Although set in
Chicago,
Brenda Starr, Reporter initially was the only Chicago Tribune Syndicate strip not to appear in the
Chicago Tribune newspaper. When the strip debuted on June 30, 1940, it was relegated to a comic book supplement that was included with the Sunday
Chicago Tribune. During the 1950s, at the height of its popularity, the strip appeared in 250 newspapers. In 2010, the strip appeared in 65 newspapers, 36 of them international. After studying at The
Art Institute of Chicago, she got a job designing greeting cards. During the 1930s, Messick submitted three more comic strips—
Peg and Pudy and
Streamline Babies were about "Depression-era heroines born ahead of their time, working girls come to the big city to earn their living", while
Mimi the Mermaid explored a fantasy theme. Feeling that editors were prejudiced against female cartoonists, Dalia signed these strips with a more ambiguous first name, "Dale". Still, these strips were each rejected.
End The final strip was published on January 2, 2011. Dale Messick and later artists concentrated on keeping Brenda contemporary in clothing and hairstyles. Comics historians Steve Duin and
Mike Richardson stated that "Dale Messick kept readers enthralled for years over the romance between Brenda Starr and her Mystery Man". Before Messick retired, Brenda finally married the mysterious Basil St. John, her "Mystery Man", whose eye patch and black orchid serum have been a regular plot element. Brenda and Basil divorced, and sparks flew when they met again. During one of Basil's reappearances, Brenda discovered Basil had a son named Sage with the talk show host Wanda Fonda. That marriage also ended in divorce. Brenda and Wanda became good friends. Eventually, Brenda was promoted from reporter to editor. Brenda was the daughter of actress Beth Bennet (or Bennett) and her husband Jack Starr. Her mother died under mysterious circumstances and Brenda's grief-stricken father sent her to
boarding school. Other regular characters include: • Muggs Walters, the original editor of
The Flash and Brenda's boss, starting with the first strip. • Pesky Miller, wisecracking cub reporter. Pesky appeared in the first
Brenda Starr strip in June 1940, and continued for decades. He rarely takes an active role in the story; his main role is to be a voice in the newsroom that admires Brenda. • Tom Taylor, reporter and Brenda's original love interest. He appeared in the first strip in June 1940, saying, "Now, listen, Brenda. Call it off and for the millionth time will ya marry me?" He continued in that vein, unsuccessfully, for five years, until he fell for copy girl Slim Nolan and married her in January 1946. • Daphne Dimples, Walters' niece and an early rival of Brenda's. She first appeared in late 1940, trying to take Brenda's job. • Abretha Breeze, Brenda's stout cousin from
Indiana. She arrived for a visit with her dog Tornado in August 1941, and stayed until June 1948, when she married Hyram "Hi" Pockets, and went to live on his farm. • Hank O'Hair, female city editor with a notably androgynous look. O'Hair was modeled after reporter Pat O'Haire, who worked as a copy girl at the
New York Daily News in the early 1940s. Hank was introduced in the strip in the fall of 1942, and remained a regular character through the end of the strip in 2011. • Atwell Livwright, managing editor of
The Flash. He took over the paper in 1948. • Gabby Van Slander, gossip columnist and catty rival of Brenda. Gabby was introduced by writer Mary Schmich in her first week of writing the strip, in September 1985, and remained a regular character through the end. • Mikhail Goodenuf, handsome, blonde and muscular Soviet ballet dancer who defected to the United States and became a secret agent. He met Brenda in January 1986, while he was investigating a Russian plot to sell an addictive, deadly drug to Americans as an energy supplement. Mikhail and Brenda began a romantic entanglement that lasted several years, and crossed over with Basil's storyline.
Credits • Dale Messick (story and art): June 30, 1940 – October 5, 1980 • Dale Messick (story) and Ramona Fradon (art): October 6, 1980 – November 14, 1982 • Linda Sutter (story) and Ramona Fradon (art): November 15, 1982 – September 21, 1985 • Mary Schmich (story) and Ramona Fradon (art): September 22, 1985 – November 5, 1995 • Mary Schmich (story) and June Brigman (art): November 6, 1995 – January 2, 2011 ==Final storylines==