Comic strips have been the source of live-action musicals (Li’l Abner), science fiction adventures (Flash Gordon), comedies (Garfield), and spy movies (Modesty Blaise). So it’s really no surprise to find one that became a model of 1970s blaxploitation: Friday Foster.
Created by writer Jim Lawrence, who penned several James Bond comic strips and a handful of titles for Marvel Comics, and drawn by Spanish illustrator Jorge Longarón, Friday Foster debuted in January, 1970, and continued for four years. (Dell Comics also produced one issue of a comic book based on the strip.) Centered around the eponymous title character, an aspiring fashion photographer from Harlem who eventually becomes a supermodel, the strip remains noteworthy as the first to feature an African American woman in a prominent role.
Created by writer Jim Lawrence, who penned several James Bond comic strips and a handful of titles for Marvel Comics, and drawn by Spanish illustrator Jorge Longarón, Friday Foster debuted in January, 1970, and continued for four years. (Dell Comics also produced one issue of a comic book based on the strip.) Centered around the eponymous title character, an aspiring fashion photographer from Harlem who eventually becomes a supermodel, the strip remains noteworthy as the first to feature an African American woman in a prominent role.
In 1975, Pam Grier portrayed Friday Foster in an adaptation of the comic written and directed by Arthur Marks. The film revolves around a plot to kill financial and political leaders in the African American community and, of course, includes the requisite amount of violence, nudity, and non-PC language as well as car chases involving a hearse and a milk truck. Yaphet Kotto, Thalmus Rasulala, Carl Weathers, Eartha Kitt (who chews up the screen), Paul Benjamin, Scatman Crothers, and Ted Lange help round out the cast.
(Image: cover of Friday Foster #1, October, 1972, Dell Comics)
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