Yet another long running newspaper comic strip will be coming to an end soon. First it was Little Orphan Annie, closing her pupil-less eyes after 86 years (it first appeared in newspapers the same week my dad was born), then Cathy bit the dust in October. Now, Brenda Starr, Reporter comes to the end of its seventy year run on Sunday, January 2.
The strip, begun in 1940 by Dale Messick, who changed her name from the more feminine sounding Dalia in order to get a foot in the door of the male dominated world of comic strips, has been written for the past several years by Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Scmich and drawn by Power Pack co-creator June Brigman. When these two announced their intention to leave the strip, the syndicate, Tribune Media Services, decided to discontinue it rather than replace them.
The strip was also drawn for many years by Metamorpho co-creator Ramona Fradon. Brenda Starr is the only comic strip that has been written and drawn for its entire run solely by female creators.
Not quite solely by female creators. By 1972 Messick was only drawing the faces of her characters. From the neck down, the characters were filled in by her assistant. That assistant was none other than Mr. Warlord himself: Iron Mike Grell.
ReplyDelete