“Modesty Blaise Companion” gets limited reprint

By John Freeman on January 11, 2021

The Book Palace has announced the impending publication of a limited reprint of their expanded edition of its Modesty Blaise Companion, first published in 2018.

The first edition of the Modesty Blaise Companion, published back in 2005, sold out very quickly and now sells at high premiums on the secondary market.

Fans clamoured for an updated edition, and The Modesty Blaise Companion Expanded Edition was first published in 2018 and also sold out, but is now back in stock again, in a limited special soft cover edition.

Offering everything you could possibly want to know about Peter O’Donnell’s classic creation, Modesty Blaise, from novels to newspaper strips, The Modesty Blaise Companion Expanded Edition includes full story outlines, over 2000 character descriptions, over 1800 illustrations by Jim Holdaway, Enric Romero, John M Burns, Neville Colvin and Patrick Wright, plus the original Souvenir Press book covers. It also includes Modesty’s origin story, “In the Beginning”.

The Modesty Blaise Companion Expanded Edition - Missing Strips — *The Modesty Blaise Companion Expanded Edition includes Missing Strips from various Titan Books editions*

The new, Expanded Edition also features a new introduction and obituary of Peter O’Donnell by Laurence Blackmore, plus new features not in the first edition: a full index of the Titan Book reprints; reproductions of nine missing strips not appearing in the Titan Books; details of the three radio plays adaptations; information on the DVD “In the Beginning” produced by Quentin Tarantino.

Only 400 copies of this reprint of The Modesty Blaise Companion Expanded Edition will be available, price £40, and you can order a copy from the Book Palace direct here.

The Modesty Blaise Companion Expanded Edition
Author: Lawrence Blackmore (original works by Peter O’Donnell)
Artists: Jim Holdaway, Enric Romero, John M Burns, Neville Colvin, Patrick Wright
Publisher: Book Palace Books, due January 2021
Number of pages: 444
Format: Soft Cover; Black & White illustrations
Size: 8″ x 12″ (210mm x 297mm)
ISBN: 9781907081255

An earlier version of this story suggested this was a new edition of the Modesty Blaise Companion. We apologise for our error, made based on our reading of the sales information as published

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “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.