The reveal of the Spanish language edition of the upcoming Friday Foster Sundays collection from Barcelona-based Norma Editorial marks a further step towards this long-awaited collection’s debut, delayed from last year.
Friday Foster, published between January 1970 until 1974, was the first mainstream syndicated comic strip in the US to feature a Black woman in the lead role.
As we previously reported, Portland-based Ablaze Publishing is to release an English language collection of the ground-breaking 1970s US Sunday newspaper strip Friday Foster, co-created by James Bond newspaper strip writer Jim Lawrence and Spanish artist Jorge Longarón, with art also by Gray Morrow,
However, we also previously reported that Barcelona-based Norma Editorial will be the first to publish the collection, in Spanish.
The Friday Foster Tapa dura book is a project edited by Javier Mesón and David Moreu for Norma Editorial, the result of two years of work, created with input and supervision from Longarón before he died in 2019.
The collection features the Friday Foster Sunday strips, plus exclusive interviews and previously unreleased material from Longarón’s archives.
Friday Foster is the story of a former nightclub “camera bunny” turned photographer’s assistant turned fashion model. With an innate inclination to help others and a natural beauty that makes her a magnet for men, Friday often finds herself in some very sticky situations and world-class adventures.
Friday Foster only appeared in about twenty US newspapers, mostly major metropolitan – not only the Chicago Tribune, but titles such as the New York News. Despite a relatively short run, the character is fondly remembered, and the character made a welcome appearance in a two-week Dick Tracy storyline back in 2019, written by Joe Staton and Mike Curtis with art by Andrew Pepoy. You can read it here on GoComics.
The Spanish Sundays collection will be published first, with a release date of 28th May 2021; the US edition, edited by Christopher Marlon, an English translation of the Spanish edition, with some additional material, will be published on 20th July.
Javier Mesón has co-ordinated both, and it’s quite clear just how much work has gone into restoring the 222 strips featured, as this example posted by restorer Guillermo Velasco Navarro, clearly indicates.
Norma Editorial has included a preview of the new collection in the latest edition of their Spanish-language Descubre magazine, too.
The Ablaze edition includes Friday Foster strips drawn by Gray Morrow, who took over the art on the strip towards the end of the run. along with strips by artists such as Creig Flessel and Frank Springer.
Norma Editorial is one of Spain’s leading publishers in the field of comics, graphic and illustrated books. With a catalogue that includes some of the world’s most prominent authors, the Barcelona-based company, which owns its own bookshops chain, operates in a multitude of fields, always related to the Ninth Art: publishing, distribution, representation of authors and graphic services.
If this collection is a success in both Spanish and English, as hoped, then it may yet pave the way for collections of the Friday Foster dailies, although with some 1300 rare episodes to locate, scan and restore, that would be a major project.
FRIDAY FOSTER SUNDAYS – SPANISH EDITION
Friday Foster Tapa dura | Published by Norma Editorial on 28th May 2021 | 256 Pages | ISBN 978-8467945591 | Read a preview in Descubre
El regreso de un clásico de culto de la exploitation Bienvenidos al mundo de Friday Foster, la intrépida Fotógrafa del barrio neoyorquino de Harlem que revolucionó las tiras de prensa estadounidenses a principios de los años 70. Aventura, romance, intriga y mucho glamur.
• Norma Editorial is online at normaeditorial.com – newsletter available
• Read Javier Mesón’s latest blog about the Friday Foster project (in Spanish)
FRIDAY FOSTER SUNDAYS – ENGLISH EDITION
Friday Foster | Published by Ablaze Publishing on 20th July 2021| 304 Pages | ISBN 978-1950912063
The Friday Foster comic strip is the story ofa former nightclub “camera bunny” turned photographer’s assistant turned fashion model. With an innate inclination to help others and a natural beauty that makes her a magnet for men, Friday often finds herself in some very sticky situations and world class adventures.
The book will also include a significant bonus section including multiple interviews, an expanded sketchbook section, artwork, photos, essays, articles, behind-the-scenes info, and more
• Read our original article on the Friday Foster Norma Editorial edition
• Read our article on the Ablaze Publishing Friday Foster collection
• Ablaze Publishing is online at ablazepublishing.com
FURTHER READING…
• Read our tribute to artist Jorge Longarón
With many thanks to Javier Mesón
- About the Author
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, US Comics
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