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Modesty Blaise is a famous newspaper comic strip created by writer Peter O’Donnell and artist Jim Holdaway in 1963. It follows the adventures of a young adventurer, spy, smuggler, and whatever else the occasion demands…
Modesty Blaise was the series that brought the greatest popularity to artist Enric Badia Romero. He began working on it in 1970, when the Daily Express commissioned him to continue the Modesty Blaise newspaper strips because its official artist, Jim Holdaway, was ill. After Holdaway’s premature death, Romero continued drawing the strip during different periods of his life for more than twenty years.
The beginnings were difficult. Its creator, writer Peter O’Donnell, as well as the strip’s fans, were very attached to Holdaway’s artwork. To make matters more challenging, Romero joined the series in the middle of an unfinished story.
“Continuing the strip was very difficult. I couldn’t draw the story in my own way. I had to study his eyes, the features, the line work, the shading. It was a panel-by-panel study. There was even one strip, I think the first one I did ,where I was told to redo it and copy a Holdaway strip exactly, so that the transition in the following strips wouldn’t feel so abrupt.
I had to prepare myself mentally and work very hard because Holdaway was a very fine and precise artist, with a very clean line. He worked with a pen nib, while I worked with a brush, which was already an added difficulty. Since I had spent years drawing very young girls, my version of Modesty Blaise looked too youthful. Peter would tell me, ‘This isn’t Modesty! She’s a tough woman!’ It was because of the poses ,I was used to a world of young girls and romantic stories.
Modesty was a serious character, and Peter would scold me every other minute. At one point, I almost gave it up… But after five years fully immersed in Modesty, writer and artist reached a complete understanding. As a result, we succeeded in introducing the character to the United States. On my side, almost without realizing it, I gradually adapted the strip to my own style, achieving greater freedom and spontaneity. Sales increased, and that encouraged both of us to dedicate ourselves even more passionately to improving the series.”
