Chicago Spanking Review

Brenda Starr Spanking #3

© Chicago Tribune Syndicate. Posted by the Web-Ed on 07/16/2010.

Here's the third spanking from Brenda Starr. We had found it on Yahoo some time ago but were unsure of its origins, except that it bore Dale Messick's signature. JS666, who contributed some valuable publication data for the spanking in Brenda Starr #2, transmitted another copy of this one and the following background information:

"[Brenda Starr] had quite a few spankings, but the attached is the only one I have. The father and daughter had been involved in a previous story line where he was raising her alone and had let her get entirely out of line. He eventually tried to remedy that by spanking her, over and over, until she submitted. It took several days, and they made so much noise that everyone in the neighborhood could hear. One young woman in a nearby house turned to her mother and said, 'It must be gruesome getting all your spankings at once.'"

Wow - what a great storyline! (And thanks to JS666 for providing this information). To have such an extended focus on spanking is more than we could expect from a comic strip, and we're glad to have it. In all three examples, Messick shows great ability at portraying the "just desserts" kind of spanking. This doesn't mean that she was a spanko, but it does indicate she considered the spanking of a woman by a man acceptable under certain circumstances.

12/08/2017 Update: Once more, Sweetspot has managed to find additional scans for us that provide some context for the spanking. One interesting thing is how drawn-out the spanking is, which is a pleasant surprise after encountering so many rushed, last-minute spankings and undersize spanking panels.

Brenda Starr, June 17, 1959 (click to increase in size). © Chicago Tribune Syndicate.

Brenda Starr, June 18, 1959 (click to increase in size). © Chicago Tribune Syndicate.

© Chicago Tribune Syndicate. Brenda Starr, June 19, 1959 (click to increase in size). © Chicago Tribune Syndicate. Story and art by Dale Messick (with assistants). Scans by Sweetspot. Posted by the Web-Ed on 12/08/2017.

Two other interesting points: we now know the exact date (June 18, 1959, making it the last of the known spankings from the strip); and Merrie did not escape spanking - she wasn't "saved by the press" at all! And despite the pain stars in the final panel, she expresses regret that the spanking didn't work! That would seem to indicate another spanking was needed in the future...