Lovers, Enemies, and Friends: The Complex and Coded Early History of Lesbian Comic Strip Characters

This article seeks to recuperate three previously unexamined early newspaper comic strip characters that could lay the groundwork for queer comic studies. The titular characters in Lucy and Sophie Say Goodbye (1905), Sanjak in Terry and the Pirates (1939) by Milton Caniff, and Hank O’Hair in Brenda Starr, Reporter (1940) by Dale Messick are analyzed through close readings, supporting archival material, and interviews. The article also theorizes the identification of the creator of Lucy and Sophie Say Goodbye as George O. Frink, and offers an overview of LGBTQ comics holdings at institutions in North America.Embargoed for 12 months