their lives were nowhere near as exciting as Brenda's. I told them that if I made Brenda's life like theirs, nobody would read it." Her break came when she came to the attention of another woman, Mollie Slott, who worked as a "girl Friday" (à la His Girl Friday) for New York Daily News publisher (and syndicate head) Joseph Medill Patterson. Patterson, reputedly biased against female cartoonists, would not sign her up for daily publication in the News, but he accepted Brenda Starr, Reporter for syndication as a Sunday comic, and it made its debut on June 30, 1940. The strip was an immediate success, since the mix of adventure and romance was popular with both male and female readers. By 1945, the strip was syndicated nationally and published daily. Messick stopped drawing the strip in 1980 and ended her role writing the script two years later. Ramona Fradon (artist) and Linda Sutter (writer) took over production of the strip. Mary Schmich took over as writer in 1985, and June Brigman as artist in 1995. The final strip was published on January 2, 2011. Messick was not impressed with her successors' versions of Starr, according to a 1998 quote in the Sonoma County Independent: "Now it doesn't look like Brenda at all. She looks more like she works at a bank. No glamour, no curves, no fashion — but it's still going pretty good.". Other endeavors Messick worked on other comic strips, but none achieved the success of Brenda Starr, Reporter. The only other strip which she worked on which is generally remembered was Perry Mason, which she illustrated. On April 24, 1955, she appeared on What's My Line? After Dorothy Kilgallen correctly identified her as a comic strip artist, the panel was given a full description of her real name, professional name and job as "illustrator" of Brenda Starr, Reporter. On May 5, 1960, Messick appeared as a contestant on To Tell the Truth. None of the panelists correctly identified her. Accolades In 1995, Brenda Starr, Reporter was one of 20 comic strips honored by a series of United States postage stamps; Messick was the only living creator. She received the National Cartoonists Society's Story Comic Book Award for 1975 and their Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 for her work on Brenda Starr, Reporter. She was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2001;