Short(est) Lived Comic Series #29 - Friday Foster (Dell Comics)

Two years go, I reviewed the collection of Friday Foster comic strips published in the Sunday newspapers (Friday Foster Comic Strips), at which time, I mentioned the fact that I was still searching for that hard-to-find issue of Dell Comics' version of the character, a stand-alone issue published with a cover date of October 1972, right in the middle of Lawrence's run of the comic strip.  Well, that search is over!  This past Christmas, a dear friend surprised me with a copy of this particular comic, in absolutely marvelous condition considering its age.  I've been holding off, waiting for the right time to read it, and that time is now!

 

Friday Foster is one of Dell's many one-issue comics.  Although the indicia at the bottom of the first page refers to this as "No. 1," there was never any other issues published after this one (which may be why it is so sought after and so hard to find at a reasonable price!).  While the characters and story are based on James D. Lawrence's comic strip, Lawrence was not actually involved in the comic.  The story was written by Joe Gill, and the art (both inside and on the cover) was provided by Jack Sparling.  Joe Gill is probably best recognized for his work at Charlton comic company, where he co-created Captain Atom, Peacemaker, and Judomaster, as well as others.  Jack Sparling was a rather busy artist back in the day, providing art for publishers such as Harvey, Charlton, Classics Illustrated, DC, Gold Key, Marvel, along with Dell Comics.  Gill does a superb job of staying true to the character of Friday Foster, while Sparling's art is a bit softer than Jordi Longaron's, but he still retains the look of all the cast.

 

The story finds Friday helping her boss, fashion photographer Shawn North, get photographs of an elusive American-born princess - Princess Jenny Shangri, newly wed wife of Prince Wimoweh of Teri-Aki.  She makes every effort to avoid the press, and Friday views her  as nothing more than a spoiled rich girl who has no understanding of what it is like for someone who grew up in Harlem (like Friday!).  She sabotages Shawn's attempts to get clear photographs, and ultimately has to confess her underhandedness to their employer at She magazine.  Well, as any good story goes, fate intervenes, and Friday finds herself having to pose as the princess's close friend in order to ferret out a member of the paparazzi who has been harassing the princess for some time - most recently causing a near-fatal car accident!  Friday is livid, but she takes the assignment, having no other choice.

 

Gill writes a well-scripted tale that could easily be translated to the small or big screen.  Friday spends time with Jenny (the princess), shopping for clothes, and while Jenny insists the dastardly Ferdy Trask is following them, Friday fails to see him (although the reader does spot him in various panels).  Friday begins to believe Jenny is making up the entire harassment scenario in order to gain publicity - but while she is trying to convince Shawn, the sneaky Ferdy Trask is doing his own digging into Friday's identity - and when he learns she works for Shawn North, he decides to turn the tables on her. Suddenly, Friday becomes the target of Mr. Trask's dirty deeds.  Not only is Friday threatened, but she comes home to find he has also threatened her little brother, Cleve!  Needless to say, Friday is not going to let Ferdy Trask get the better of her, so with Shawn and Jenny's help, she sets an ingenious trap to catch Trask at his own game.

 

One thing I like about these old Dell Comics is that you get 32-pages of story and art with no ads (except on the inside front and back covers, as well as the back cover itself).  That means Gill and Sparling have plenty of space to really flesh out the story, providing not only characterization, but also plenty of action and suspense.  Honestly, as I was reading the comic, I could see Pam Grier in my head acting out the entire story (for those who may not know, Grier played Friday Foster in the live action film of the same name back in 1975).  The bad guy gets his comeuppence, and Friday learns a thing or two herself about pre-judging people before she gets to know them.  The story has the same feel as those in the comic strip by Lawrence and Longaron, and I think they honored the source material very nicely.

 

It's so sad we only got one issue of this comic adaptation of the character - I think this would have made for a very dramatic comic book series.  Perhaps it was simply the wrong time period for a strong, black female character to lead a comic, or perhaps Dell was simply not a widespread enough company to attract enough readers to warrant more issues.  Whatever the reason, Friday Foster's one issue was a fantastic read and well worth the wait!

 

RATING:  10 games of bait and switch out of 10 for giving a little known character a chance to truly shine, while paying tribute to the character's creators with a superb story!