Number 1868: Torchy and Nanny

Bill Ward (1919-1998) drew pretty girls. They were his specialty. Not just pretty girls, but eye-popping sexy girls. In his comic book career he spent time on drawing the non-sexy elements of comic art, too. Like cars, buildings, and men. In his last couple of decades Ward’s girls were the focus of his cartoons and artwork, and everything else looks like it just wasn’t as important.

Here are Torchy, as represented from her second story, drawn by Ward for Doll Man Quarterly #9 (1946), and a much later story from Cracked #179 (1981) featuring the sexy Nanny Dickering in one of a continuing series of interview satires. The Nanny strip appears not to use any reference material...the dog in the first panel, the poorly done caricatures of stars (and why a photo of Bo Derek instead of a drawing?), and even using Linus (of Peanuts) instead of Charlie Brown, who is mentioned in the the speech balloon. Who does not know the difference between Charlie Brown and Linus?! (Imagine Pappy in an outraged huff .)

Okay. I took a short walk and I feel better. At least Ward spent time with Nanny, rendering her lovingly, as he did with all his pin-up girls. I like the airbrush effects on Nanny, including her patterned nylons in the splash panel. They disappear after that panel, which is just one more complaint. That’s too many, even for me, so I’m going out for another walk.

Posted in: Pappy Comics