Like Brenda Starr, Torchy Brown hit the comics pages as an independent woman with a career, adventure, and romance. But appearing exclusively in African American-targeted newspapers, she is not so widely known. Torchy Brown: Dixie to Harlem ran in 1937-38 and introduced Torchy as a feisty teen seeking stardom up north. A more mature Torchy appeared in 1950 as a nurse finding true love and fighting for racial equality and environmental causes. Ormes (1911-85) broke new ground as an African American woman cartoonist blending social commentary with pin-up glamour. Her best-known and longest-running strip was Patty-Jo 'n' Ginger , starring a mouthy youngster who wisecracked on the Cold War, racism, and popular culture in one-panel cartoons that could have run on the editorial page. The only woman listed on Tim Jackson's web site, Salute to Pioneering Cartoonists of Color, the Chicago-based Ormes was active with her husband in social and political causes. Doll historian Goldstein has produced an excellent introduction to this overlooked pioneer, setting her life into the background of her era and including substantial selections from strips not collected elsewhere. Highly recommended for graphic arts, journalism, and African American studies collections in public and academic libraries; good for teens, too. Ormes's name lives on today in the recently founded Ormes Society, an organization of African American women in comics (theormessociety.com ).
"In an assured, comic book style, Jackie Ormes drew opinionated, often sexy, and always well-dressed heroines who delighted African American audiences in the 1940s and '50s. But because her work appeared in black newspapers, Ormes flew under white America's radar. Now, thanks to Nancy Goldstein's fascinating biography, her story will delight anyone interested in comics, women, dolls, fashion, and what it was like to be a middle-class black person in mid-twentieth-century America. Jackie Ormes is a terrific find."Philadelphia Daily News , winner of the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning
Philadephia Daily News - Signe Wilkinson
"Jackie Ormes is a compact masterpiece that should serve as a model for future research on black cartoonists and on black popular culture in general."The Black Scholar: Journal of Black Studies and Research
The Black Scholar - John Woodford
Ormes was well ahead of her time… what’s interesting about her is her historical significance. The first two chapters here detail the particulars of her life [while] the rest are reproductions and discussion of her work, with useful digressions on the hierarchy of black newspapers, the history of doll materials and the cartoonist’s now-arcane illusions to pop culture and fashion.” —The New York Times
"Goldstein not only recounts with enthusiasm the trailblazing cartoonist's remarkable story . . . but also keenly analyzes Ormes's influential cartoons and the role black newspapers played in the struggle for racial equality. With a generous selection of Ormes's forward-looking cartoons resurrected for the first time, this is one exciting and significant book. Viva Jackie Ormes." —Booklist
"Ormes' life and work seems even more exciting, because so much of what Goldstein does seems like an act of discovery or introduction: Here's one of those great real-life cartoonist characters who, chances are, you've either never heard of, or never heard so much of." —Comic Book Resources "In an assured, comic book style, Jackie Ormes drew opinionated, often sexy, and always well-dressed heroines who delighted African American audiences in the 1940s and '50s… her story will delight anyone interested in comics, women, dolls, fashion, and what it was like to be a middle-class black person in mid-twentieth-century America." —Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News , winner of the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning "The importance of this book is immeasurable. Nancy Goldstein's commitment to uncovering Jackie's story—one that was clearly endangered—and providing this comprehensive collection of her work is nothing short of magnificent.” —Barbara Brandon-Croft, creator of Where I’m Coming From "Jackie Ormes could draw like an angel, tell a great story, slyly insert a comment on racial inequity, and throw in a few sexy frocks, all with panache. The mainstream papers missed a lot by not having Ormes in their pages, but her community benefited by having an incredible artist tell their stories, undiluted by those same mainstream papers. This book fills in a missing historical connection for all of us who love comics and cartoonists and need to have our stories told.” —Nicole Hollander, creator of Sylvia "Jackie Ormes is a compact masterpiece that should serve as a model for future research on black cartoonists and on black popular culture in general." —John Woodford, The Black Scholar "If one has ever enjoyed the daily newspaper comics or the Sunday afternoon funnies, then Goldstein's amply illustrated biography of Jackie Ormes, the first African-American woman cartoonist, is a must-read.” —Marsha I. Walker, Multicultural Review "One of the few full-length books devoted to a cartoonist who is not a white male. . . . a resource of the best kind." —Women's Review of Books "Groundbreaking…. Goldstein's most joyous accomplishment is in having presented a portrait here of a subtle revolutionary of a bygone era." —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Goldstein . . . establishes a perspective from which to revalue the power of the black press, not in its conventional acts of reportage, but in serial features in which "the news" and "the editorial" are often interlocked." —American Periodicals "Clear chapters and fascinating appendices . . . illustrate the life of a woman who poked at the rules of society even as she charmed them with her talent, wit, and legendary beauty. Goldstein has unearthed a chapter of comics history that might easily have been forgotten." —Teacher Librarian
"[A] groundbreaking new book. More than just a biography, this monumental homage pulls together for the first time pages and pages of reproductions from Jackie Ormes, an original American cartoonist, active from the mid 1930s through the mid-'50s. . . . Goldstein's most joyous accomplishment is in having presented a portrait here of a subtle revolutionary of a bygone era."Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Jonah Winter
"One of the few full-length books devoted to a cartoonist who is not a white male. . . . a resource of the best kind. . . . Goldstein's research is comprehensive."Women's Review of Books
"Clear chapters and fascinating appendices . . . illustrate the life of a woman who poked at the rules of society even as she charmed them with her talent, wit, and legendary beauty. Goldstein has unearthed a chapter of comics history that might easily have been forgotten."Teacher Librarian
"Goldstein . . . establishes a perspective from which to revalue the power of the black press, not in its conventional acts of reportage, but in serial features in which "the news" and "the editorial" are often interlocked."American Periodicals: A Journal of History, Criticism, and Bibliography
"Imagine if the only images of black people in the thirties, forties, and fifties were those in the mainstream media! Thank you, Jackie Ormes, for telling it like it was and recording it all with consummate grace, humor, and style. Ormes paved the way for me and we traveled many of the same paths—working as a journalist, struggling to make a way in the 'man's world' of cartooning, and addressing in our cartoons a range of issues still with us, even fifty years later. The importance of this book is immeasurable. Nancy Goldstein's commitment to uncovering Jackie's story—one that was clearly endangered—and providing this comprehensive collection of her work is nothing short of magnificent.”Where I’m Coming From
"Double Trouble. . . . Jackie Ormes could draw like an angel, tell a great story, slyly insert a comment on racial inequity, and throw in a few sexy frocks, all with panache. The mainstream papers missed a lot by not having Ormes in their pages, but her community benefited by having an incredible artist tell their stories, undiluted by those same mainstream papers. This book fills in a missing historical connection for all of us who love comics and cartoonists and need to have all our stories told. Little girls, pick up your pens—-start your strip now!"Sylvia
"Black papers are extremely rare in their original form . . . in a major coup that bespeaks Goldstein's dedication to the project, she succeeded in locating a cache of original Courier color comic sections from which to reproduce the amazing Torchy in Heartbeats strips."Hogan's Alley
Named an American Library Association Booklist Top 10 Biography of the Year
American Library Association (ALA) Booklist Top 10
"If one has ever enjoyed the daily newspaper comics or the Sunday afternoon funnies, then Goldstein's amply illustrated biography of Jackie Ormes, the first African-American woman cartoonist, is a must-read . . . Goldstein provides running commentary on the historical context and backdrop for much of her creative work. Goldstein also offers her own bled of close analysis and art criticism as she discusses the span of Ormes's syndicated comics."Multicultural Review
Multicultural Review - Marsha I. Walker
"In the first book devoted to Ormes, Goldstein not only recounts with enthusiasm the trailblazing cartoonist's remarkable story . . . but also keenly analyzes Ormes's influential cartoons and the role black newspapers played in the struggle for racial equality. With a generous selection of Ormes's forward-looking cartoons resurrected for the first time, this is one exciting and significant book. Viva Jackie Ormes."Booklist
Booklist - Donna Seabrook
"Jackie Ormes: the First African American Woman Cartoonist is a fascinating story about a trailblazing, multi-talented artist." American Studies , Earnestine Jenkins
Earnestine Jenkinsn Studies
"Goldestein's book is a wonderful introduction to a woman who turns out to be as fascinating a person as you could hope to read about, an incredible artist and cartoonist who was pioneering not just for the reason given in the sub-title, but because of how far ahead of her time much of her work was. Ormes' life and work seems even more exciting, because so much of what Goldstein does seems like an act of discovery or introduction: Here's one of those great real-life cartoonist characters who, chances are, you've either never heard of, or never heard so much of." Comic Book Resources
Comic Book Resources - J. Caleb Mozzocco
"I am so delighted to see an entire book about the great Jackie Ormes! This is a book that will appeal to multiple audiences: comics scholars, feminists, African Americans, and doll collectors."A Century of Women Cartoonists and The Great Women Cartoonists
"Jackie Ormes: the First African American Woman Cartoonist is a fascinating story about a trailblazing, multi-talented artist." American Studies , Earnestine Jenkins
American Studies - Earnestine Jenkins
