Friday Foster

Friday Foster was an American newspaper comic strip, created and written by Jim Lawrence, who was inspired when he saw Donyale Luna on television.

After two years of development, the strip was illustrated by Spanish cartoonist Jorge LongarĂ³n and syndicated by the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. The strip focused on the glamorous life of its title character, a former fashion model who became an assistant to a top fashion photographer, as described by comics historian Dave Karlen:

Starting out as an assistant to high-fashion photographer Shawn North, Friday after learning the ropes, eventually moved in front of the camera to become a world traveling supermodel leaving her troubled life in Harlem behind her. Early on, Lawrence's story lines had a harder edge showing the contrast of Friday's family with her street-wise brother trying to accept her newfound success in the world of magazine publishing. But soon its episodes changed focus to showcase more soap-opera thrills of romance and travel for the gorgeous African-American. Hong Kong, Paris, London, and even Africa were all shown with equal flair from the detailed artistic masterpieces produced by LongarĂ³n from his home in Barcelona.

The first syndicated comic strip to feature an African-American woman in its lead role, Friday Foster debuted in 1970 and ran in newspapers until 1974. Dell Comics published a single issue of a Friday Foster comic book (October 1972), written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Jack Sparling.

In 1975, Friday Foster was adapted into a blaxploitation feature film of the same name, starring Pam Grier.

Famous quotes containing the words friday and/or foster:

    The dripping blood our only drink,
    The bloody flesh our only food:
    In spite of which we like to think
    That we are sound, substantial flesh and blood—
    Again, in spite of that, we call this Friday good.
    —T.S. (Thomas Stearns)

    De Camptown racetrack five miles long—
    Oh! doo-dah-day!
    —Stephen Collins Foster (1826–1864)