Staff Picks (August14): The Art of Modesty Blaise

Publisher: Book Palace

It was the Cold War era and new heroes hit the movie theatres, television, and the newsstands. There was Bond, James Bond. John Steed, Cathy Gale, and Emma Peel. And Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin.

Created by Peter O’Donnell, Modesty Blaise was one of the first female action heroes -- part spy, part thief, and all entertainment. She was such a strong character, Chris Claremont ‘borrowed” from Modesty’s origin when creating Storm's backstory in Uncanny X-Men.

Peter O’Donnell has always had the benefit of outstanding artists illustrating Modesty Blaise and Book Palace’s The Art of Modesty Blaise covers the work of those artists. From the Modesty Blaise artist Jim Holdaway to Enric Badia Romero’s two turns on the character and the artists in between those runs by Romero, John Burns, Pat Wright, and Neville Colvi, The Art of Modesty Blaise scans over 160 original strips, giving us a look at the quality of work these artists provided on Modesty. 

Limited to just 600 copies, The Art of Modesty Blaise makes a great addition to the strip collections from Ken Pierce, Comics Revue, and Titan Books.

~ Steve Leaf