Romeo Brown

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Created by Alfred “Maz” Mazure

From out of Great Britain came the cheeky comic strip misadventures of ROMEO BROWN, an elegant, dashing young private eye (and charmingly inept ladies man) whose clients—wouldn’t you know it?—were invariably young, totally gorgeous women, all of whom seemed more than willing to be seduced by Romeo’s charms. He solved his cases mostly by accident, but even that didn’t seem to dissuade the ladies.

Okay, so it was more slap-and-tickle and nudge, nudge, wink, wink (wardrobe malfunctions were common) than down-these-mean-streets, perhaps, but good fun.

Mind you, those were different times. The strip ran in the left-leaning Daily Mirror from 1954 to 1962.

It was originally written and illustrated by Dutch artist Alfred Mazure, who had gained much fame in his native Netherlands for his comic strips and books featuring judo-savvy private eye Dick Bos. Writer Peter O’Donnell and illustrator Jim Holdaway took over the strip in 1957, and it ran for several more years, wrapping up in 1963 when some suit at the Mirror complained that he couldn’t understand it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After relocating to England from the Netherlands, Alfred Mazure created two other short-lived private eye strips, Sam Stone  (1948-1950) and Bruce Hunter (1951-1953), two obvious rip-offs of his own Dick Bos. His third British eye, Romeo Brown, was more successful, with Mazure both writing and drawing the strip until 1957, when the strip was handed over to writer Peter O’Donnell and illustrator Jim Holdaway. Mazure would continue writing and drawing comics, including a revival of dick Bos and the short-lived Carmen & Co (1957-1959), which featured a sexy detecting couple, purportedly strongly influenced by Alex Raymond.

O’Donnell, of course, would later become famous for  creating the iconic Modesty Blaise,  an extraordinary young adventurer with a shady past, who appeared in a long-running (almost forty years!) comic strip in the Evening Standard and who would go on to appear in films, novels and short-story collections. Holdaway illustrated the Modesty strip from its debut in 1963 until his death in 1970.

STRAIGHT FROM THE AUTHOR’S MOUTH

  • “My brief was that every story was to revolve around a girl or girls, and the more clothes I could safely get off them the better. Of course, I only took the job with the virtuous aim of making sure than nobody worse than me would get it, and in the following years I devised some remarkable ways of meeting the brief.”
    — Peter O’Donnell (October 2022, online interview)

COMIC STRIP

  • ROMEO BROWN
    (1954-62, Daily Mirror)
    Created by Alfred Mazure
    Written by Alfred Mazure, Peter O’Donnell
    Art: Alfred Mazure, Jim Holdaway
    • BY MAZURE
    • “Romeo Brown” September 1-September 28, 1954)
    • “Untitled” (September 29-October 20, 1954)
    • “Untitled” (October 21-November 13, 1954)
    • “Untitled” (November 15-December 7, 1954)
    • “Untitled” (December 8, 1954-January 8, 1955)
    • “Looking After Bobby” (January 10-February 12, 1955)
    • “The Missing Will Mazure” (February 14-June 14, 1955)
    • “Caribbean Pirates” (June 15-September 3, 1955)
    • “Tiger Girl” (September 5-November 7, 1955)
    • “The Girl With The Heart Shaped Birthmark” (November 8, 1955-February 2, 1956)
    • “Find the Lady” (February 3,-April 5, 1956)
    • “Marriage Ltd” (April 6-June 15, 1956)
    • “Beauty Queen” (June 16-August 31, 1956)
    • “His Last Joke” (September 1-November 9, 1956)
    • “Double Trouble” (November 10, 1956-January 21, 1957)
    • BY O’DONNELL AND HOLDAWAY
    • “Fingle’s Follie” (January 22-April 4, 1957)
    • “The Missing Ming Vase” (April 5-June 13, 1957)
    • “Romeo the Ruthless” (June 14-August 27, 1957)
    • “The Girl and the Ghoul” (August 28-November 7, 1957)
    • “The Secret of Black Barbary” (November 8, 1957-January 23, 1958)
    • “The Empress’s Garters” (January 24-April 15, 1958)
    • “Romeo Goes West” (April 6-July 3, 1958)
    • “The Frolics of Fifi” (July 4-September 11, 1958)
    • “The Trouble With Tania” (September 12-December 2, 1958)
    • “The Snow Maiden” (December 3, 1958-February 12, 1959)
    • “Lord of the Fiery Dragon” (February 13-May 11, 1959)
    • “The Fightin’ Females” (May 12,-July 30, 1959)
    • “The Gipsy’s Curse Holdaway” (July 31,-November 4, 1959)
    • “The King of the Beatniks” (November 5, 1959-January 26, 1960)
    • “Gigi and the Head-Shrinkers “ (January 27-April 19, 1960)
    • “The Nobblers Holdaway” (April 20-July 21, 1960)
    • “The Baffling Ballerina” (July 22,-October 20, 1960)
    • “The Con-Man” (October 21, 1960-January 17, 1961)
    • “Arabian Knight” (January 18-April 26, 1961)
    • “Where There’s a Will” (April 27-July 25, 1961)
    • “The Admiral’s Grand-Daughter” (July 26-October 16, 1961)
    • “The Missing Miss Peach” (October 17, 1961-January 11, 1962)
    • “The Richest Girl In The World” (January 12-April 12, 1962)
    • “Romeo On The Run” (April 13-July 7, 1962)

    • THE DICK OF THE DAY

    • July 23, 2023
      The Bottom Line: This cheeky British comic strip featuring a bumbling, well-dressed young eye (and charmingly inept ladies man) whose clients—wouldn’t you know it?—were invariably young, totally gorgeous women. Wardrobe malfunctions were frequent.
    Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
    • ROMEO BROWN
      (1954-62, Daily Mirror)
      Created by Alfred Mazure
      Written by Alfred Mazure, Peter O’Donnell
      Art: Alfred Mazure, Jim Holdaway
      • BY MAZURE
      • “Romeo Brown” September 1-September 28, 1954)
      • “Untitled” (September 29-October 20, 1954)
      • “Untitled” (October 21-November 13, 1954)
      • “Untitled” (November 15-December 7, 1954)
      • “Untitled” (December 8, 1954-January 8, 1955)
      • “Looking After Bobby” (January 10-February 12, 1955)
      • “The Missing Will Mazure” (February 14-June 14, 1955)
      • “Caribbean Pirates” (June 15-September 3, 1955)
      • “Tiger Girl” (September 5-November 7, 1955)
      • “The Girl With The Heart Shaped Birthmark” (November 8, 1955-February 2, 1956)
      • “Find the Lady” (February 3,-April 5, 1956)
      • “Marriage Ltd” (April 6-June 15, 1956)
      • “Beauty Queen” (June 16-August 31, 1956)
      • “His Last Joke” (September 1-November 9, 1956)
      • “Double Trouble” (November 10, 1956-January 21, 1957)
      • BY O’DONNELL AND HOLDAWAY
      • “Fingle’s Follie” (January 22-April 4, 1957)
      • “The Missing Ming Vase” (April 5-June 13, 1957)
      • “Romeo the Ruthless” (June 14-August 27, 1957)
      • “The Girl and the Ghoul” (August 28-November 7, 1957)
      • “The Secret of Black Barbary” (November 8, 1957-January 23, 1958)
      • “The Empress’s Garters” (January 24-April 15, 1958)
      • “Romeo Goes West” (April 6-July 3, 1958)
      • “The Frolics of Fifi” (July 4-September 11, 1958)
      • “The Trouble With Tania” (September 12-December 2, 1958)
      • “The Snow Maiden” (December 3, 1958-February 12, 1959)
      • “Lord of the Fiery Dragon” (February 13-May 11, 1959)
      • “The Fightin’ Females” (May 12,-July 30, 1959)
      • “The Gipsy’s Curse Holdaway” (July 31,-November 4, 1959)
      • “The King of the Beatniks” (November 5, 1959-January 26, 1960)
      • “Gigi and the Head-Shrinkers “ (January 27-April 19, 1960)
      • “The Nobblers Holdaway” (April 20-July 21, 1960)
      • “The Baffling Ballerina” (July 22,-October 20, 1960)
      • “The Con-Man” (October 21, 1960-January 17, 1961)
      • “Arabian Knight” (January 18-April 26, 1961)
      • “Where There’s a Will” (April 27-July 25, 1961)
      • “The Admiral’s Grand-Daughter” (July 26-October 16, 1961)
      • “The Missing Miss Peach” (October 17, 1961-January 11, 1962)
      • “The Richest Girl In The World” (January 12-April 12, 1962)
      • “Romeo On The Run” (April 13-July 7, 1962)

    THE DICK OF THE DAY

    • July 23, 2023
      The Bottom Line: This cheeky British comic strip featuring a bumbling, well-dressed young eye (and charmingly inept ladies man) whose clients—wouldn’t you know it?—were invariably young, totally gorgeous women. Wardrobe malfunctions were frequent.
    Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
    • ROMEO BROWN
      (1954-62, Daily Mirror)
      Created by Alfred Mazure
      Written by Alfred Mazure, Peter O’Donnell
      Art: Alfred Mazure, Jim Holdaway
      • BY MAZURE
      • “Romeo Brown” September 1-September 28, 1954)
      • “Untitled” (September 29-October 20, 1954)
      • “Untitled” (October 21-November 13, 1954)
      • “Untitled” (November 15-December 7, 1954)
      • “Untitled” (December 8, 1954-January 8, 1955)
      • “Looking After Bobby” (January 10-February 12, 1955)
      • “The Missing Will Mazure” (February 14-June 14, 1955)
      • “Caribbean Pirates” (June 15-September 3, 1955)
      • “Tiger Girl” (September 5-November 7, 1955)
      • “The Girl With The Heart Shaped Birthmark” (November 8, 1955-February 2, 1956)
      • “Find the Lady” (February 3,-April 5, 1956)
      • “Marriage Ltd” (April 6-June 15, 1956)
      • “Beauty Queen” (June 16-August 31, 1956)
      • “His Last Joke” (September 1-November 9, 1956)
      • “Double Trouble” (November 10, 1956-January 21, 1957)
      • BY O’DONNELL AND HOLDAWAY
      • “Fingle’s Follie” (January 22-April 4, 1957)
      • “The Missing Ming Vase” (April 5-June 13, 1957)
      • “Romeo the Ruthless” (June 14-August 27, 1957)
      • “The Girl and the Ghoul” (August 28-November 7, 1957)
      • “The Secret of Black Barbary” (November 8, 1957-January 23, 1958)
      • “The Empress’s Garters” (January 24-April 15, 1958)
      • “Romeo Goes West” (April 6-July 3, 1958)
      • “The Frolics of Fifi” (July 4-September 11, 1958)
      • “The Trouble With Tania” (September 12-December 2, 1958)
      • “The Snow Maiden” (December 3, 1958-February 12, 1959)
      • “Lord of the Fiery Dragon” (February 13-May 11, 1959)
      • “The Fightin’ Females” (May 12,-July 30, 1959)
      • “The Gipsy’s Curse Holdaway” (July 31,-November 4, 1959)
      • “The King of the Beatniks” (November 5, 1959-January 26, 1960)
      • “Gigi and the Head-Shrinkers “ (January 27-April 19, 1960)
      • “The Nobblers Holdaway” (April 20-July 21, 1960)
      • “The Baffling Ballerina” (July 22,-October 20, 1960)
      • “The Con-Man” (October 21, 1960-January 17, 1961)
      • “Arabian Knight” (January 18-April 26, 1961)
      • “Where There’s a Will” (April 27-July 25, 1961)
      • “The Admiral’s Grand-Daughter” (July 26-October 16, 1961)
      • “The Missing Miss Peach” (October 17, 1961-January 11, 1962)
      • “The Richest Girl In The World” (January 12-April 12, 1962)
      • “Romeo On The Run” (April 13-July 7, 1962)

    THE DICK OF THE DAY

    • July 23, 2023
      The Bottom Line: This cheeky British comic strip featuring a bumbling, well-dressed young eye (and charmingly inept ladies man) whose clients—wouldn’t you know it?—were invariably young, totally gorgeous women. Wardrobe malfunctions were frequent.
    Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
    Published

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