Brenda Starr Columnist Reflects On Comic Strip’s Legacy

If you read the newspaper comics pages, you may have noticed the decline of the story strip. In January, "Brenda Starr, Reporter" disappeared from the comics pages, some 70 years after its creation by the late Dale Messick.

Its syndicator, Tribune Media Services, decided to end the strip, rather than replace Mary Schmich, the Chicago Tribune columnist who decided to leave "Brenda Starr" after writing it for 25 years (her collaborator for the past 15 years was artist June Brigman).

Schmich said she hopes Brenda Starr returns some day, but admits there is no future for the newspaper story strip as a format. Illinois Public Media's Jim Meadows spoke with Schmich about Brenda Starr's unique position as a woman-produced comic strip about a woman reporter.