Ginger Fox - a Comico mini-series

Back in its "hey-day," Comico was an independent comic publisher who put out some pretty interesting material - Elementals, the Justice Machine, the Maze Agency, Grendel, the Fish Police, among others. One little known title, which, quite frankly, I had never heard of before combing through the $1 bin at a local comic shop, was Ginger Fox, a 4-issue mini-series written by Mike Baron and with art by the Pander Bros. (who, coincidentally enough, did the art for the first Grendel story I ever read).

Ginger Fox tells the story of ... well, Ginger Fox. Ginger is the C.E.O. of Peppertree Studios out in Hollywood, California. She has an ex-husband, a teenage son, an ever-loyal bodyguard / personal assistant, a nosy reporter, a fading movie star, a current boyfriend, and way more drama going on behind the scenes that in front of the camera!

Baron piques the interest of the reader right off the bat with opening pages that introduce a number of dramatic elements - Tammy True (the insipid reporter) shows up at Ginger's estate with questions about her boyfriend who may be cheating on her while making a film out of the country; questions about the new monster movie that was supposed to be kept a secret from the public while it was filming; and questions about the movie's star, Lewis Lassiter, a leading man whose stardom ended ages ago and who now could be fighting AIDS (the book was published in 1988, at the height of the AIDS crisis and the same year Worlds AIDS Day was celebrated for the first time - so it's no surprise that it was used as a topical issue in comics of that day). Before the first issue is finished, Ginger has found that her boyfriend is incommunicado, her ex-husband shows up wanting to see his son and creates a violent scene, and her babysitter attends a yacht party that leads to her being drugged and kidnapped by Tammy True! If that is not enough soap opera drama to capture your attention, then I don't know what is.

Over the next three issues, Ginger finds her attention divided between her love life, her professional life, and her home life, trying desperately to prevent all three from crumbling. Tammy True, with the assistance of an executive who wants to take over Peppertree Studios, will use Doris (the babysitter) to obtain information they can use against Ginger. Joe (the ex-husband) will stop at nothing to get his son away from Ginger.  And Creighton Caw (a new element added in the second issue) is determined to get back the motion picture that he believes Ginger stole from him. Each issue is filled with plenty of action, lots of drama, and the Pander Bros.' unusual art style that simply adds elegance to the story. Each page comes alive with the over-the-top characters, the creative panels, and the vibrant colors and backgrounds. I'm not a huge fan of artists who stray away from the realistic art style, but the Pander Bros. have an odd, abstact way of telling a story that it draws you in immediately.

And I would be very remiss if I did not mention that unique covers that Comico published these books under. Each issue is a different colored chapter (as in "Chapter Yellow," "Chapter Black," "Chapter Blue," and "Chapter Red") with a photo strip through the middle of each cover. Model Melissa Henderson brought Ginger to life on the covers, with other models used to create the Hollywood feel of the book. Quite honestly, it was the covers themselves that caught my attention and made me want to pick up the book - so kudos to Comico for offering up something different than the standard superhero / anti-hero fare.  Kind of a shame that Ginger Fox pretty much ended her career with this mini-series (although two years prior to this mini-series, in 1986, Comico published a graphic novel of Ginger Fox, which I hope to find one day and read).

If you ever come across this book in a back-issue bin, I'd definitely suggest picking it up - well worth the read!

RATING:  10 highly sought-after film canisters out of 10 for an out of the ordinary comic book
with extraordinary art and storytelling talent!