his nice off-center watercolor shows the iconic comic strip spy Modesty Blaise, and was painted by Jim Holdaway, possibly as he was finalizing the look of the character in collaboration with author Peter O’Donnell before premiering her in the London Evening Standard in May 1963. He illustrated Modesty’s adventures for seven years, until felled by a heart attack. O’Donnell wrote a series of Modesty Blaise novels, expanding them in a slightly more adult direction, which made them about as much fun as lightweight, espionage oriented boner bait could be. We’ve talked about the movie and several of the books, so if you’re curious just click the keywords “Modesty Blaise” below and scroll.
In all Modesty, she was one of the best fictional spies of her era.