Very sad news just in from Ellie Graham at Titan Books:
Titan Books is hugely saddened to report the passing of writer Peter O’Donnell, who died over the Bank Holiday weekend at the age of 90.
“Peter O'Donnell was respected as one of the greatest writers in the comics medium today and had a devout following amongst comics professionals and fans alike”, says Titan’s Managing Director, Nick Landau. “I am honoured to have known him – and published his greatest creations, Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin – for almost 40 years.”
Born in South London in 1920, O’Donnell had a long and illustrious career, the highlight of which was his creation of classic crime character ‘Modesty Blaise’. The smart and sassy comic strip ran daily in the Evening Standard newspaper during the 1960s. O’Donnell retired from writing in 2001, but had continued to oversee Titan’s release of more than a dozen Modesty Blaise collections, contributing introductions and commentaries to his classic stories.
Adventurer, spy, smuggler and seductress, Modesty Blaise is the high priestess of pulp, providing crime thriller storylines with sass, wit and a touch of glamour, that have wooed celebrity fans such as Quentin Tarantino.
Titan Books has previously published 16 collections of the classic strip and has four further collections scheduled for release in 2010 and 2011.
http://titanbooks.com/categories/us/universe-58-Modesty_Blaise/
The 17th Modesty Blaise book, Death in Slow Motion (shown below) has just been published by Titan, and features strips from February to November 1983 by Peter O'Donnell and Neville Colvin. As well as Death in Slow Motion the book also includes the complete serials The Balloonatic and The Alternative Man. There's also an appreciation of the work of Neville Colvin written by Captain America artist Steve Epting, and Steve has also contributed an excellent piece of Modesty Blaise artwork exclusively for this volume.
Modesty Blaise: Death in Slow Motion is £11.99 / $19.95 U.S. / $24.95 Canada.
Unlike its other illustratious counterparts Modesty was one of the first characters to have been invented for comic strips exclusively. Peter O Donnell was a man who believed that his vision of the character, would go well with the readers of that time, and it was indeed true.
ReplyDeleteLoved those Titan forewords of his, which will be missed for sure, along with his larger than life presence himself.
RIP Peter.