Creator of 'Brenda Starr' dies at age 98

[KG]

By MICHELLE LOCKE
Associated Press Writer

PENNGROVE, Calif. (AP) -- Dale Messick, whose long-running comic strip "Brenda Starr, Reporter" gave her entry into the male world of the funny pages, has died at age 98.

Messick, whose strip ran in 250 newspapers at its peak in the 1950s, died Tuesday, said her daughter, Starr Rohrman, who had been caring for her mother in Sonoma County.

Messick - who jettisoned her given name Dalia to further her career - once said Brenda had "everything I didn't have." But she charmed acquaintances with spunk and style worthy of her redheaded creation.

Mixing hot copy with high fashion, Brenda plunged from one thrilling adventure to another, sassing her tough-talking editor, Mr. Livwright, and sometimes filing her copy with the only person left in the newsroom, the cleaning woman.

As World War II raged Brenda did her part, parachuting into action - every red hair in place.

"Most comics, the main characters are heroes, guys, and they don't write for women," Messick told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview. "I was a woman so I was writing for women and I think that's what put her over."

MORE>>> http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBIT_DALE_MESSICK?SITE=FLPET&SECTION=ENTERTAINMENT

[DBoon]

1. Rip Her to Shreds - Blondies

(heypsst psst, here she comes now.)
Oh, you know her.
Would ya look at that hair!
Yeah, you know her,
Check out those shoes.
She looks like she stepped out of the middle of somebody’s blues.
She looks like the sunday comics!
She thinks she’s brenda starr.
...

[miss_kitty]

2. I loved the episode when an evil, envious bitch smacked Brenda

in the face with a marlin and scarred her cheek. Luckily, Brenda did not keloid, and the scar faded. Maybe it wasn't a marlin-but it was something with a very sharp tail!

[LiberalEsto]

3. Confession: I was once addicted to Brenda Starr

Back in what seems like another lifetime, when I too was a woman newspaper reporter, my secret vice was reading Brenda Starr every day. It wasn't easy being a female in the news business in the early 70s -- women got paid less than men, and often got relegated to writing lifestyle features. Brenda was a small beacon of hope.

I finally kicked the habit at my last newspaper job because the strip was getting tediously repetitive and depressing.

Rest in peace, Dale Messick and Brenda Starr