Following hot on the heels of Special Projects Dan Dare – Pilot of the Future, an in-depth look at the history and creators of Eagle comic’s Dan Dare, past, present and future, the dedicated Italian team of writers at Fumettomania Factory APS have announced a new undertaking.
Starting next month they will be charting the story of Peter O’Donnell’s international avenger, Modesty Blaise – and contributions in the form of articles, interviews, analyses, and new stories or illustrations are very much welcomed.
The announcement follows the publication of a new 50th anniversary edition of the first Modesty Blaise novel (AmazonUK Affiliate Link) in August, published by Souvenir Press.
Modesty Blaise should need no introduction to many downthetubes readers, the character created by author Peter O’Donnell and illustrator Jim Holdaway in 1963. (“Dan Dare” creator Frank Hampson was considered as series artist, but the commission came at a difficult time for the artist and his take was not deemed the right approach).
First appearing as a newspaper strip, Modesty Blaise was adapted into films and for television in 1966, 1982 and 2004, and from 1965 onwards, eleven novels, and two short-story collections. Some stories have also been adapted for radio.
“After science fiction, espionage!” enthuses project leader Daniele Tomasi. “While we’re completing the Special Projects Dan Dare – Pilot of the Future here at Fumettomania, we’re stepping up our commitments and offering, starting in early December, a new Special Project dedicated to another character created in England, of great importance in the history of world comic art, and published several times in Italy.
“This too will see the publication of a new contribution on a weekly basis, both in Italian on Mondays and in English on Thursdays.”
“Modesty Blaise is the name of the main character in the namesake comic strip created by English author Peter O’Donnell, which debuted in the London Evening Standard in 1963,” Daniele outlines. “She is an adventurer, a beautiful young woman who, as an orphaned child and unable to remember her real name or age, wandered the deserts of the Middle East and the cities of Europe, with only a former professor as a friend and companion. He was a very old man, and although she was about 12 years old, she protected him from the dangers of wandering and the wickedness of the people, and he reciprocated by giving her an education and a name.
“When her mentor died, Modesty continued on her own and ended up as a teenager running a gambling den for a small criminal organisation, “The Net“. When the leader was murdered, she kept the gang together and expanded its activities, never involving drug trafficking, prostitution, or any other form of human exploitation.
“During this period, she rescued another adventurer, Willie Garvin, whose unconditional trust she gained and who became her ‘right-hand man’.
“The first stories told in the ‘Modesty Blaise’ strips, however, do not begin in her childhood, but when she was 26, had left ‘The Net’ and was living in England, like her former lieutenant, Willie. The adventures begin with the arrival at her attic of Sir Gerald Tarrant, head of a British government intelligence agency, who asks her for help in solving a problem.”
“Modesty Blaise” was successfully published not only in the London Evening Standard but also in other newspapers around the world, including the West Australian Newspaper in Perth for almost forty years, making it one of the longest-running strips of all time. Its first, and probably most famous, artist was Jim Holdaway, who died prematurely in 1970 and was replaced by Enrique Romero, followed by John M. Burns (who was sacked from the strip because the publishers did not like his approach), Patrick Wright (for just nine months), and Neville Colvin.
In 1986, Romero returned to the strip, remaining until the final strip, dated 11th April 2001, which was the first to be printed in colour.
The newspaper strip’s early success also led to the release of a not so successful feature film starring Monica Vitti and Terence Stamp in 1966. An American-produced one-hour television Modesty Blaise pilot was produced for the ABC Network in 1982, and My Name is Modesty, directed by Scott Spiegel, was released in 2004.
Titan completed its English language collections of the newspaper strip in 2017 with The Killing Game. German publisher Bocola began its collections last year.
Fumettomania’s Special Project Modesty Blaise aims to introduce and captivate you to a classic comic book spy adventure, discussing: the personality and world of Modesty Blaise; the life of its creator and sole writer, Peter O’Donnell; the style of its five artists; the various adventures told in the comic strips; the short stories and novels; the English editions and Italian publications; the film adaptation, and more.
As always, Fumettomania offers the opportunity for all artists, both professional and amateur, to submit a contribution, consisting of a colour illustration or a comic strip, as well as for writers who wish to try their hand at writing a short story.
Head to this page on the Fumettomania Factory website for more details of what’s being planned, how to submit materials, and, importantly what they are looking for as contributions to this not-for-profit study of a still hugely popular British comics character.
• Special Project Modesty Blaise will launch on 8th December 2025. The first deadline to participate in this Special is December 30, 2025. The will announce more deadlines in the coming weeks
The ownership of the work contributed belongs to the artist/writer who created it. Fumettomania Factory do not accept articles or art created using AI. The copyright of the owners of characters and brands featured in their not-for-profit studies is always acknowledged and respected
Previous Fumettomania Special Projects
• Dan Dare – Pilot of the Future
• Dragon Age – dal videogame ai fumetti
• Dungeons & Dragons 50th Anniversary
• Licence to kill – 70 years of 007
• Doctor Who at 60 (published in 2023)
Head downthetubes for…
Peter O’Donnell, who died in 2010, began his career working on several major pre-war comics, including Tiger Tim, Chips and Captain Moonlight. During the 1950s he became involved in writing newspaper strips and eventually created the revolutionary Modesty Blaise, syndicated in more than 42 countries.
The strip led to a series of bestselling novels about Modesty and her faithful lieutenant, Willie Garvin, all published by Souvenir Press: Modesty Blaise, Sabre Tooth, I, Lucifer, The Impossible Virgin, Pieces of Modesty, A Taste for Death, The Silver Mistress, Dragon’s Claw, The Xanadu Talisman, The Night of the Morningstar, Dead Man’s Handle and the collection, Cobra Trap.
• Peter O’Donnell’s Modesty Blaise Ltd. Site appears to be under reconstruction. An archive for 1st October 2025 can be found here on Wayback
• downthetubes: In Memoriam: Modesty Blaise creator Peter O’Donnell
• Bear Alley: Pete O’Donnell Obituary
• Romeo Brown: The pre-life of Peter O’Donnell and Jim Holdaway – article by Martin Crookall
• Modesty Blaise at the Cartoon Museum
• The Book Palace: Modesty Blaise Original Art by Jin Holdaway, Enrique Romero, Neville Colvin, and John M. Burns
• Buy The Modesty Blaise Artists (Illustrators Special) Digital Edition here (Print Edition Sold Out) | Read the downthetubes review
Exhaustive examination of all the artists that depicted author Peter O’Donnell’s Modesty Blaise from Jim Holdaway, Enric Romero, John M Burns, Patrick Wright, Neville Colvin, … plus numerous paperback cover artists.
Packed with superb examples of all the artists’ work, this extraordinary publication includes fascinating articles including never before seen script to sketch comparisons, insights, how Modesty came to be, how Frank Bellamy became entangled with Modesty, a complete stripography, the Modesty paperbacks, and never before seen visuals of Modesty.
• The Modesty Blaise Companion Expanded Edition – available only from The Book Palace
• Modesty Blaise: The Newspaper Strip Collections, published by Titan Comics (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
• The Modesty Blaise Concordance (Wayback)
A detailed guide to the Modesty Blaise novels | See also: The Modesty Blaise Book Covers
• Scribd: Modesty Blaise Checklist
A checklist of all the Modesty Blaise comic strips and stories by author Peter O’Donnell. It includes 96 entries listing the story title, start date, strip numbers, reprinted editions, and scan status for each entry. The artist for each phase of the comic is also listed, including Jim Holdaway, Enrique Badia-Romero, John Burns, Patrick Wright, and Neville Colvin.
See Also: The Garth Groombridge Modesty Blaise Checklist on Martin Crookall’s website, running over ten parts, plus afterword
• Modesty Blaise Books – Publication Order
Published last year, this edition includes an article by Peter Bosch about the history of the comic strip Modesty Blaise, her writer/creator Peter O’Donnell, the artists who illustrated her over a 38-year run (1963-2001), the novels, the movies, and more… including a DC Comics graphic novel written by O’Donnell and drawn by Dick Giordano and Dan Spiegle
• Modesty Blaise: Facebook Fan Group
• The Art of Jim Holdaway Facebook Group
• John M. Burns explains his departure from “Modesty Blaise”
• Enrique Badia Romero – Official Web Site
• The Lost Characters of Frank Hampson: Modesty Blaise
• downthetubes, 2017: Frank Hampson’s “Modesty Blaise” art sample up For Sale for a cool $5000
• The Daily Telegraph: The silliest, sexiest spy movie ever made: Monica Vitti and the folly of Modesty Blaise (Subscription Required)
• Modesty Blaise: The World’s Finest Pop Group
Modesty Blaise formed in late 1993/early 1994 and rapidly recorded their topjuke-box hit single Christina Terrace with Edwyn Collins at the helm. It was an instant success, the video was played on ITV and the single appeared near the top of many end-of-year polls.
The copyright for the Modesty Blaise franchise is held by the estate of its creator, the author Peter O’Donnell. The rights are administered by his estate and are not in the public domain.
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Newspaper Strips, Classic British Comics, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Other Worlds
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