Entry tags:

char: black cat/linda turner, publisher: harvey comics

The Black Cat, a great super-hero comic... no, a Western.. or a horror title. Or something.




Peur evol's much-appreciated post a few days ago about the Black Cat stirred nostalgia in me. I really wish I'd held onto those giant-sized Harvey reprints from 1963, but I see other reprints are available. One interesting aspect of the Black Cat series was its shifting emphasis as trends waxed and waned.

The Black Cat started in August 1941 in POCKET COMICS, then moved over to SPEED COMICS and got her own title, which had a healthy run but which went through some interesting transmogrifications. Publisher Alfred Harvey followed trends as much as any other publisher. When super-heroes seemed tired and passe following the war's end, comics shifted to other subjects. BLACK CAT became BLACK CAT WESTERN for a few issues, easy enough as Linda Turner just started making more Western movies. Then it became a horror title, with Linda's character fading out completely. She came back for a few reprint appearances toward the end of the run, even picking up an adolescent teen sidekick named Kitten. (I imagine someone somewhere has written a story where the Black Cat's Kitten crosses paths with Catman's little blonde cutie Kitten, and the two have hot steamy sex while still in costume.. I mean, if you can imagine, somebody has already acted on it.)

The whole series of transitions would have been complete with a few issues of BLACK CAT ROMANCE. After all, Linda Turner was a gorgeous actress and the stories featured a lot of celebrity caricatures. It would have been simple to play up her moviemaking, relationships with other actors, matchmaking for young naive starlets. But no such luck.