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Modesty Blaise Comic Strip Books in Order

Part ofPeter O'Donnell Books in Order

This page collects the Modesty Blaise comic strip volumes by Peter O'Donnell in reading order, with story contents, background on the newspaper strip and guidance on which graphic collections to start with.

Last updated: December 25, 2025

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Publication Order

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34 books

1

The Killing Game

by Peter O'Donnell

2017

In the strip's closing run, Modesty and Willie help lovable rogue Guido the Jinx survive a wedding targeted by bio terrorists, become quarry in a grotesque big game hunt that treats humans as sport and rescue an old Network friend from a cult obsessed with supercomputers and control.

2

The Children of Lucifer

by Peter O'Donnell

2017

Here Modesty and Willie first try to save a young woman from a vengeful ex judge turned vigilante, then stumble into a skiing holiday that hides a Satanist cult with mob connections and finally join old allies to rescue a kidnapped girl from fanatics who use occult imagery as cover for crime.

3

The Murder Frame

by Peter O'Donnell

2016

Four final era stories see Modesty framed for murder, repaying an old debt in Fraser's Story, navigating an archaeological caper in Tribute to the Pharaoh and carrying out Special Orders that put her and Willie directly in the crosshairs of both criminals and nervous governments.

4

The Killing Distance

by Peter O'Donnell

2015

Collecting several mid 1990s storylines, The Killing Distance highlights the strip's later style, with Modesty and Willie navigating shifting alliances, long range assassination plots and operations where their usual close quarter skills must adapt to more modern, impersonal threats.

5

Ripper Jax

by Peter O'Donnell

2015

This later volume reprints a sequence of newspaper adventures built around a ruthless operator dubbed Ripper Jax and other hard edged villains. The stories lean into darker humour, global travel and the easy shorthand Modesty and Willie share after years of working together.

6

The Grim Joker

by Peter O'Donnell

2014

Moving into the 1990s strips, Modesty and Willie face a sadistic prankster whose jokes kill, accept a mysterious gift that drags them back into Network business and play a long game of chess with a mastermind who treats people as expendable pieces.

7

The Young Mistress

by Peter O'Donnell

2013

This collection showcases Modesty's later collaborations with Maude Tiller and other recurring allies. From protecting a headstrong young woman caught in criminal crossfire to uncovering art thefts and rescuing fellow agent Maude, the stories blend mature character work with tight, inventive action.

8

The Girl in the Iron Mask

by Peter O'Donnell

2013

Three linked tales follow Willie's irrepressible young admirer Fiona, a perilous solo trek Modesty makes through the Australian outback and a final nightmare in which she is held captive behind an iron mask while her enemies decide how to break her once and for all.

9

The Double Agent

by Peter O'Donnell

2011

This volume spotlights three later newspaper stories the kidnapping of the French intelligence chief, a clash with a fanatical cult devoted to Kali and a caper where a woman impersonating Modesty throws both the authorities and the underworld into chaos.

10

Million Dollar Game

by Peter O'Donnell

2011

Bringing together a run of late Modesty Blaise newspaper adventures, this collection centres on a contest dubbed the Million Dollar Game, where greed, elaborate traps and shifting alliances test Modesty and Willie in some of their most dangerous modern era missions.

11

Sweet Caroline

by Peter O'Donnell

2010

In the title arc, Modesty infiltrates an international assassins guild that has targeted one of her allies. She and Willie then chase Russian agents who steal a beloved circus elephant and finally face extortionists threatening to expose secrets from Modesty's Network days unless she works for them.

12

The Scarlet Maiden

by Peter O'Donnell

2009

Three globe trotting plots unfold as Modesty confronts a hijacker known as the Scarlet Maiden, investigates a sinister figure called the Moonman and helps an old soldier friend whose past explodes into the present in a case involving loyalty, stolen treasure and unfinished war stories.

13

The Lady Killers

by Peter O'Donnell

2009

Moving into the Neville Colvin era, this volume finds Modesty sifting through a deadly intelligence file nicknamed Pluto, tracking a female led hit squad whose glamour masks psychopathic violence and following Willie on a solo journey that proves trouble finds him even without his Princess.

14

Death in Slow Motion

by Peter O'Donnell

2009

Modesty and Willie race a ticking clock across desert sands to save an old friend and his daughter, find themselves playing castaways while sabotaging a Caribbean drug pipeline and go up against a coolly efficient assassination bureau that turns every move into a calculated risk.

15

Yellowstone Booty

by Peter O'Donnell

2008

Set in the late 1970s, this collection sends Modesty after Native American treasure in Yellowstone, pairs her with a wily con man in Idaho George and plunges her into the Cambodian jungle in The Golden Frog, where an old fighting master from her past calls in a dangerous favour.

16

Green Cobra

by Peter O'Donnell

2008

These strips pit Modesty and Willie against a mysterious assassin called the Green Cobra, throw them into a twisted Adam and Eve themed commune and uncover a secret brotherhood using Modesty's own name as a banner for crime and manipulation.

17

The Inca Trail

by Peter O'Donnell

2007

This bumper volume sends Modesty stumbling from an innocent babysitting job into a mob war, playing Cupid while hunting a killer, surviving gladiatorial games arranged by a vengeful ex lover and finally trekking the Inca Trail to save kidnapped children and stop a budding revolution.

18

Death Trap

by Peter O'Donnell

2007

Three edgy tales see Modesty and Willie lured into an attempted Eastern European coup, tracking a ring of human traffickers preying on young women and infiltrating a drug syndicate that thinks its remote junkyard base makes it untouchable. Every plan quickly turns into a fight for survival.

19

The Gallows Bird

by Peter O'Donnell

2006

Here Modesty investigates a modern Bluebeard who marries and murders wealthy women, teams with the FBI in New Orleans to unmask a killer nicknamed the Gallows Bird and goes up against criminals whose outward respectability hides ruthless kidnapping and extortion.

20

Cry Wolf

by Peter O'Donnell

2006

Named for a strip in which Modesty and Willie answer a mysterious distress call in the Scottish Highlands, this collection of 1970s adventures blends political intrigue, kidnap plots and eerie local legends with the strip's familiar mix of sharp banter and sudden violence.

21

The Green-Eyed Monster

by Peter O'Donnell

2005

Three stories see Willie playing guardian djinn to a deposed ruler's daughter, Modesty dealing with a jealous ambassador's child whose spite turns dangerous and the pair confronting a deranged earl who has turned his estate into a deadly medieval playground.

22

Bad Suki

by Peter O'Donnell

2005

The title sequence follows Suki, a fragile seeming young drifter whose apparent innocence hides a gift for chaos. Modesty takes an interest in saving her, only to find herself and Willie pulled into a web of kidnappers, crooked businessmen and brutal enforcers.

23

Top Traitor

by Peter O'Donnell

2004

Gathering three classic strips, this volume has Modesty ripping through her own organisation to uncover a spy, doing battle with homicidal Norsemen and crossing claws with a pride of schoolgirls turned feral criminals. Tight plotting and wry exchanges keep the tension high throughout.

24

Mister Sun

by Peter O'Donnell

2004

After crossing a Hong Kong crime boss, Modesty is forced to choose between keeping her word and saving lives as the Vietnam War rages around her. The title story pushes her into jungle firefights, improvised rescues and a final reckoning with the vengeful Mister Sun.

25

Lady in the Dark

by Peter O'Donnell

2003

In these three adventures, Modesty helps a young woman who insists she is from the future, tracks a traitor buried deep inside a security project and faces the return of the espionage group Salamander Four, whose new scheme leaves her quite literally a lady in the dark.

26

Live Bait

by Peter O'Donnell

2002

This late period collection brings together three newspaper stories in which Modesty and Willie protect a child courier, tangle with a suave operator known as Milord and finally act as irresistible live bait to draw out an underworld boss who thinks he can outplay them.

27

The Iron God

by Peter O'Donnell

1996

When a small plane crash leaves Modesty, Willie and friends stranded in the jungle, they stumble into the camp of brutal diamond thieves who worship an idol they call the Iron God. Cut off from help, they must improvise their way through a makeshift jungle war.

28

Uncle Happy

by Peter O'Donnell

1990

Two complete 1960s capers feature Uncle Happy, a genial seeming gangster with lethal habits, and Bad Suki, a damaged young woman whose talent for trouble is almost unmatched. Modesty and Willie navigate crime families, double crosses and elaborate set ups where compassion can be as risky as violence.

29

The Warlords of Phoenix

by Peter O'Donnell

1987

When a private army begins drilling in the desert under the banner of Phoenix, Modesty suspects a plot far bigger than mercenary training. She and Willie infiltrate the warlords' hidden base, where experimental weapons and a ruthless command structure turn every misstep into a fight for survival.

30

The Puppet Master

by Peter O'Donnell

1987

Best known for its chilling title arc, this collection sees Modesty kidnapped by a vengeful criminal who plans to brainwash her into murdering Willie Garvin. As Willie refuses to believe she is dead, their separate investigations converge in a brutal test of loyalty and identity.

31

Death of a Jester

by Peter O'Donnell

1987

In the title story, Modesty and Willie are drawn to an isolated English estate where an unhinged earl has turned his land into a mock medieval playground for his former commando unit. Rigged jousts, lethal pranks and a very modern criminal scheme soon give them a new set of enemies.

32

The Hell-Makers

by Peter O'Donnell

1986

Collecting three hard hitting storylines, this volume finds Modesty and Willie uncovering traitors inside British intelligence, derailing a violent coup attempt and confronting warlords who dream of carving out their own private state. The strips mix spying, siege warfare and Modesty's firm view of when mercy runs out.

33

The Gabriel Set-Up

by Peter O'Donnell

1986

Early strip adventures introduce Modesty's partnership with Willie and her uneasy dealings with Sir Gerald Tarrant. From intricate cons and rescues to first encounters with the diamond thief Gabriel, these stories lay the groundwork for the long running mix of capers, espionage and dry humour.

34

The Black Pearl

by Peter O'Donnell

1978

This collection gathers four mid 1960s newspaper strip adventures, including the title story, which sends Modesty and Willie into Tibet in search of a legendary jewel. High altitude treks, elaborate heists and a deadly manhunt on a deserted island show the strip's early blend of glamour and ruthlessness.

Series background & context

The Modesty Blaise comic strip began in 1963 in the London Evening Standard and ran, with only short breaks, until 2001. Written throughout by Peter O'Donnell, it told Modesty's adventures in three black and white panels a day, initially drawn by Jim Holdaway and later by artists such as Enrique Badia Romero, John M Burns, Patrick Wright and Neville Colvin.

That daily rhythm gives the stories a very particular feel.

Every strip has to move the plot, land a character moment or end on a beat that makes you want to come back tomorrow. Read in collected form, those beats add up to long, intricate capers that still feel light on their feet. Modesty and Willie move from London penthouses to desert fortresses, jungles, Mediterranean islands and remote mountain hideouts, solving problems for friends and strangers when the cause feels right.

The comic strip shares Modesty's backstory with the novels she is a former refugee who built and then disbanded a criminal Network, now working freelance with her ex lieutenant Willie Garvin and occasionally for spymaster Sir Gerald Tarrant. The tone is adventurous rather than grim. There is danger, torture and loss, but also a lot of deadpan humour and quiet scenes of friendship, cooking, sparring or simply talking on a terrace at dusk.

One of the joys of the strip is watching different artists interpret the same characters. Holdaway gives the early stories a crisp, almost film noir look. Romero brings lush line work, elegant fashion and expressive faces. Later artists lean into mood, shadow and period detail. Across all of them, Modesty remains athletic, self possessed and unmistakably the one in charge.

The Titan Books collections listed on this page reprint the entire run in sequence, usually grouping three or four storylines per volume under the title of one of the arcs, such as The Black Pearl, The Green Eyed Monster or The Killing Game. You can dip in anywhere, but starting with the early volumes lets you watch the cast grow and the moral universe of the strip gradually unfold.

If you are curious about how comic strips can carry long form stories, or simply want more of Modesty and Willie beyond the novels, these collections are a generous, good looking way to spend time in their world.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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All 34 Modesty Blaise Comic Strip Books in Order (2026)