R.I.P. TRINA ROBBINS

We've lost another one of our great cartoonists, this time one of the most influential in the industry. Trina Robbins passed away at the age of 85 on 10 April 2024 in San Francisco from complications following a stroke according to her long-time partner and distinguished comic book inker, Steve Leialoha.

Robbins' first work was published in 1966 in the underground newspaper, THE EAST VILLAGE OTHER. Shortly thereafter, she came to prominence in the underground comics network, publishing the first all-women created underground comic, IT AIN'T ME BABE, in 1970.

She was an outspoken voice against the male-dominated comics industry, both underground and mainstream. But, along with a small group of other women who found it difficult getting their work in print, her first hurdle was breaking into the "closed shop" of the undergrounds. She specifically called out Robert Crumb, whose blatantly misogynistic and bigoted comics were nevertheless the most popular and best-selling titles at the time. In Roger Sabin's book, Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels: A History Of Comic Art (Phaidon Press, 1996), she commented: "It's weird to me how willing people are to overlook the hideous darkness in Crumb's work . . . What the hell is funny about rape and murder?" Ironically, these were among the same transgressive themes that were wide spread throughout the underground comics scene, as well as the same topics which made them both famous and infamous.

Robbins would later migrate to the "establishment" where she drew Wonder Woman for DC and an adaptation of the HONEY WEST TV series (starring Anne Francis, who played a strong but seductive female lead) for Moonstone. She is also noted for designing the original costume for James Warren's Vampirella, seen on the character's first magazine cover as painted by Frank Frazetta.

Over the years, she published numerous non-fiction books on female characters in the comics, among them are: A Century of Women Cartoonists (Kitchen Sink, 1993), The Great Women Superheroes (Kitchen Sink, 1997) and The Great Women Cartoonists (Watson-Guptill, 2001). I don't mind saying that I'm the proud owner of The Great Women Super Heroes that I bought from the one-of-a-kind Bud Plant Comic Art Catalog when it was published by Kitchen Sink. It includes a tipped in postcard-sized plate (see original source art below) that is signed and numbered by by Trina.

Trina Robbins' homage to Tarpe Mills, the female cartoonist who created
the Golden Age character Miss Fury.

She was formally recognized numerous times during her long career. Among her many achievements, she received the Inkpot Award in 1977 and was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2013.

Born Trina Perlson on 17 August 1938 in New York City, she is survived by Leialoha and a daughter by comics publisher, Kim Deitch. 

Original cover art for "Girl Fight Comics" (Print Mint, 1972).

A fantasy "Weird Tales" cover in tribute to Margaret Brundage (No date).

A full-page Wonder Woman pin-up from "Turned On Cuties" (1972).

A hand-colored and signed print for the San Diego ComicCon (1970's).

IT AIN'T ME BABE COMIX (LAST GASP ECOFUNNIES, April 1970, "Conceived by the Women's Liberation Basement Press").

FORREST J ACKERMAN, NUDIST

"If God had meant us to be nudists, we would have been born without clothes." -- Forrest J Ackerman in Continuum

One look at Forrest J Ackerman's resume reveals a varied and multifold list of work. There's his most famous accomplishment, editor of the original FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine,  There's his work as an author's agent. There's his litany of fiction and non-fiction. And . . . there's his entry as a nudist.

Did I say nudist? I most certainly did! FJA unabashedly claimed his stint at a nudist colony back in the 1960s was actually "research" for an article. I guess it really doesn't matter if it was an assignment or a freelance job, does it?

In his autobiographical Forrest J Ackerman, Famous Monster of Filmland, published by Imagine, Inc. in 1986, he casually states: "I, for instance, am not embarrassed to let you know that, years ago, after researching an article called "Brave Nude World", which was originally published in a nudist magazine [unnamed here] and later reprinted in Fantastic, a companion to Amazing at the time, I frequently frequented [sic] a nudist camp on Sundays for about 5 years."

Man, that's a lot of reasearch! In an attempt at a sort of professional validation, Forry went on to say that famous science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon made "no secret" about being a nudist, as well. Oh, okay.

In an earlier, unrestrained (but oh, so entertaining) bio-fest titled Amazing Forries, published in November 1976 by Metropolis Publications, FJA included nudism on the list of "Things I Am For".

It's no secret that Forry had an eye for beauty, especially of the young female kind. For instance, he professed ebullient support for a young fan, Trina Petit, who was later to be known as underground cartoonist Trina Robbins, and was credited by Forry as the designer of the strip of cloth that became Vampirella's costume.



Trina Petit/Robbins' letter in FAMOUS MONSTERS #6.



Then there was the strange promotion of another up and coming female fan by the name of Heidi Sahi. Miss Saha was a regular member of fantasy conventions in the early 1970s, many times appearing in costume as such heroines as Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, and, most famously, Vampirella.

For a while, Forry was unrelenting in the promotion of his favorite nymphette, even to the point of having James Warren publish the now-notorious, AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF HEIDI SAHA, in 1973, which left many a' monster fan scratching his head as to its significance.



A page from AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY
OF HEIDI SAHA.




A photo of Heidi in her Vampirella costume (top).
Pictured below is a young scream queen
later to become known as Brinke Stevens.


Another quirk of Forry's was for him to be seen in many photographs clutching a copy of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND in a seemingly neverending shameless plug of his magazine. This being a regular practice, one could be lead to speculate that Ackerman, during the course of his "research" on nudist camps, had only his copy of FM between him and his companions.