A career woman before the phrase came into vogue, Brenda Starr is smart, sexy, glamorous and headstrong. Star reporter for the metropolitan daily, The Flash, Brenda has traveled the world solving mysteries, unearthing scoops and stealing the heart of almost every man she meets.

Created by greeting card designer Dalia (Dale) Messick, Brenda debuted on the Sunday comics page on June 30, 1940, and is still syndicated in newspapers around the world 66 years later. Messick had to use the ambiguous pen name “Dale” to get her creation published because art editors were biased against women cartoonists. As she puts it: “It was always the same story. They couldn’t believe I could draw because I was a woman. They would just put my samples away and say ‘Come on honey, let’s go out and talk things over.’”

Finally Molly Slott, the secretary to the editor of the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate (who eventually made it to the editor’s spot), pulled the samples from the trash can, persuaded Messick to change Brenda’s occupation from lady bandit to reporter and pushed it back in front of the editorial staff. The rest is history.

Messick was never very concerned about making the strip too realistic. “Authenticity is something I always try to avoid,” she once confessed. She retired in 1980 and died at 98 in April 2005. Once, through her character, she said she wanted no funeral service: “No fuss, no muss. Just Dust.” The Washington Post did wrote an obituary on Messick that can be read here.

Linda Sutter (writer) and Ramona Fradon (artists) took over producing the strip when Messick retired in 1980. Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich has written the strip since 1985. Comics and graphic novel artist June Brigman has drawn Brenda Starr since 1995.

Personal History: This ravishing red-headed reporter has a taste for fashion, romance and intrigue. She has a nose for a good story, too. About the only thing Brenda doesn’t shine in is being able to sustain long-lasting relationships. She has had an on again, off again relationship – including a brief marriage – to Basil St. John, a dashing mystery man who wears a black eye patch and suffered from a chronic disease that required a serum from rare black orchids to hold it at bay. When Brenda and Basil were finally married in 1976, they got a congratulatory telegram from President and Mrs. Gerald Ford.

Ethnic Origin: Red Head

Place of Residence: When she’s not globetrotting in search of sensational stories, Brenda is behind a desk at the urban rag, The Flash.

Personality Traits: Stubborn, strong-willed, sexy, glamorous, hard-working, outspoken, adventurous, bold, sassy, sexy, competitive, with a keen intuition for when people are not telling the truth — these traits are countered by a wistfulness at times, a passion for romance and a timeless innocence.

Other Sightings: A movie serial, "Brenda Starr, Reporter," was produced by Columbia Pictures in 1945. Sony Pictures also produced a feature film based on the character in 1989, featuring Brook Shields as Brenda and Timothy Dalton as Basil. Brenda also has been the subject of comic books and a long-running series of fashion dolls by the Tonner Doll Company.