Proud to be a Bad Influence

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Who Wants Breakfast?

Bill Ward

I've never had a chance to read any issues of "PussyCat" but Bill Ward is one of the artists I credit as a huge influence on my art. As a student in junior high, I frequented a comic shop called The Hobby Shop, where I found the Torchy reprint series published by Innovation press. The covers were generally done by modern comic artists (like Olivia and Brian Stelfreeze) with interior art by Bill Ward. All of the Bill Ward art in the comics were reprints and in black and white, but I honestly didn't care. Those comics where as good in my opinion as anything printed in color by Marvel or DC at the time. I became a bit of an amateur comic historian, learning not only about Bill Ward, but also the other amazing artists that were credited as "Good Girl Artists".  The cheeky humor and tantilizing frisky art captured my imagination so easily. For me, modern comic art is beautiful, but there is something about the classic good girl art of the golden age will hold a special place in my heart.