EXTRACTS: The Modesty Blaise Companion Expanded Edition © 2018 The Book Palace (425 PAGES in Full edition)

E X P A N D E D E D I T I O N 417 T H E M O D E S T Y B L A I S E C O M P A N I AFTERWORD When Peter O’Donnell asked my wife, Mary, which was her favourite strip story she told him it was the one in which Modesty and Willie were blindfolded, tied on each end of a rope and forced to fight each other with machetes. Shortly afterwards a set of photographic prints of the story arrived in the post with Peter’s compliments. Mary arranged the prints in a folder, created a cover for it and it became the first of the ninety five books of Modesty Blaise strip stories that form our collection. Having seen one story arranged like this I wanted them all. Some were easy to get. Titan and Ken Pierce had between them published forty one of the first fifty five stories but there was a gap from No 29 to No 45 and I wanted to fill it. I was given access to the storeroom containing the original artwork and what I found appalled me. It was poorly wrapped, incomplete, unrecorded and there was even the possibility that it might be dumped to provide more office space. Once it had been photographed for syndication use nobody seemed to care much about the originals. With Peter’s support I was allowed to catalogue and repack every piece of Modesty Blaise artwork starting at Frame 1. With my wife’s help we were able to preserve the entire output of the five artists who drew Modesty for the Evening Standard and while doing to compile the folders of the stories required for my own library collection. When it was decided that the original artwork was to be returned to the artists we were able to provide complete lists of what had survived. It has been a great privilege to have had access to the original drawings of Modesty Blaise from the very first strip to the very last. This book is in many respects a homage to her creator, Peter O’Donnell, and the five artists who have between them given me immense pleasure over a period of many years. Lawrence Blackmore