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Brenda Starr: The complete Pre-Code Comics Vol. 1
by Robert Greenberger
Dalia Messick desperately wanted to write and draw a comic strip so changed her name to the much more ambiguous Dale and mailed in samples for a strip about a bandit. She found a sympathetic ally in Mollie Slott, assistant manager of the Chicago Tribune-New York news Syndicate, who convinced Captain Joseph Medill Patterson to purchase Messick’s strip, after changing the bandit to a red-haired reported named Brenda Starr.
Although Patterson reluctantly purchased Brenda Starr, reporter for the syndicate in 1940, he refused to include it in his daily News. The strip was only added to the new York paper in 1946, after the captain died. The strip debuted nationally on June 30, 1940 as a Sunday-only strip but its success prompted the syndicate to add a daily edition beginning October 22, 1945.
Arriving two years after Lois Lane first covered spectacular stories for the daily Planet, Brenda Starr went on to international fame, reaching thousands of readers in over 250 papers at its peak. Messick was fantastic with body language and fashion, inventing creative storylines to propel Brenda around the world. Each of her suitors were handsome and wonderful, any of whom could have been The One. eventually Messick retired, handing the strip off to Ramona Fradon then to Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich and artist June Brigman until it drew to a close on January 2, 2011.
Hermes press began collecting the seminal strips in 2011 and, following their now-familiar pattern, is also collecting the comic book adventures. The first volume, Brenda Starr: The complete Pre-Code Comics Vol. 1: good Girls, Bondage, and other fine Things, collects the first comics from 1947.
Brenda Starr, reporter was first published in two issues from four star publications in 1947 followed by exceptional publishing from 1948 through 1949 and the first eight of these are collected here. What makes these first comics interesting is not only seeing her adventures in a longer form, but to admire some of the early comic work by artists Jack Kamen and Matt Baker. Messick herself is credited for writing the stories, which was a common practice back in the golden Age.
Much of the pr emphasizes these tales of adventure and bondage is not for the faint of heart, but it was pretty standard stuff in the day. Yes, Messick allowed Brenda to get tied up and shackled much more often here than in the newspapers, she still managed to keep her clothing and virtue so it was much more titillation than anything else. Those first covers are quite common of the age, emphasizing her bust line. She offered some of the covers in addition to her eight-page scripts, but seeing the art from Kamen, best known for his EC Comics work and adaptation of Creepshow, and Baker, one of the best good girl artists of the era, is fun. numerous of her stories were continued from chapter to chapter, concluding in each issue so it maintained the pacing of a comic strip with cliffhangers to keep you turning the pages.
The title was rounded out with backup features by other creators and are included here as well. Some are bland, such as South African trader Joe Niekirk and photographer Steve Ayers. They don’t even merit cover credit, because this was being sold entirely based on the journalist’s fame and popularity. one of the few female-centric titles of the day that wasn’t a teen humor strip, she is worthy of credit report for giving girls a career-centric role model who didn’t need a hero to rescue her.
Purchase
Brenda Starr: The complete Pre-Code Comics Vol. 1
