Image Credit: Everett CollectionThe worst thing to happen to journalists since the recession has officially happened: Ace reporter Brenda Starr — and thus, the Brenda Starr comic strip — is hanging up her hat, not long after two other comic heroines (Annie and Cathy) also retired. The strip, created by Dale Messick, will take its final bow Jan. 2, more than 70 years after it first debuted. And though, admittedly, Brenda Starr was always a comic I grazed past while making my way to One Big Happy or Zits, I’ll still contend that its mere presence will be greatly missed. (And that her strip subliminally convinced me to become a journalist. Her fashion! My sweatpants!) Because, you see, the funnies page is a little like Jenga: Remove one piece, and the whole thing will never look quite the same. Heck, can you imagine how empty you’d feel seeing a newspaper without Doonesbury or Family Circus? (And that’s coming from someone who hates the Bil Keane strip more than Garfield hates Mondays.)
It’s especially sad to see Brenda Starr go, considering how much she’s accomplished in pop culture. Syndicated in over 250 newspapers in the 1950s, Brenda Starr even inspired a late-’80s movie starring Brooke Shields as the fabulous (snaps!) journalist. Sure, the film was no instant-classic — EW’s own Owen Gleiberman gave the film an F, calling it “one of the worst movies ever made” — but being the basis of the worst movie about journalism ever made is a distinction nonetheless, right?
So, let’s salute the fiery legend that is Ms. Starr, even if we spent the majority of our childhoods skipping her in order to get to The Far Side. What’s your favorite Brenda Starr memory, PopWatchers?
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AACK! ‘Cathy’ comic ending this October: Will you miss her?
No more ‘Annie’ comic strip. Punjab, help!
Our family’s fave BRENDA STARR moment was her fab wedding to Basil St. John, of course!
Sorry to hear she’s got a “30″ in her future, but the strip had a heck of a long run. We’ll always have our memories!
you hate FAMILY CIRCLE??? do you hate puppies and kittens too? awww…that makes me sad.
Like you, I’ve never read it.
This doesn’t make me happy. I JUST started to read the strip because other comics stopped and soon it will be gone. Don’t even know who is who yet.
A positive is that I get to read three different One Big Happy strips each day.
I thought it was gone ages ago.
Haven’t seen it in Canada for along time. Read it faithfully as a kid, but then Messick got all anti-hippie.
They stopped making the Brenda Starr dolls about 3 years ago.
Please tell me that Modesty Blaise is still around and kicking!
Cathy ended?
I haven’t read it in years, but this makes me sad. I loved it in high school. My best friends were addicted to daytime soaps on tv, but Brenda Starr was always my soap. Around the time I was reading, there was a really ridiculous plot about a drug called “Pep,” that stands out, and of course, Basil was missing in the jungle for years. It’s the end of an era…
a) I named my daughter after Brenda, but never gota portrait by DM
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b) My favorite “Brenda” moment: After the birth (in a hotel room) of Starr Twinkle (Brenda & Basil’s only child together), the chambermaids were worrying about how to feed the newborn. Still-glamorous Brenda said “What are you talking about? Give me that baby – I know how to feed her!” (or something along those lines)
It’s just very sad to see her go. My father named me after her and I even had a portrait drawn of me by Dale Messick herself. Definitely the end of an era.
It’s sad to see Brenda Starr go. I was waiting to see the Tap Fitzpatrick episode end, but it could be sooner than expected.
However, the on/off relationship between her and Basil St. John were the classics.
Brenda Starr and I got knowledge of our first pregnancies on the same day back in 1975. I guess she only had one. I shall miss her terrifically.
I remember these episodes. An albino villianous who dies from sunburn. A little girl with a star birthmark on her face. A singing Steve and Edie couple whose marriage is saved by Brenda.
opps, it was 1976, how could I forget my own son’s birthdate!
So sorry to see Brenda go. I collected her paper dolls in the Trib all through the 1940s. I loved her; she was one of my idols.
I loved reading Brenda Starr for many years. She may have been one of the main reasons I studied print journalism. She’ll be missed.