Tonight at 7:00 in the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, the New York chapter of Friends of Lulu is hosting a panel discussion entitled, "Women of Color In Comics And Manga." Moderating the discussion is Cheryl Lynn -- known to the blogging community as Digital Femme and a member of The Ormes Society, an organization inspired by the groundbreaking work of cartoonist Jackie Ormes.
But who is Jackie Ormes?
Jackie Ormes, among her other accomplishments, had two successful syndicated comic strips: "Patty-Jo 'n' Ginger," which ran for eleven years during the 1940s and 50s and inspired a doll line, and "Torchy Brown," which first appeared in the 1930s and was revived from 1950-1954.
In an era of rampant stereotypes of African-Americans in popular culture, Ormes's comic strips featured women of color who were confident, brave, intelligent, fashionable, and independent. With a mass media that even now seems to have a problem with the same damn cliches, I marvel at how Ormes managed to buck the system and present her own vision.
Yet in spite of her successes, I haven't seen a tremendous amount written about Ormes. Indeed, after 25 years of being a comic and cartoon enthusiast, the first mention I have ever found of her was in a copy of Trina Robbins's "The Great Women Cartoonists."But recently there seems to be a renaissance in appreciation for her work. In February of 2008 a book entitled Jackie Ormes: The First African American Woman Cartoonist by Nancy Goldstein will be published by University of Michigan Press. And The Ormes Society continues to keep the memory of this distinguished American cartoonist alive.
Turning now from the past to the present and future, I would recommend dropping by the "Women of Color" panel discussion at MoCCA. Panelists include illustrious illustrators such as Alitha Martinez, known for her work on books such as Iron Man and Thor, Jenny Gonzalez, creator of the Too Negative series and contributor to the House of Twelve anthology, and Rashida Lewis, creator of the comic series Sand Storm.
" With a mass media that even now seems to have a problem with the same damn cliches, I marvel at how Ormes managed to buck the system and present her own vision"
ReplyDeleteYou do know that this strip did NOT run in the mass media, didnt you?
As far as I know the strip only appeared in the African-American newspapers.
I think if the Terri Lee doll company -- which was pretty mainstream and popular -- had bought the rights to her characters to make toys out of, it can be said that Ormes reached some degree of mainstream success.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I hope Nancy can make it tonight! Maybe she'll even bring her wife (Robin's current editor)...
ReplyDeleteI would LOVE to come tonight, but I live hundreds of miles away! (say hello to an apparent other Nancy Goldstein for me).
ReplyDeleteHere's a little more info on the Patty-Jo 'n' Ginger single panel cartoon, above. It ran in the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper on Nov. 24, 1951. Patty-Jo makes a rather lengthy reference to "Operation Cleaver" in a play on words about turkeys and Thanksgiving. The cartoon gives Ormes a chance to criticize American foreign policy, in this allusion to a real Operation Cleaver, an assault upon the Iron Triangle area in Korea by the IX Corps of the U.N. forces. Jackie Ormes was an astute follower of the international political scene!
The Torchy in Heartbeats is dated Aug. 8, 1953. By sheer coincidence, it's the same one she is working on, in newsreel footage on my Web site (under construction), http://www.jackieormes.com
It is of course the color comic strip series that has brought her most attention, with Torchy as a fighter for environmental and racial justice.
Thanks, Cheryl Lynn, for helping to bring Jackie Ormes's legacy to life! and of course for mentioning my biography of Jackie Ormes.
Nancy
Correction, the Torchy in Heartbeats is dated Feb. 27, 1954 -- looks a lot like the one in the newsreel, but not the same. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteNancy