Talk:Modesty Blaise

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[edit] Old, unsectioned comments

I'm not surprised that O'Donnell doesn't want others to write about Modesty Blaise -- he doesn't strike me as an overly possessive man, but every time he's handed over the writing to someone else, they've made a horrible mess of it. Wouldn't you get tired of it after a while? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Steverapaport (talk • contribs) 17:33, 7 February 2005 (UTC)

I had heard that Modesty Blaise was, at least in one incarnation of this fictional character, prone to removing her top to "stun" opponents. This might be a confusion with a burlesque version of the Blaise comics done by another, but still I think I recollect reading about this technique of hers.

Sort of true, Modesty certainly uses whatever comes to hand when fighting. The idea would be to put an opponent off balance by appearing vulnerable. There is an interesting interview with Peter O'Donnel on the 'My Name is Modesty' dvd where he talks about a fight squence in 'The Silver Mistress' and also describes the reaction of the Times to a topless Modesty Blaise in one panel.--Mikekscott 13:24, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
This trick is used in a couple of the early novels and is in fact illustrated on the cover of the first American paperback edition to, I believe, either I Lucifer or A Taste for Death. It wasn't a thing she did regularly and while it was given a name (the Stinger or the Stunner - I forget which) suggesting she'd used this trick before, it wasn't a regular part of her arsenal, unlike the kongo hidden in her ponytail, for example. 23skidoo 22:47, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
"The Nailer", IIRC. ...we should perhaps clarify, also, that the cover illustration in question depicts Ms. Blaise from behind. :) --Paul A 01:58, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
In the strip story "The Reluctant Chaperone" she uses the Nailer and afterward she and Willie jokingly discuss that it didn't "freeze" the bad guys as long as it used to and speculate that too much nudity in modern culture has rendered it less effective than it used to be. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.200.167.211 (talk) 14:25, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Sabre-Tooth the 1967 paperback published by Fawcett Crest Book is the one with Modesty using The Nailer on the cover. The Nailer was invented by Willie Garvin during a caper and she has used it often ever since. because it was an effective distraction when needed. Several times when there was another female ally, she would have them use The Nailer as bait for the bad guys to ambush them. She has also fought in the nude of several stories like The Silver Mistress and A Taste for Death. In fact her name Modesty came from her being so accustom to nudity and indifferent to being nude.

The kongo was not hidden in her "ponytail". She wore her hair in a variety of ways depending on her mood or the practical circumstances at the time. Her trademark look was a chignon with the hair piled on top of her head. She sometimes wore her hair woven into a club or bun at the base of the neck. A kongo would often be hidden inside. When her hair was plaited and in pigtails or a ponytail it was usually to show her youthful personality. The kongo was also the breakaway handle for her purse or kept in a patchpocket of her "work clothes". She even improvised a kongo with a pepper mill in The Impossible Virgin.

[edit] Storm notes

Storm's origin as a thief in Cairo seems to derive from MBlaise.

That's a bit tenuous. Presuming you are speaking about the comic book character from the X-Men (correct?), is there a source that suggests Stan Lee was inspired by Modesty Blaise when he (or one of his writers) created the character? 23skidoo 01:10, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Claremont wrote in an origin for Storm as a child thief under Achmed el-Gibar. . sound familiar to MB? Enda80 16:18, 14 May 2006 (UTC)enda80

Not particularly, IMO. 23skidoo 18:51, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Storm was created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum, with a backstory and character development by Chris Claremonte. Stan Lee was never involved. If anything, Storms child thief past resembles the Artful Dodger and Fagin of Oliver Twist. Modesty as a child was more a begger and scavenger than thief. her life of crime began later. She had Lob a teacher and homeless refugee that she took care of, who taught her different languages. tphile

[edit] Book series articles created -- please contribute

I've gone ahead and created starter stubs for all of the Modesty Blaise novels per the Novels WikiProject -- including one for the first book which is at Modesty Blaise (novel). Just follow the links on the booklist. Right now most of them are stubs (a few had already been started). I invite everyone to add plot summaries and other information to these articles. Me, I need to reread most of them to remind myself of what they were about! 23skidoo 02:08, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

I've now added "Plot summaries" to 10 of the 11 novels. I'm guessing my style is more suitable for "plot teasers" than "plot summaries", but that was how I felt inspired. If nobody objects I'll replace the current plot summary for The Silver Mistress, even though the current one is OK in my opinion, just not consistent style-wise with the other 10 by me.

I've also replaced the paperback cover pictures with first edition cover picturesfor 11 of the 13 books. Pieces of Modesty is OK as is, as there was no first edition hardcover. As for Modesty Blaise (novel), if nobody objects I'll move the current American cover picture down and to the left and put a Souvenir Press first edition cover picture in the info box. --RenniePet 21:12, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Sure, go ahead. And even under Wikipedia's increasingly draconian image rules we can get away with having the two covers because the US one was featured in Pulp Fiction and by mentioning this in the article (and it was a notable reference given Tarantino's documented interest in MB) it satisfies free use. 23skidoo 22:15, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Template created

I've created a navigational template for the MB books and films which I've added to the individual articles on the novels and My Name Is Modesty. I'm not adding it here because the in-article lists cover this information. I plan to create a separate article on the 1966 film shortly, and possibly one of the 1982 pilot as well, though most likely I'll merge the two into one article. 23skidoo 18:49, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New story list a copyvio?

The newly added concordance concerns me because its format is almost identical to that published in the Manuscript Publications releases Lady in the Dark and Live Bait, thereby making it a possible copyvio. Does anyone else concur? 23skidoo 13:35, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Category:Modesty Blaise books

Would it not be better to rename this category to Category:Modesty Blaise so the films, author, and anything to do with Modesty could be included in the category? --Bduke 23:24, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

No. The generaly practice is to have books listed under their own category. There's nothing stopping you from creating a blanket Modesty Blaise category and making Modesty Blaise books a subcategory, however. I did something similar with Category:The Saint which has a category for the books as a subcategory of the parent. 23skidoo 23:28, 5 November 2006 (UTC)
OK, if that is the practice, although it seems to me to be fine for an author with a large number of books, films, etc., but not for one like Modesty Blaise where the number of articles. except the book articles, is quite small. If we did create a category as you suggest it would be much smaller than Category:The Saint - maybe about 5 plus the sub-category. --Bduke 23:50, 5 November 2006 (UTC)
I've seen smaller. An alternative (and possibly a better one since there is already a book template used) is a Peter O'Donnell books category since all the MB books were by him anyway, and this would also eventually be populated by articles on his Madeleine Brent novels. 23skidoo 23:57, 5 November 2006 (UTC)
Would you move all the Modesty Blaise books there and delete that category or have it as a sub-category? Would all the MB films go into that category? --Bduke 00:08, 6 November 2006 (UTC)
It would be a subcategory, or in other words, the Books category would itself be placed in a category (see Category:Simon Templar books for an example of what I mean). The films might need to go into an MB films category. Maybe Category:Peter O'Donnell would be more accurate. 23skidoo 02:36, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Arachibutyrophobia

Please, Modesty Blaise fans, if you have the novel Modesty Blaise at hand, I'd like you to provide context and quotations for -phob-#Jocular_and_fictional_phobias. Thank you. `'mikka 17:37, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

  • Interesting -- I happen to be a member of one of the main Modesty Blaise e-mail discussion groups and I will post your query there as well. 23skidoo 22:28, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
    • I just got my first reply confirming the word is in the book. The context is a word game played by Willie and Modesty. Still awaiting chapter and verse citation, however. 23skidoo 22:53, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
      • Thx. I am ashamed I've never heard of Modesty Blaise before. First thing to do I'm done with wikipedia.;( `'mikka 04:05, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
        • You won't be disappointed. And as it happens the word is not in the original Modesty Blaise novel, but rather in one of the later books, so I'll add the information accordingly. 23skidoo 04:24, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Modesty Blaine?

There was a female character named "Modesty Blaine" who appeared in several episodes of Maverick. Was there any connection other than the similar names? Inspiration, perhaps? ChrisStansfield 23:10, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Use of Modesty Blaise template on main page

Regarding RenniePet's question, to my understanding a template isn't needed on a main page if lists covered by the template are already in the main body. I have no objection to having the template, but I never added it initially because I was under the impression it was either unnecessary or we weren't allow to use it. 23skidoo 15:39, 4 November 2007 (UTC)