Vintage Black Heroines – A Panel Exhibition Featuring Vintage Black Comic Strips And Comics From The 1950’s-1970’s
The Museum Of UnCut Funk has acquired exclusive access to two Vintage Black comic strips published by the Smith-Mann Syndicate during the 1950’s: Torchy In Heartbeats and Torchy Togs.
The Torchy Brown character was the first positive Black female character to ever appear in her own syndicated comic strip. Torchy In Heartbeats and Torchy Togs were featured in a first time ever color newspaper insert featuring Black comic strips in the Pittsburgh Courier, the only Black newspaper to carry the insert, from 1950 through 1954.
As the original art and newspapers were not preserved, very few copies of these comics, if any at all, currently exist. We believe we have access to the largest collection of, and for some of these comics, the only color copies that remain. These comics have not been seen since the 1950’s.
The Museum Of UnCut Funk has curated an exhibition featuring these Vintage Black comic strips to commemorate the 65th anniversary of their introduction.
You can learn more and see some of these vintage comic strips at the following links:
- http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2013/03/17/jackie-ormes-the-first-african-american-woman-cartoonist-by-nancy-goldstein/
- http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2013/12/14/comics-of-the-smith-mann-syndicate-part-ii-torchy-in-heartbeats/
- http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2009/10/05/torchy-brown/
The first positive Black female character to appear in her own syndicated comic strip.
The Museum Of UnCut Funk has also acquired exclusive rights to exhibit the Friday Foster comic strip published by the Chicago Tribune from 1970 to 1974.
Friday Foster® was the first positive Black female character to ever appear in her own syndicated comic strip in a non-Black publication, the second in a syndicated comic strip.
The Vintage Black Heroines Exhibition features Friday Foster comic strips and commemorates the 45th anniversary of the strip’s introduction.
You can learn more and see some of these vintage comic strips at the following links:
- http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2009/04/19/friday-foster/
- http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2013/01/19/the-friday-foster-chronicles/
- http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2015/01/17/jordi-longaron-the-legend-of-friday-foster/
The first positive Black female character to ever appear in her own syndicated comic strip in a non-Black publication, the second in a syndicated comic strip.
The Vintage Black Heroines Exhibition also features The Butterfly, the first Black female superheroine to appear in a comic book – 1971 Hell Rider #1 and #2, commemorating the 44th anniversary of the comic book introduction.
You can learn more and see some of these vintage comic books at the following links:
- http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2015/03/28/vintage-black-heroes-the-butterfly/
- http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2011/10/09/what-a-sexy-comic-book-hell-rider-1-circa-1971/
- http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2011/12/05/hell-rider-2-circa-1971/
The first Black female superheroine to appear in a comic book
The panel exhibition features reproductions of the original comic strips and comic book pages on artist grade canvas. Additional panel materials are also available.
Total Vintage Black Heroes Exhibition – All Four Comic Strips – 59 – Full Page Strips (36×24), 2 – 3/4 Page Strips (28×24), up to 116 – Half Page Strips (18×24), 21 – Text / Character Panels (36×24)
- Torchy In Heartbeats – 22 Panels – 5 – Full Page Strips (36×24), 5 – 3/4 Page Strips (28 x 24), 8 – Half Page Strips (18×24), 4 – Text / Character Panels (36×24)
- Torchy Togs – 11 Panels – 4 – Half Page Strips (18×24), 4 – 1/3 Page Strips (12 x24), 4 – Text / Character Panels (36×24)
- Friday Foster – up to 108 Panels – up to 104 – Half Page Strips (18×24), 4 – Text / Character Panels (36×24)
- The Butterfly – 30 Panels – 26 – Full Page Strips (36×24), 4 – Text / Character Panels (36×24)
Solo comic strip exhibitions are also available for rental.
For more information and rental fees or to book the any of our Vintage Black Heroines exhibitions please contact the Curator, Sista ToFunky.