Jim Lawrence and Jorge Longarón's Friday Foster newspaper strip ran for about four years and featured the exploits of the vivacious photographer, whose life was a constant stream of drama and events. Friday Foster was the first syndicated strip to feature an African American female lead character, although Black female leads did exist decades before in the form of, for example, Torchy Brown in Heartbeats by Jackie Ormes, which was printed in the Pittsburgh Courier. But Friday Foster represents a real leap forward on the road towards an accurate depiction of diversity in American comics, besides being a quality strip with fabulous artwork.
The Friday Foster stories included a romantic component, and the strip could be argued to belong to the romance genre as much as any other. The above example is from the Chicago Tribune in the strip's first year - the date is 11/29/1970. Friday gets out of Harlem and ends up being something of a globetrotter, and her adventures are not restricted to being a photographer. She gets involved in all kinds of goings on. Here's a couple of consecutive Sunday strips from 1971 (3/14 and 3/21) in which Friday is unknowingly getting herself enmeshed with members of the criminal underworld:
In these next excerpts, from 1972, Friday encounters a big shot Broadway actor, Dirk Maroon, while on a fashion shoot in the Caribbean (07/30):
By the following Sunday, Friday is resisting Dirk's charms, even though those around her seem to think he's a great guy:
But... poor Friday! By the end of the month she's caved in to the pressure, and allowed herself to fall for the player's charms, only to have her heart broken:
The 1972 Sunday strips are too large for my scanner so that's why I'm only showing part of each. These last few illustrate nicely how Friday Foster fits into the romance genre. The single Dell comic book version of Friday Foster was featured a little under a year ago in the premier romance blog, Sequential Crush, and I direct readers there for Jacque Nodell's coverage of that Joe Gill/Jack Sparling rarity.
I can only echo Jacque's lament that there was just the one comic book, and add that there is no reprint collection of these superb newspaper strips either - it's long overdue Dark Horse or Fantagraphics, if you're listening!!! Collecting the comic strips is an expensive business. I haven't come across any of the daily strips for sale on eBay, but the Sundays go for around $3 to $5 each, or more!
There's more information about the strip here and there on the Internet. For example:
Dave Karlan's Original Art Blog
Some nice example of the original art are featured on the comicartfans galleries and marketplace:
comicartfans
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed savoring the wonderful artwork of Jorge Longarón. 'Til next time...
Thank you for sharing KB! No doubt about it, Friday Foster would have made an excellent romance comic.
ReplyDeleteVery nice post. I am a journalist who is also a huge Friday Foster fan from Barcelona (Spain)... and I had the chance to interview Jordi Longaron for the 45th anniversary of this comic strip. You can read the full interview in English here: http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2015/01/17/jordi-longaron-the-legend-of-friday-foster/
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, David. Thanks for drawing our attention to that. It is a shame that the originals were not kept by the syndicate. However, with modern digital technology I'm sure a complete set of the strips could be remastered into a nice reprint volume, and it is really needed. But who has a complete set? That is the question! As I'm sure Sista ToFunky of the Museum of Uncut Funk would agree, those strips are not cheap, but it would really be worth accumulating the set - would take some time and money - but then would need the syndicate's permission to reprint.
DeleteHey Everybody!
ReplyDeleteI'm emailing to let you know that the Friday Foster book I conceived and edited is on the way. Friday Foster is considered to be the first nationally syndicated (Chicago Tribune) comic strip with a black female lead character. The strip also inspired the 1975 Pam Grier blaxploitation flick of the same name - which is a lot of fun if you haven't seen it.
https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/FEB201364
If you're into this kind of pop culture put the June 24 date on your calendar so you can get a copy. This is the first time the comic has ever been collected in book form and this year is the 50th Anniversary of the strip's debut on January 18, 1970. The art is awesome. The stories are fun. And it's great to see a black character going on globetrotting adventures in the 1970s!
I really enjoyed bringing all the elements together so I could share this little piece of wonderful comic strip history. I hope you will enjoy it too!
Thank you so much, themoknun. I've ordered my copy. Release date is soon.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/dp/195091206X/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1592296350&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/195091206X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Dr. H. The book is still on the way, but has been corona-delayed like most things these days. We are currently looking at a Q1 - 2021 release date. Thanks for your patience.
DeleteHi KB:
ReplyDeleteIt's Christopher Marlon again and the Friday Foster book finally comes out December 2021 via Ablaze Publishing (see below). The book is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and comic book stores nationwide. Please spread the word and thanks for your time!
Amazon.com: Friday Foster: The Sunday Strips: 9781950912063: Lawrence, Jim, Longaron, Jorge: Books
Friday Foster: The Sunday Strips by Jim Lawrence, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
ABLAZE Publishing To Release FRIDAY FOSTER Ultimate HC Comic Edition (theouterhaven.net)
Friday Foster: The Sunday Strips – Comics Worth Reading
Hi Christopher - this is KB. The book is an absolute delight. High quality reproduction, printing, and paper that really shows off the art nicely - this book is a gem. Thank you!!!
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