Souvenir Press are continuing their latest re-release of Peter O’Donnell‘s Modesty Blaise novels, with the fifth in the series, The Impossible Virgin, in bookshops now.
The classic spy-thriller series was extensively brought back into print by Souvenir Press (now operating under Profile Books) during the 2000s. Their comprehensive paperback re-releases of the novels and short-story collections has retained their iconic original cover art and retro 1960s aesthetic for collectors and new readers alike.
In The Impossible Virgin, Mischa Novikov has never even considered defecting from Russia until he discovers satellite images of a valley in central Africa which contains untold riches – and he’s the only man on Earth who knows about them. Eight months later, Novikov dies in a small hospital not far from his hidden treasure, a victim of torture.
When Modesty Blaise intervenes to save Novikov’s doctor from being tortured to reveal his patient’s secrets, she herself is taken prisoner. It will take all her cunning, and that of her loyal lieutenant Willie Garvin, to escape the clutches of her vicious kidnapper and his dangerous pets.
Peter O’Donnell began his career working on several major pre-World War Two comics: Tiger Tim, Chips and Captain Moonlight. During the 1950s, he became involved in newspaper strip cartoons and eventually created his revolutionary Modesty Blaise, syndicated in more than 42 countries, initially drawn by co-creator Jim Holdaway, followed by Enrique Badia Romero, John M. Burns, Neville Colvin, Patrick Wright, with Dan Spiegle, and Dick Giordano creating a graphic novel published by DC Comics in 1994.
The newspaper strips have been collected by Titan.
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 another collection, Cobra Trap.
• Modesty Blaise: The Impossible Virgin (2026 edition) by Peter O’Donnell | ISBN: 978-1806493135 | Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link) | UKBookshop.org Affiliate Link
Head downthetubes for…
• downthetubes: In Memoriam: Modesty Blaise creator Peter O’Donnell
• Crime Time: Barry Forshaw remembers Peter O’Donnell (published 28th October 2010)
• Modesty Blaise Comic Collections (Kindle Versions, AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
• downthetubes: Fumettomania Factory announce new in-depth comics study: Modesty Blaise
- 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.
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