NEXT BACK FIRST
The first two months of The Daily Sham have been rather male dominated, as were the majority of the adventure strips from that time period. But today, we begin a new series, ‘The Perils of Suzi Ingénue,” with a great female protagonist. Comic fans of a certain age, (old, like me) may recognize the source material as “Connie” by Frank Godwin. Connie ran in the newspapers from 1927 to 1944, first as a Sunday page, then a daily and Sunday strip. She is considered the first female “action” heroine. The quotes are mine as there was very little what you could call action in Connie’s stories. The earliest strips teetered between humor and mild adventure. Connie was usually able to think her way out of every dire situation without resorting to violence. And usually without having to resort to much help from the men folk, I might add. In the late 30s, the strip took a strange turn when Connie was abducted by aliens and began a series of interstellar adventures on various planets. A large part of the charm of the strip lies in Frank Godwin’s incredible artwork. His style was strongly influenced by James Montgomery Flagg, who he shared a studio with, and Charles Dana Gibson. He went on to a highly successful career in book illustration and advertising.
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