CBR Live! Archive
365 Reasons to Love Comics #50
Fiftieth issue extravaganza! Die-cut hologram foil-embossed cover polybagged with collectible trading card! (And that's just the 1-in-1000 variant! There's ten different covers! Hahahah!) You're gonna want to CGC this one, folks!
Or not. Still, I can't believe I've made it this far. Only 315 more to go after this. Woot.
Black History Month continues as we delve into the life of a forgotten teenage comic star who is one of my favorites even though I know next to nothing about him. Move over, Archie, 'cause here comes...
2/19/07
50. Fast Willie Jackson
Can you dig it? You better! If your response isn't "Yeah, I can dig it," then you're not the jive-talkin' cool dude or dudette you should be! Oh, hell, I don't know the lingo, man.
"Fast Willie" (let's hope he didn't get that nickname from the ladies) only lasted seven issues as a series, but by God, they look like seven wonderful issues of the peppiest, squeaky-cleanest blaxploitation ever. It wasn't published by Archie, but it was done in the same style-- that "George LeMoine" fellow signing the covers was probably an undercover Archie freelancer.
Mocity (way bigger than Motown, man) was where it took place-- and the city was filled with the craziest bunch of characters and/or stereotypes. You had Willie, of course, and his main squeeze Dee Dee. Then there was Jo-Jo, a probable rip-off of Jimmie "J. J." Walker of "Dy-no-mite" Good Times fame; Jabar, the obligatory militant African-American; Frankie, who could only be a pimp (see above); Issac Hayes--er, Hannibal, a "strong man" (gang bruiser?); Officer Flagg, who filled the "honky" and "The Man" roles; and a few others, like Sister Zola, the Martinezes, and "Jane Fronda." I'm just going to let that last one lie there.
The whole concept of the series is so wacky; it's like the Boondocks meets Archie. My God, think of the possibilities! We've got to bring Fast Willie and the gang back! Who's got the rights? Get me their number!
As Willie would say, "rock solid." If only all Archie clones were this awesome.
Links, baby:
Scott Shaw! thought Fast Willie was so cool, he looked at him twice in Oddball Comics!
Did you know "the scoop" on Fast Willie?
Join us (well, me) tomorrow for one of the guys you've probably been waiting for all month.
- Posted on February 19, 2007 @ 04:21 PM
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6 Comments
Adam Jones
February 19, 2007 at 4:51 pm
This may sound a tad harsh, but that Jabar looks like some no good, upitty, trouble maker. He can go jump in a lake for all I care.
Billy Ray
February 20, 2007 at 8:26 am
Back when I was a kid in the 70's there was a series of comics about the lives of little-known but influential Black Americans(The issue about Benjamin Banneker is the one I remember the most). They may have been published by Fitzgerald, because I remember seeing ads for this book in the back of those educational comics I dug so much. It was the line about "Every foxy momma in Mocity" that brought it all flooding back just now.
Anthony Strand
February 20, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Oh, man. I have to own at least one issue of this.
The Mad Monkey
February 21, 2007 at 1:23 pm
From the style of the art and the time in which Fast Willie came out, it looks to me that the artist was either Stan Goldberg or Dan DeCarlo.
I'm gonna lean more towards Mr. Goldberg.
The Kirbydotter
March 10, 2007 at 2:40 pm
OK. I can dig it too!
But where do YOU dig those unknown gems???
And I thought I knew about comics!
Never heard of this title!
Again, thank you for bringing this to light.
Gregory T. Barrett
December 25, 2008 at 3:56 pm
This is the bomb .I remember growing up . not knowing about these comics and I really can apprriciate this comic.