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Modesty Blaise Story Strips #4
Modesty Blaise 4: The Black Pearl
She's beautiful with a bullet! Modesty Blaise the cult creation of best-selling author Peter O'Donnell returns for another searing slice of '60s chic thrills set in a shadowy underworld of espionage and mystery. ancient mystic who once saved her life by retrieving the mysterious Black Pearl. Before her stand marauding bandits, the might of the Himalayas and the power of Red China! the fourth volume in this spectacular Titan series is packed with rare interviews, exclusive story introductions and masses of rare and previously unseen artwork!
112 pages, Paperback
First published April 20, 1978
1 person is currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Peter O'Donnell
373 books116 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Peter O'Donnell also wrote as Madeleine Brent.
http://www.cs.umu.se/~kenth/modesty.html
is an excellent resource on this author.
To help keep the novels and the adventure strip collections separate, here's some info about the Modesty Blaise works.
In 1963, O'Donnell began his 38-year run as writer of the Modesty Blaise adventure story strip, which appeared six days a week in English and Scottish newspapers. He retired the strip in 2001.
Each strip story took 18-20 weeks to complete. Several publishers over the years have attempted to collect these stories in large softcovers. Titan Publishing is currently in the process of bringing them all out in large-format softcover, with 2-3 stories in each books. These are called "graphic novels" in the Goodreads title.
Meanwhile, during those 38 years, O'Donnell also wrote 13 books about Modesty Blaise: 11 novels and 2 short story/novella collections. These stories are not related to the strip stories; they are not novelizations of strip stories. They are entirely new, though the characters and "lives" are the same. These have been labeled "series #0".
There is a large article on Peter O'Donnell on Wikipedia, with a complete bibliography.
Peter O'Donnell also wrote as Madeleine Brent.
http://www.cs.umu.se/~kenth/modesty.html
is an excellent resource on this author.
To help keep the novels and the adventure strip collections separate, here's some info about the Modesty Blaise works.
In 1963, O'Donnell began his 38-year run as writer of the Modesty Blaise adventure story strip, which appeared six days a week in English and Scottish newspapers. He retired the strip in 2001.
Each strip story took 18-20 weeks to complete. Several publishers over the years have attempted to collect these stories in large softcovers. Titan Publishing is currently in the process of bringing them all out in large-format softcover, with 2-3 stories in each books. These are called "graphic novels" in the Goodreads title.
Meanwhile, during those 38 years, O'Donnell also wrote 13 books about Modesty Blaise: 11 novels and 2 short story/novella collections. These stories are not related to the strip stories; they are not novelizations of strip stories. They are entirely new, though the characters and "lives" are the same. These have been labeled "series #0".
There is a large article on Peter O'Donnell on Wikipedia, with a complete bibliography.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 8, 2020
A reprint of the Modesty Blaise comic strips 10-12, 14B.
This is another very good collection of Modesty Blaise adventures. One of them, Jericho Caper, is one of my favorites.
“The Black Pearl”: The first story is firmly rooted in 1960s mysticism. It starts in Northern Bengal with an ancient Buddhist holy man Lal. A young novice requires Lal to take up a difficult mission. Lal, is of course too old and frail to do it but someone owes him a great debt, a young woman whose life Lal saved some years ago. And Lal has a mystical means to ask for the repayment.
Modesty is coming home with a new lover, Mark, who trains soldiers for a living. At Modesty’s loft, Willie is engraving a gem. When Mark starts to admire an old amber which should have an insect inside, he notices that it’s gone. Modesty and Willie know that Lal needs them. The travel to him as soon as possible and Mark comes along, too.
Modesty and Willie are faced with a task that seem almost impossible: they must retrieve something called the Black Pearl from a Tibetan monastery in the middle of Chinese occupation. However, they don’t hesitate and Mark comes with them, too.
The task is very dangerous but it has a couple of delightful moments. Modesty must convince a group of misogynistic guerrillas to follow her. Also, they don’t know what the Black Pearl is and it’s a great! Near the beginning of the story, we get another great little snippet of Modesty’s Network days. That’s how Lal saved her life.
“The Magnified Man”: This story starts with a man who commands someone, or something, very strong to just take up a huge boulder and throw it down on a speeding car, killing the man inside.
Modesty, Willie, and sir Gerard Tarrant are on a holiday in Basque Country. Willie recognizes a girl who works for French intelligence and greets her, not realizing that she’s undercover. The moment he does, he tries to leave quickly but he thinks he has messed up her work and put her in danger. To make sure that she’s alright, Modesty and Willie tail her.
Unfortunately, Willie’s hunch is true and the head of the criminal gang orders her killed. Despite Modesty’s and Willie’s best efforts she’s badly wounded. They need to pay back.
This is more straightforward adventure story. The duo goes after a ruthless but very vain villain who is robbing a gold train and uses unusual help.
“The Jericho Caper”: This is one of my favorite stories because Modesty comes up with one of her most ingenious schemes to save the lives of her enemies and, of course, to save herself and her companions, too. Modesty is in a very small town in Middle-America, living very simply. She has also find a new lover, a former soldier who was blinded in war. Now he’s a clay sculptor. One day, three desperadoes walk to town, taking any supplies they want and three girls. Modesty wants to go after them but her new lover, Torres, restrains her. Torres explains that the three men came from a nearby town full of near-lawless men and that if Modesty had killed them, the rest would’ve destroyed the town in revenge. The small town’s priest thinks it’s his duty to go and try to get the girls back. Modesty joins him over the priest’s objections. Torres also joins them.
Like I said, this story shows Modesty’s ingeniousness. Originally, she has just one gun, a priest, and a blind man. However, Willie shows up quickly but that doesn't even the odds much, considering that the “president” of the desperado town has hundreds of men. The story has some great comedic moments, too.
“The Killing Ground”: This is a lot shorter story. Modesty and Willie wake up, imprisoned in a boat. An old enemy, Bellman, has kidnapped them but not just to kill them. The duo will be put on a small, uninhabited Scottish island and three professional hunters will hunt them down and kill them. The duo must use all their skills to survive.
Great fun with lots of action. However, there’s also some racism which was common during the times the stories were written.
This is another very good collection of Modesty Blaise adventures. One of them, Jericho Caper, is one of my favorites.
“The Black Pearl”: The first story is firmly rooted in 1960s mysticism. It starts in Northern Bengal with an ancient Buddhist holy man Lal. A young novice requires Lal to take up a difficult mission. Lal, is of course too old and frail to do it but someone owes him a great debt, a young woman whose life Lal saved some years ago. And Lal has a mystical means to ask for the repayment.
Modesty is coming home with a new lover, Mark, who trains soldiers for a living. At Modesty’s loft, Willie is engraving a gem. When Mark starts to admire an old amber which should have an insect inside, he notices that it’s gone. Modesty and Willie know that Lal needs them. The travel to him as soon as possible and Mark comes along, too.
Modesty and Willie are faced with a task that seem almost impossible: they must retrieve something called the Black Pearl from a Tibetan monastery in the middle of Chinese occupation. However, they don’t hesitate and Mark comes with them, too.
The task is very dangerous but it has a couple of delightful moments. Modesty must convince a group of misogynistic guerrillas to follow her. Also, they don’t know what the Black Pearl is and it’s a great! Near the beginning of the story, we get another great little snippet of Modesty’s Network days. That’s how Lal saved her life.
“The Magnified Man”: This story starts with a man who commands someone, or something, very strong to just take up a huge boulder and throw it down on a speeding car, killing the man inside.
Modesty, Willie, and sir Gerard Tarrant are on a holiday in Basque Country. Willie recognizes a girl who works for French intelligence and greets her, not realizing that she’s undercover. The moment he does, he tries to leave quickly but he thinks he has messed up her work and put her in danger. To make sure that she’s alright, Modesty and Willie tail her.
Unfortunately, Willie’s hunch is true and the head of the criminal gang orders her killed. Despite Modesty’s and Willie’s best efforts she’s badly wounded. They need to pay back.
This is more straightforward adventure story. The duo goes after a ruthless but very vain villain who is robbing a gold train and uses unusual help.
“The Jericho Caper”: This is one of my favorite stories because Modesty comes up with one of her most ingenious schemes to save the lives of her enemies and, of course, to save herself and her companions, too. Modesty is in a very small town in Middle-America, living very simply. She has also find a new lover, a former soldier who was blinded in war. Now he’s a clay sculptor. One day, three desperadoes walk to town, taking any supplies they want and three girls. Modesty wants to go after them but her new lover, Torres, restrains her. Torres explains that the three men came from a nearby town full of near-lawless men and that if Modesty had killed them, the rest would’ve destroyed the town in revenge. The small town’s priest thinks it’s his duty to go and try to get the girls back. Modesty joins him over the priest’s objections. Torres also joins them.
Like I said, this story shows Modesty’s ingeniousness. Originally, she has just one gun, a priest, and a blind man. However, Willie shows up quickly but that doesn't even the odds much, considering that the “president” of the desperado town has hundreds of men. The story has some great comedic moments, too.
“The Killing Ground”: This is a lot shorter story. Modesty and Willie wake up, imprisoned in a boat. An old enemy, Bellman, has kidnapped them but not just to kill them. The duo will be put on a small, uninhabited Scottish island and three professional hunters will hunt them down and kill them. The duo must use all their skills to survive.
Great fun with lots of action. However, there’s also some racism which was common during the times the stories were written.
March 4, 2019
Modesty Blaise was a comic strip that ran in newspapers from the early 60s to about 2001. It was in a serial strip format (i.e. a continuing story that ran three frames a day). In recent years, the strips have been collected into volumes so that the whole story appears together.
This volume contains three full-length stories (The Black Pearl, The Magnified Man, The Jericho Caper) and a short series (The Killing Ground). These stories from around 1967-1968, show super-sleuth and kick-butt avenger Modesty Blaise and her cockney sidekick Willie Garvin in a series of adventures--sneaking the Black Pearl out of Tibet so that the rightful lama can be identified; stopping a diabolical German from stealing millions of dollars in gold bullion; rescuing three kidnapped girls from a band of desperadoes in Central America; and saving themselves from assassins on a deserted island. All in a day's work for the stylish Modesty.
I'd heard of Modesty Blaise, but had never seen the original cartoons. She's like a cross between James Bond and Emma Peel. These stories were packed with adventure and derring-do. Not as politically correct as we might like today, but they're a product of their times and held a lot of interest. This volume also came with part of an interview from Peter O'Donnell, the strip's writer. He also introduced each story with some insights about how he came up with the ideas, which was interesting in itself.
I'd like to read more in the series. A good light read in between other books.
This volume contains three full-length stories (The Black Pearl, The Magnified Man, The Jericho Caper) and a short series (The Killing Ground). These stories from around 1967-1968, show super-sleuth and kick-butt avenger Modesty Blaise and her cockney sidekick Willie Garvin in a series of adventures--sneaking the Black Pearl out of Tibet so that the rightful lama can be identified; stopping a diabolical German from stealing millions of dollars in gold bullion; rescuing three kidnapped girls from a band of desperadoes in Central America; and saving themselves from assassins on a deserted island. All in a day's work for the stylish Modesty.
I'd heard of Modesty Blaise, but had never seen the original cartoons. She's like a cross between James Bond and Emma Peel. These stories were packed with adventure and derring-do. Not as politically correct as we might like today, but they're a product of their times and held a lot of interest. This volume also came with part of an interview from Peter O'Donnell, the strip's writer. He also introduced each story with some insights about how he came up with the ideas, which was interesting in itself.
I'd like to read more in the series. A good light read in between other books.
March 29, 2018
A nicely done adventure strip in the style of James Bond, with heists, international intrigue and some titillation. O'Donnell's scripts are tight, and Holdaway's art - despite not a great reproduction - looks good. Modesty didn't grab me in the same way that Terry and the Pirates, Flash Gordon or Dick Tracy did, but I wouldn't mind reading more of it. Unfortunately, the library doesn't have any more volumes in stock.
June 21, 2009
More MODESTY--and it just keeps getting better. The title story here brings Modesty to Tibet in one of her most interesting adventures.
January 1, 2013
Great fun as always. A few more comments here: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/?p=2123
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews