1945 Brenda Starr Sunday

This is the Brenda Starr Sunday from March 11, 1945, though the notation at top left reads, “overseas-Mar 3-Two Sizes,” presumably referring to a version to be published in Stars and Stripes or some other military paper, WWII still raging on all fronts. It’s rare for a Sunday to have no paste-ups, the title almost always being one, but, according to the seller Miss Messick always wrote each one fresh. There’s a lady in every panel and Brenda in most. Yes, that manly sort in the first panel is female, Hank O’Hare Brenda’s close friend, but not that kind of friend. Hank had a boyfriend. This was published while the Brenda Starr serial was running and is an example of art from the strip’s early peak, though some say she really peaked in the 1950’s. I definitely prefer the 40's.

The seller, spent a summer with Dale Messick in the 1980’s and she gave him two Sundays, this one and another which she hand colored. That’s a great gift.