4/11/1920 Peter O'Donnell blazes in

April 11, 1920.  Peter O'Donnell was born on this day in London.  He wrote more than twenty novels but his most famous creation began as a comic strip.  Modesty Blaise is a WWII refugee who ends up running a criminal network and then, having grown rich and bored, decides to help good guys, spies, and people in need of her special talents.  The strip/novels were turned into several movies. 

Novelist Kingsley Amis said Modesty and her sidekick Willie Garvin were one of the best pairs of characters in fiction.

By the way, O'Donnell was also an award-winning romance writer under the name Madeleine Brent.