Bill Ward's sexy 'n saucy masterpiece, Torchy, was a back-up feature in many issues of the super fun Doll Man series (check the last few posts for more on DM.) Everyone's favorite blonde with the legs for days even had her own series for a while too, and was also featured in many issues of Quality's Modern Comics series-- which brings us to today's post from the October 1946 issue of Modern Comics #54. This is a funny, frisky little story with some incredible art, and I really REALLY wanted to include it in my MUMMIES book (still available HERE --makes a great xmas present!), but unfortunately it just wasn't mummy material enough to work there, whereas I believe it's mummy enough material to absolutely work here at ever art-lovin' THOIA. Enjoy this weeks diversion, haha...
Wanna see more Torchy here at THOIA? Comment NOW!
4 comments:
There's a lot of Eisner in Ward's drawings here ... page 6, panel 3 especially.
It must have killed Ward to draw this, all the times Torchy's feet were blocked by other objects! I always remember my first brush with Ward was from Cracked and he was still doing the exact same thing. The guy had a style, which might be a nice way to say "fetish!"
I'm going to use the "I was just trying it on" excuse next time I'm hauled in for robbery!
Bill Ward,
an artist with skills and a unique style all his own that put him up there with the greats like Kirby, Wood, Ditko, and Basil Wolverton to name a few.
I agree with Brian, Bill Ward's Nanny Dickering (Ward sneaking in an innuendo?) was as much Cracked Magazine's mascot as Sylvester P. Smythe. Most remember Nanny off the top of their heads while you have to look up Sylvester's name to remember it.
Thank you for this slice of cheesecake from the man himself, Bill Ward.
These splash panels are great (assuming that witch image you posted at the end isn't just a pin-up, I want to read *that* story too). Some of the interior stuff feels overly brisk to me--I'm not usually a fan of panels with zero backgrounds unless the action is really supposed to be speedy; and I'm usually against disembodied heads, too. In less heroic hands, I'd call work like this lazy. But Ward's such a good cartoonist that it all works out just fine. I love the panel on page six where the cop is waiting for Torchy to come back out of the water. What a great transition from climax to denouement, a punchline to the action: surprise this chase scene isn't even happening.
Very worthy of an Honorable Mention, and that's not really so bad now, is it?
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