First Black Female Lead Nationally Syndicated Comic Strip "Friday Foster" Large Color Archive, 1970-72

[African American][Feminism][Comics][1970s] First Black female led national comic strip Friday Foster, archive of 40 full-color Sunday comic strips, 1970-1972. Originally printed in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Created by writer Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Jorge Longarón, Friday Foster was the first nationally syndicated comic strip to feature a Black woman as its protagonist. This run captures the cultural and political undertones of the early 1970s, exploring themes of race, gender, and professional ambition through the lens of Friday, a sharp, stylish African American photojournalist navigating the fashion world and broader urban life. The strips (truncated) are visually rich with mod-era style, Afrocentric fashion, and an emotionally expressive rendering of interpersonal relationships, centering a rare Black female lead in mass media during a moment of increasing racial representation. The comic would later be adapted into a 1975 Blaxploitation film starring Pam Grier as Friday Foster.

Each strip features narrative-driven vignettes chronicling Friday’s professional and personal entanglements, often placing her in socially charged situations: from escorting an endangered child to safety, to confronting exploitative modeling agents, to resisting media sensationalism, to engaging with diverse characters reflecting Black, Latinx, and Asian American experiences. These strips are emblematic of the strip’s bold engagement with contemporary identity politics and groundbreaking contribution to racial and gender representation in 20th-century syndicated media. Light toning to edges typical of period newsprint; some pages with small (under 1")closed tears and one exhibiting discoloration affecting comic. Overall bright, well preserved and in very good condition. An exceptional archive showcasing one of the first national representations of a Black female protagonist in comics. (Inventory #: 21978)