YOUR TIME MACHINE TO THE PAST!
Contact Us: Swapsale@aol.com
Brenda Starr is a comic strip about a glamorous, adventurous reporter. Created by Dale Messick for the Chicago Tribune syndicate, it initially encountered resistance from Tribune editor Joseph Medill Patterson because its creator and main character were both women. Although set in Chicago, in its early years it was the only syndicate strip not to appear in the Tribune itself. The strip was relegated to a supplement, but quickly worked its way into the Sunday paper. A daily strip was added in 1945.
The strip debuted on June 30, 1940, syndicated by the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. Messick retired in 1980, succeeded only by women, first by Ramona Fradon. When Ramona Fradon retired in 1995, she was followed by Linda Sutter, and June Brigman.
Brenda has always been a modern woman, noted for her exotic adventures and steamy romances. Messick and the other artists concentrated on keeping Brenda contemporary in clothing and hairstyles.
Before Messick retired, Brenda finally married the mysterious Basil St. John, whose eyepatch and black orchid serum have been a regular plot element. Brenda had Basil's baby, shortly thereafter. It was a girl named Starr Twinkle St. John.
Later, Brenda and Basil divorce. Then they would meet again, and sparks will fly. During one of Basil's reappearances, Brenda discovered Basil had a son with the talk show host, Wanda Fonda. (Brenda and Wanda are today good friends.)
Since then, Brenda has been kicked upstairs from a reporter to becoming the Editor. As always, Basil continues to be missing while Brenda continues her many adventures. Occasionally her grown up daughter makes appearances in her adventures.
The strip's current writer is Mary Schmich, who is herself a Chicago reporter and columnist at the Tribune. The strip often lampoons newspapers, with inexperienced reporters and corporate newspaper owners frequent targets, and it is a favorite of people working in the newspaper industry, particularly reporters.
There have been three film versions of the strip: Brenda Starr, Reporter, a 1945 serial with Joan Woodbury, a 1976 TV movie with Jill St. John, and a 1989 Brenda Starr (film) with Brooke Shields and Timothy Dalton. The latter version, which was not released in the US until 1992 due to lengthy litigation over distribution rights, was a notorious critical and commercial failure.
The 1976 Blondie song "Rip Her to Shreds" features the lyrics: "She looks like the Sunday Comics, she thinks she's Brenda Starr".
In 1995, Brenda Starr was one of 20 comic strips honored as Comic Strip Classics in a special release of commemorative postage stamps.
MORE ART: http://www.hakes.com/item.asp?ListID=34&ItemNo=62676
In 2003, the Effanbee Doll Company introduced a 16" Brenda Starr collectible fashion doll, with glamorous 1940's fashions inspired by the comic strip. The collection was extended in 2004 to include a doll of Brenda's apprentice Daphne Dimples. In 2005 a Basil St. John doll debuted with an extensive wardrobe.
In 2006, Tribune Media Services and actress Jenna Mattison are looking for producers to create a TV movie or series based on Brenda Starr. Mattison has made two independent films, Fish Without a Bicycle and The Third Wish.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Starr_(comic_strip)
2005 on line comic strip
1980 daily strip
MORE ART: http://www.comicstripfan.com/newspaper/b/brendastarr.htm
Dale Messick: A Comic Strip Life
by Jackie Leger
Dale Messick, America's first woman syndicated comic strip artist, is a celebrity in her own time. Creator of the legendary Brenda Starr, Messick worked hard to become what "herstorian," Trina Robbins considers to be "the most important woman cartoonist of the Twentieth Century." Dale Messick was witty and energetic when I visited her a few years ago at her Santa Rosa home to interview her for a documentary film I was making about her unique life. At that time, she was still drawing daily, creating a new comic strip, Granny Glamour,for senior citizens like herself and selling her work at local charity events. Dale's dedication to the art of cartooning, her success as an internationally acclaimed artist and her lively and off beat personality bestow on her the title of the First Lady of Funnies.
MORE: http://www.awn.com/mag/issue5.04/5.04pages/legermessick.php3
Brenda Starr had the working woman theme
of Winnie Winkle,
the soap opera style of The
Gumps, the exotic adventure of Terry
& the Pirates … all of which were highly successful strips for The
Chicago Tribune Syndicate. Plus, it had sex. Yet, it was initially rejected
by Tribune editor Joseph Medill Patterson; and when the syndicate did accept it,
was relegated to an experimental comic book supplement (similar to The
Spirit, which appeared two months later, but with smaller individual
segments). When it did move into regular syndication, it was the only Tribune
Syndicate strip not carried in the Trib itself. From all reports, the main thing
Patterson had against it was that its creator, Dale Messick, was a woman.
It was Patterson's assistant, Mollie Slott, who saw potential in the strip, and
worked with Messick to get the editor's approval on it. It turned out to be a
good deal both ways, as it gave Patterson's syndicate a lucrative property, made
Messick the premier female cartoonist
of her generation, and launched a strip that has been running continuously since
June 30, 1940.
MORE: http://www.toonopedia.com/br_starr.htm
Since 1985, writer Mary Schmich has worked with artist June Brigman to
create exciting and intriguing adventures for BRENDA STARR, everyone’s
favorite reporter. Attracting widespread attention since her debut in 1940,
Brenda Starr has become the best-known woman reporter on the comic
pages. International travel and romance are always on Brenda Starr’s agenda
as she takes on new assignments for her daily newspaper, The Flash.
June Brigman is the third female artist in the 56-year history of BRENDA
STARR to draw the popular comic strip. Born in Atlanta in 1960, Brigman
has been drawing since she was old enough to hold a pencil. As a
teen Brigman worked for a summer as a portrait artist at an
amusement park, which helped her develop
the life-like illustration
skills apparent in her artwork.
MORE: http://images.ucomics.com/images/uclick/pdfs/BrendaStarr_factsheet.pdf
#13 (#1) (Superior, 1947)
MORE: http://www.comicvine.com/brenda-starr/29-52290/
MOVIES
1945 Movie Serial
Based on the popular comic strip by Dale Messick,
this Sam Katzman-produced Columbia serial starred the beautiful and talented
Joan Woodbury, an actress who never really lived up to her early potential.
Brenda Starr, Reporter didn't exactly change that sad fact; a rather
straightforward tale of a girl reporter who is mistakenly believed to possess
the key to the whereabouts of a hidden fortune, the serial was a typically
shoddy Katzman effort. A gang of crooks headed by the always watchable Wheeler
Oakman spend 13 chapters attempting to force the secret out of poor Brenda, who
is always saved in the nick of time by handsome Kane Richmond. In the end,
Brenda Starr, Reporter had a couple of attractive leads, and a wonderfully hammy
master criminal, but very little else.
(from nytimes.com)
MORE: http://www.superheroeslives.com/independents/brenda_starr_reporter_(1945).htm
BRENDA STAR MOVIE 1986 STARRING BROOKE SHIELDS
MORE: http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_poster/brenda_starr_1986.htm
Dale Messick died at age 98, April 5, 2005
Dale Messick, 92
MORE: http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/02.19.98/comics-9807.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------