (despite requiring just a touch more copy editing, perhaps) and a welcome insight into newspaper strip cartooning, all too rarely covered by comics magazines.

Equally enjoyable is David Slinn's continued look at all things Eagle, which provides an informative overview of the much-loved weekly's early days; while Tony Ingram takes a look at the 1980s Eagle, another title rarely given much coverage despite its huge following.

All in all, this is another fine issue and fully deserving the support of downthetubes readers. Recommended.

• For more information and stockists visit: www.crikeyuk.co.uk

In Memoriam: Modesty Blaise creator Peter O'Donnell

We're very sorry to report the death of Modesty Blaise creator Peter O'Donnell, who died over the Bank Holiday weekend at the age of 90.

Peter, who lived in Brighton, celebrated his 90th birthday earlier this month, had been ill for some time, suffering from Parkinson's disease.

He began writing professionally at the age of 16, and, while writing several popular newspaper strips down the years, including 'Garth' and 'Romeo Brown', is best known as the creator of female action hero Modesty Blaise, first published as a comic strip 1963, but who also featured in several novels from 1965 onwards and also made it to the silver screen on more than one occasion.

The books (all written by O'Donnell) ran concurrently with the comic strip until 1996 and the comic strip ran until 2001, running to over 10,000 strips.

'Modesty Blaise' ran daily in the Evening Standard newspaper during the 1960s. O’Donnell retired from writing in 2001, but had continued to oversee Titan Books release of more than a dozen Modesty Blaise collections, contributing introductions and commentaries to his classic stories.

His work was highly regarded: O'Donnell counted author Kingsley Amis among Modesty's fans and won the Haxtur Award in the category Best Script for the Modesty Blaise strip story Bad Suki in 2006 at the Asturias Internation Comic Convention in Spain, Peter.

"Peter had a 75-year-long career as a writer," notes comics expert Steve Holland in his online tribute to O'Donnell, "his first story appearing in the pages of Scout in 1936. He then joined the staff of the Amalgamated Press, working on Butterfly, Comic Cuts and Illustrated Chips.

"...In 1952 he was asked to take over the 'Belinda' strip in the Daily Mirror while the regular author was ill; soon after he was invited to take over the writing of 'Garth', which he went on to write for the next thirteen years. Other strips written by O'Donnell include 'For Better or Worse', 'Tug Transom' and 'Romeo Brown', the latter teaming him up with Jim Holdaway for the first time."

"I had the privilege of editing Peter on his graphic novel adaptation of the first Modesty Blaise story, drawn by the late Dick Giordano," recalls Mike Gold for Comic Mix of Modesty's US comic editions.

"It was something of an intimidating experience for me, having to discuss how to translate his own characters into the comic book medium. But Peter was eager to learn and immediately understood the differences between the comic strip and comic book media and how to best exploit the advantages of the latter; he quickly put me at ease. We stayed in touch ever since; I'll miss his annual Christmas card."

Despite retiring, he kept in contact with fans via the Modesty Blaise Ltd. web site and elsewhere.

Such was the popularity of his heroine that a film was made and released in 1966, widely regarded as a missed opportunity; O'Donnell himself was disappointed by the casting and the film, which starred Italian actress Monica Vitti as Modesty. To avoid any reoccurrence, he purchased all the rights and so gained full control.

In the 1970s he was approached by Diana Rigg, who wanted to bring the character to the small screen with herself playing Modesty Blaise. He was initially enthusiastic but the choice of leading man, Adam Faith, later became a stumbling block.

As well as writing the adventures of Modesty Blaise, O'Donnell also scripted the comic strip adaptations of Ian Fleming's James Bond novel Doctor No, wrote the 1968 Hammer movie Vengeance of She and wrote a series of swashbuckling romance novels under the pen name of Madeleine Brent.

"Peter O'Donnell was respected as one of the greatest writers in the comics medium today and had a devout following amongst comics professionals and fans alike”, says Titan’s Managing Director, Nick Landau.

"I am honoured to have known him – and published his greatest creations, Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin – for almost 40 years."

"What seems to have made the deepest impression on Modesty fans was not the storylines or adventures themselves, but the depth of Peter O'Donnell's characters," argues the Modesty Blaise Books web site's anonymous owner, a huge resource for Modesty fans. "Not just Modesty, but Willie Garvin, Tarrant, Fraser, Steve and Dinah... to name just a few.

Paying tribute to him on the London Evening Standard web site, avid fan Paul Woods sums up what so many admirers of O'Donnell's work feel. "I loved 'Modesty Blaise' since it first appeared in the Standard, which my mother always brought home from work," he recalls. "When I went off to university I made her clip out the strips and save them for me, and she had to describe the latest plot developments in her weekly letters to me!

"Later I collected all the Modesty novels and short story collections, and have re-read them many times. Mr O'Donnell was a fine storyteller, mixing suspense and humour most adeptly, and the relationship between his two lead characters, Modesty and Willie Garvin was superbly developed. There truly has never been a newspaper cartoon strip to rival Modesty Blaise - were there one it would certainly make me a devotee of that newspaper!"

Peter O’Donnell, born 11th April 1920, died on 3rd May, 2010. Survived by his wife, Constance, and their two daughters, Jill and Janet.

Obituaries and Tributes

• Bear Alley: a tribute by Steve Holland

• Blimey! It's Another Blog About Comics: Tribute by Lew Stringer

• College English: RIP Madeline Brent
"Although he is 'best known' as the author of Modesty Blaise, I personally knew him best for that series of unusually strong romance novels," writes Debbie Gascoyne. "I don’t think I would have ever guessed that they were written by a man; I liked them for their plucky and relatively believable heroines, romantic and adventurous plots, and for the glimpses they gave me of places like China, Venice and Cornwall, all of which I have now visited myself."

• Comic Mix: Tribute by Mike Gold

• Comic Artist Steve Epting: Good News, Terrible News
"If you've never read Modesty Blaise, I highly recommend it, particularly the first seven years or so of the strip which were drawn by the incomparable Jim Holdaway. I place these as my all time favorite adventure strip, even edging out Prince Valiant and Terry and the Pirates. In the words of Chuck Dixon - 'O'Donnell is in a very, very small club of writers who were masters of writing clear, concise, compelling action.'"

• Forbidden Planet International 4thMay 2010: Peter O’Donnell R.I.P. 1920-2010

• London Evening Standard, 4th May 2010: Modesty Blaise author dies aged 90

• The Daily Telegraph, 5th May 2010: Obituary

• The Guardian, 5th May 2010: Obituary by Steve Holland

• Make Mine Mystery: A tribute by by crime writer Mark Troy
"O'Donnell showed me that it is possible to write a strong female protagonist in an adventure series without sinking to the misogynistic burlesque of Carter Brown's Mavis Seidlitz and others of that era. O'Donnell treated his protagonist with love and respect. His portrayal of the relationship based on respect, not sex, between Modesty and Willie was another powerful influence on me. and the model for the relationship between Ava and Moon in my stories."

• The Times, 4 May 2010: Peter O’Donnell: creator of the comic strip heroine Modesty Blaise

• World of Hurt: In Memoriam - Peter O'Donnell
"I cannot overstate what an tremendous influence Modesty Blaise was on World of Hurt," writes Jay Potts, creator and artist on the mature readers recommended World of Hurt comic. "Once I decided to create a black and white adventure strip, I engaged in a crash course on the best examples of the genre.  Although, artistically I found my primary inspiration in the work of Alex Raymond and Al Williamson, from a writing standpoint Peter O’Donnell was my greatest influence."

Other Links

• Modesty Blaise Ltd: www.modestyblaiseltd.com
Official Modesty Blaise website, sanctioned by Peter O'Donnell

• Modesty Blaise Books: www.modestyblaisebooks.com

Information on the Modesty Blaise books, their cover artwork, and related media

• Modesty Blaise News: Blaise Blog
Modesty Blaise Books-related blog

• Enrique Badia Romero

Modesty Blaise artist

• Modesty Blaise Homepage

Includes an exclusive interview with Peter O'Donnell

• a href="http://www3.sympatico.ca/jim.pattison/modesty/index.htm" target="_blank">The Modesty Blaise Dossier by Jim Pattison

• Modesty Blaise books on amazon.co.uk


Modesty Blaise books on amazon.com


• Peter O'Donnell on Wikipedia

• Modesty Blaise on Wikipedia

Happy Birthday, Peter O'Donnell - 90 Today

(With thanks to David Westaway): Happy Birthday today to veteran British comics creator Peter O'Donnell on attaining his 90th birthday today (11th April).

Born in 1920 in Lewisham, Peter, who began writing professionally at 16, is, of course, most famous for his wonderful Modesty Blaise strips and books, but he also wrote newspaper strips such as Romeo Brown and the best of the Garth stories.

In a three-part article about O'Donnell, Kristy Valenti notes O'Donnell's body of work, featuring bold and capable heroines — primarily in the genres of spy thriller and gothic romance, and in the forms of comic strips, short stories and novels — has had millions of readers. Quinten Tarantino counts among O'Donnell's fans, but his most loyal audience is women and, especially and to this day, girls.

"As such, it makes a curious sense that the catalyst for his greatest creation, the criminal-turned-spy Modesty Blaise, was a girl," says Valenti. "In 1942, among the refugees fleeing from German troops through the mountains bordering Iran, was 'a little girl no more than seven.'Posted nearby was a unit of the Royal Corps of Signals, of which O'Donnell was a member.

"The war ended, and O'Donnell freelanced on projects like writing serials for women's magazines and a few comic strips — Garth, Tug Transom and Romeo Brown — for the next 21 years, while carrying with him a mental image of this child, who became a symbol for a 'tough survivor.'"

After a first failed attempt with Dan Dare artist Frank Hampson, O'Donnell paired with his Romeo Brown collaborator Jim Holdaway — and unleashed Modesty Blaise as a daily comic strip in the pages of the The Evening Standard on 13th May 1963. The strips are currently being collected by Titan Books, with the latest volume, Modesty Blaise: Death in Slow Motion, on sale on 23rd April.

The official web site for Modesty Blaise offers Peter's best advice for aspiring writers. "In 1948, I was working freelance and, amongst other things, was writing two, 3,000 word stories a week for Film Fun," he recalls.

"The editor was a tough but fair man, a big horse racing enthusiast always reading his racing paper, even when we were discussing stories. I used to go into his office each Thursday morning, about 10, with the ideas for that week’s stories. He would be sitting behind his desk reading his racing paper.

"I would give him the general plot of each of the stories, he would OK them and go back to his paper. I would then write one of the stories during the rest of that day, the other one on Friday and deliver both to him by Friday evening.

"On one occasion, I had been very distracted. My wife was giving birth to our second daughter by caesarean section, not a common occurrence in those days, and I was very worried about her. On that Thursday, when I went into his office I had no ideas in my head. I told him I had been very distracted due to personal circumstances and said that I really needed a little bit of help. I asked if we could go around a few ideas.

He lowered his paper slowly, fixed me with a stony eye and said: 'You’re supposed to be an author aren’t you?'

"I started to mumble an apology but he broke in: 'Well f*** off and auth' and raised his paper."


• More about Peter O'Donnell on the official Modesty Blaise website: www.modestyblaiseltd.com

• 'Girl Walking: The Real Modesty Blaise' - Peter O'Donnell on Modesty Blaise for Crime Time Magazine.

• Peter O'Donnell - Modesty Blaise Check List 

• Kristy Valenti's three-part article on Peter O'Donnell - Part One; Part Two and Part Three at comiXology