Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter, Retires Her Notebook & Pen
THE INKWELL RUNS DRY
Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter, Retires Her Notebook & Pen
WITH NEWSPAPERS INCREASINGLY LOOKING LIKE ANACHRONISTIC LADIES WHO LUNCH, IT SEEMS FITTING THAT THE ONCE DAZZLING GIRL REPORTER BRENDA STARR would exit the newsroom now.
The sexy, siren-haired chronicler, is being forced into retirement next month because Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich, who pens the strip in its current incarnate, is not reupping her contract.
The cartoon's last strip will run Jan. 2, 2011.
"Everything comes to an end," says Schmich, who has penned Brenda's adventures since 1995. "It's really that simple. I had a great time doing 'Brenda.' Through her I got to think about journalism, relationships, politics, society - life big and small - in a way unique to comic strips. When she traveled to exotic places - Belize, Mount Everest, the inner realms of TV talk shows - I traveled with her. But I'm ready to spend my time doing something new now. And Brenda, who has a life of her own, tells me so is she."
The glamorous Brenda Starr debuted in 1940, created by greeting card writer Dale Messick, who produced the cartoon until 1982. The girl reporter captivated readers with her crack investigations, contemporary style and her mysterious beau, the eye-patched Basil St. John.
