Good Girl Art (GGA) is a style of artwork depicting women primarily featured in
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
s,
comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
s, and
pulp magazine
Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...
s. The term was coined by the American Comic Book Company, appearing in its
mail order
Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as:
* Sending an order form in the mail
* Placing a telephone call
* Placing a ...
catalogs from the 1930s to the 1970s, and is used by modern comic experts to describe the hyper-sexualized version of femininity depicted in comics of the era.
History
The science fiction author Richard A. Lupoff defined good girl art as:
The popularity of Good Girl Art peaked in the 1940s and 1950s as the style gained favor with young men, particularly US servicemen, for whom comics served as an opportunity to 'girl watch'. Leading artists of the movement include Bill Ward (known for his '' Torchy'' comics) and
Matt Baker
Matthew James Baker (born 23 December 1977) is a British television presenter. He co-presented the children's television show ''Blue Peter'' from 1999 until 2006, BBC One's ''Countryfile'' since 2009 and ''The One Show'' from 2011 to 2020, wit ...
, who was one of the few
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
working as an artist during the Golden Age of Comics.
During this period, GGA also found its way into newspaper comic strips. One of the early examples of good girl art was Russell Stamm's Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, a superhero often depicted in lingerie.
Use of the phrase has since expanded to indicate a style of artwork in which female characters of comic books, cartoons and covers for
digest magazine
Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately , but can also be and , similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes have evolved from the printi ...
s,
paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...
s and
pulp magazine
Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...
s are shown in gratuitously provocative or suggestive (and sometimes very improbable) situations and locations, such as outer space. The artwork sometimes involves bondage or
damsel-in-distress
The damsel in distress is a recurring narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has either been kidnapped or placed in general peril. Kinship, love, or lust (or a combination of those) gives the male protagonist the motiv ...
scenarios.
Two creators of GGA for science fiction magazine covers were Earle Bergey (''
Startling Stories
''Startling Stories'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1955 by publisher Ned Pines' Standard Magazines. It was initially edited by Mort Weisinger, who was also the editor of ''Thrilling Wonder Stories'', S ...
'', ''
Thrilling Wonder Stories
''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stor ...
'') and Harold W. McCauley (''
Imagination
Imagination is the production or simulation of novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Stefan Szczelkun characterises it as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations ...
'', ''
Fantastic Adventures
''Fantastic Adventures'' was an American pulp fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1953 by Ziff-Davis. It was initially edited by Raymond A. Palmer, who was also the editor of ''Amazing Stories'', Ziff-Davis's other scien ...
''). In the '70s pulp fiction,
Hector Garrido
Alessandro Loayza (1928 – April 19, 2020) was an American book cover illustrator. He illustrated numerous science fiction, horror and adventure book covers, including all the covers for the Baroness series of pulp novels, and covers for the Dest ...
drew the GGA book covers of '' The Baroness'' spy thriller series by
Paul Kenyon
Paul Kenyon (born 8 May 1966) is a BAFTA-winning journalist and author who has reported from conflict zones around the world for BBC Panorama and has written several books. He made his name confronting criminals in his own prime time TV show on ...
and '' The Destroyer'' men's adventure pulp novels by
Warren Murphy
Warren Burton Murphy (September 13, 1933 – September 4, 2015) was an American author, most famous as the co-creator of '' The Destroyer'' series, the basis for the film '' Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins''.
Early life
Murphy was born in ...
and
Richard Sapir
Richard Ben Sapir (; 1936–1987) is best known for '' The Destroyer'' series of novels that he co-created with Warren Murphy.
The first ''Destroyer'' was written in 1963, while Sapir worked as a city hall reporter in Jersey City and Murphy se ...
.
In 1985, Bill Pearson edited and published ''Good Girls'', a collection of artwork by himself,
Vince Alascia
Vincent Alascia (January 14, 1914 – September 3, 1998), at the
Richard Bassford
Richard Bassford (born 1936) is an American illustrator who has worked in both advertising and comic books.
Born in Manhattan, Bassford lived from age three in the Queens neighborhoods of Maspeth, Queens, Maspeth, Corona, Queens, Corona and Whi ...
Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He is ...
,
Frank Godwin
Francis Godwin (October 20, 1889 – August 5, 1959) was an American illustrator and comic strip artist, notable for his strip '' Connie'' and his book illustrations for ''Treasure Island'', ''Kidnapped'', ''Robinson Crusoe'', ''Robin Hood'' ...
Roy Krenkel
Roy Gerald Krenkel (July 11, 1918 – February 24, 1983), who often signed his work RGK, was an American illustrator who specialized in fantasy and historical drawings and paintings for books, magazines and comic books.
Influences and stud ...
Ed Paschke
Edward Francis Paschke (June 22, 1939 – November 25, 2004) was an American painter of Polish descent. His childhood interest in animation and cartoons, as well as his father's creativity in wood carving and construction, led him toward a caree ...
,
Willy Pogany
William Andrew Pogany (born Vilmos András Pogány; August 24, 1882 – July 30, 1955) was a prolific Hungarian illustrator of children's and other books. His contemporaries include C. Coles Phillips, Joseph Clement Coll, Edmund Dulac, Harvey Du ...
,
Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins beca ...
,
Wally Wood
Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...
,
Mike Zeck
Michael J. Zeck (born September 6, 1949), is an American comics artist. He is best known for his work for Marvel Comics on such series as ''Captain America'', ''Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars'', '' Master of Kung-Fu'', and ''The Punisher'' as wel ...
and others.
From 1990-2001,
AC Comics
AC Comics (formerly known as Paragon Publications and Americomics) is a comic book publishing company started by Bill Black.
published 19 issues of Pearson's ''Good Girl Art Quarterly'' (incorporating several issues of ''Good Girl Comics''), featuring a mixture of photos and new comics with reprints of vintage stories.''Good Girl Art Quarterly'' at Grand Comics Database /ref> Other artists in the series include Nina Albright,
Dick Ayers
Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...
,
Frank Bolle
Frank W. Bolle (June 23, 1924 – May 12, 2020) was an American comic-strip artist, comic book artist and illustrator, best known as the longtime artist of the newspaper strips ''Winnie Winkle'' and ''The Heart of Juliet Jones''; for stints on th ...
,
Gill Fox
Gilbert Theodore Fox (November 29, 1915 – May 15, 2004) was an American political cartoonist, comic book artist and editing, editor, and animator.
Biography
Fox began his career in animation at Max Fleischer's studio, but left due to labor unr ...
,
Jack Kamen
Jack Kamen (; May 29, 1920 – August 5, 2008) was an American illustrator for books, magazines, comic books and advertising, known for his work illustrating crime, horror, humour, suspense and science fiction stories for EC Comics, for his work in ...
,
Bob Lubbers
Robert Bartow Lubbers (January 10, 1922 – July 8, 2017) was an American comic strip and comic book artist best known for his work on such strips as ''Tarzan'', ''Li'l Abner'' and ''Long Sam''.
Biography
Born Robert Bartow Lubbers in 1922, he be ...
,
Pete Morisi
Peter A. Morisi (January 7, 1928 – October 12, 2003),Peter A. Morisi Social Security Number 076-20-5 ...
, and
Bob Powell
Bob Powell (né Stanley Robert Pawlowski; While gives Stanislav Pavlowsky, and gives Stanislav Pavlowsky, Bails and Ware note: "family name corrected by his son, Seth R. Powell July 2006." October 2, 1916
.
See also
*
Bad girl art
Bad girl art is a superheroine artwork style trend that emerged during the 1990s.
History
The term "bad girl art" was coined in the 1990s as an allusion – and contrast – to the "good girl art" movement that started in the 1940s, and is use ...
Pin-up girl
A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...
*
Portrayal of women in comics
The portrayal of women in American comic books has often been the subject of controversy since the medium's beginning. Critics have noted the roles of women as both supporting characters and lead characters are substantially more subjected to gen ...
References
Further reading
* Beaulieu, Dennis. Interview with artist
Richard Bassford
Richard Bassford (born 1936) is an American illustrator who has worked in both advertising and comic books.
Born in Manhattan, Bassford lived from age three in the Queens neighborhoods of Maspeth, Queens, Maspeth, Corona, Queens, Corona and Whi ...