Friday Foster, photographer, model, and proud black woman, was a revelation when her comic strip first appeared in American newspapers in 1970.

It was the first time a black character, let alone a black woman starred, in a mass market comic strip. Friday Foster was also written and drawn by white men. That juxtaposition is of prime interest in this exploration of the short-lived but well crafted feature.

The other thing to know about Friday Foster is that she was also part of a subgenre of so-called blaxploitation films of the 1970s, one that featured strong black females as leads. Usually macho, kick-ass features, Friday Foster—the movie—walked a subtler line even as it embraced most of the elements the genre demanded. The adjustments made to a comic strip intended for mixed audiences in crafting a movie intended primarily for African Americans are illuminating.

While Friday Foster only appeared in roughly twenty newspapers, they were mostly major metropolitan ones such as the Chicago Tribune and the New York News. While her time in the spotlight was relatively short, she remains fondly remembered. Her recent appearance in a 2019 Dick Tracy storyline is an indication of that.

Friday Foster the Character

In describing Friday Foster, I have to first give a shout out to Torchy Brown, the black heroine of a 1937-38 comic strip drawn by Jackie Ormes, an African American cartoonist. Torchy Brown doesn’t get the recognition it deserves as the strip only appeared in a handful of newspapers that catered to the black communities of several urban centers.

As for Friday Foster, she was described as having moved from her home town of Detroil to New York City to realize her dream of becoming a professional photographer. Renting a modest Harlem apartment, Friday and her younger brother Cleve lived a life both stable and adventurous.

While Friday was portrayed as a young woman with a good head on her shoulders and a compassionate heart, she could not help but be impacted by the glamorous world in which she was soon introduced. Her boss, Shawn North, was a blond-haired white man in his thirties. Friday was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with him, recognizing that he was a “top photographer … magazines, fashion stuff … even is war pictures won prizes.” North’s assignments led to adventures across Europe and even one to Africa.

As a beautiful woman with spirit and integrity, successful men lined up to pursue her.

(They were all black, the Tribune/New syndicate banned any interracial romance.)

Among the most notable were Alan Abu, a supremely confident French fashion designer; Colt Hawkins, successful mystery novelist and part-time private detective; Blake Tarr, multi-millionaire business tycoon and recluse; and Slade King, former football star turned black Tarzan. All but Tarr enjoyed a second appearance in the narrative and most ended with a proposal. Friday turned them all down.

White Guys, Black Female

Journeyman writer Jim Lawrence approached the Chicago Tribune Syndicate about taking on a comic strip featuring a black female character. With today’s sensibilities, we might hope a black writer might have taken on the challenge, but at this late date it is hard to know if the powers that be had ever been approached by one. Or how black writers circa 1970 were to get the experience the features syndicate likely sought. All that said, Lawrence took on the challenge with the best of intentions. Growing up in Detroit, Lawrence may have had ties to the black community there.

What is known is that Lawrence had a long history in writing popular fiction. He wrote The Lone Ranger radio show for a time, beginning in 1949 and installments for the boy’s book series Tom Swift and the Hardy Boys in the fifties. In the late fifties, Lawrence ghost wrote Joe Palooka for a few years and in 1965 took over the English comic strip, James Bond. His success in that venture led to his being hired to develop Friday Foster for the Tribune Syndicate circa 1968 and take over writing Captain Easy  for another features syndicate in 1970. That was the same year Friday Foster finally launched.  He is probably the least known of successful writers of comic strips.

Jordi Longaron, a Spanish artist, drew Friday Foster for most of her run. His first notable work for an American audience, Longaron created a sleek and glamorous sensibility for the comic strip. (The Bronze Age of Blogs has the largest sample of Friday Foster artwork on the internet as well as a near complete run of one of her adventures.)

Longaron recalled how early on Jim Lawrence took him on a taxi ride to see Harlem so that he could better represent the reality of where Friday and her brother lived.

“I had the feeling it was a poorer neighborhood than the rest of the city, but it had a lot of life. However, there were some black people who did not seem very happy with a camera,” shooting snapshots from the taxi window.

Lawrence, himself, recognized that such efforts to somehow absorb the experience of a group different than your own were—at some level—bound to be somewhat superficial. He even used the comic strip to make that point. In a parallel narrative, Friday takes her new boss on a tour of Harlem to help him find images that will help him to tell the community’s story.

North thanks Friday for helping him. “You’ve given me my first real look at the whole face of Harlem!!!” he enthuses.

Friday gently corrects him. North hasn’t seen Harlem’s hidden face. “You still haven’t seen how some of my people really live!” (3/10/1970)

Speaking of faces, Longaron described how he dealt with conveying the race of his characters. “I decided to have Friday would have straight hair because I was inspired by a black model who had it like that and had appeared in a Playboy issue.” He declined to use shading to represent black skin and felt confident he could convey characters as African Americans simply based on their facial features. At the same time, Longaron described how his intentions was “to get away from the classic image of African Americans,” that often emphasized stereotypical features. The result was exactly as he hoped, attractive characters who were identifiable as black without needing to resort to stereotypes.

The Afro-Centric Milieu of Friday Foster

Allowing for the inevitable shortcoming a white man writing a black female character, there is no questioning the sincerity of Jim Lawrence’s efforts. It is clear that he is trying to create a rich environment in which an affirmative Black sensibility pervades the narrative. It would have been easy to simply tell stories of glamorous black men and women who just as easily could have been white. But Lawrence gives each black character a connection to a back story that has its roots in African American or African experience.

When Friday unknowingly takes a photo of Shawn North’s girl friend having a clandestine rendezvous it is at Club Senegal, popular with both black and white patrons. The French designer Alan Abu takes his inspiration from African clothing and fabrics. Blake Tarr, the reclusive millionaire, reveals the disdain white bankers heaped upon him in his early years in the business world. Slade King goes to Africa in search of his cultural roots and becomes a black Tarzan in the process—turning the white savior in Africa trope on its ear.  Nero Nash is the art director for Afrotique magazine, devoted to black fashion.

The syndicate did lay down some ground rules and occasionally some censorship resulted. When Lawrence attempted to have a black character call a white character “honky”, the dialogue was nixed. Similarly, when one black character brandished a knife in threatening fashion, the weapon was whited out. The syndicate was very concerned that black readers would not be offended. Or, in the case of banning interracial romance, their white audience. The rule against interracial romance pushed Lawrence in the positive direction of needing to develop primarily black romantic leads.

In a 1973 interview, Lawrence stated his goal was to “show blacks in roles they haven’t had an opportunity to play.” Continuing, Lawrence explained: “Until the recent black films, blacks were cheated. They‘ve had not opportunity for fantasy.” Lawrence then cited his use of black cowboy, millionaire, and jungle hero characters in Friday Foster to accomplish just that.  

Lawrence also strove to create a multi-cultural, diverse cast. Johnny Mongo is described as “Friday’s Mohawk friend” and Rick Ho is a savvy East Asian young man who helps out Friday on two different occasions. Aubry (no first name is ever given) is the decidedly fey editor of She magazine. When fashion diva Mame Van Clive wonders on one occasion is he is pulling her leg, he replies, “My dear Mame, what a ghastly thought!”\

As noted earlier, it is unlikely an entirely white creative team would ever be chosen to pen such a feature today. As a cultural artifact of its period, though, Friday Foster provides an intriguing lens into that era.

Feminist Themes in Friday Foster

Male authors has written female characters since the invention of pen on paper. Female authors have been doing the reverse for almost as long, although with greater challenges in getting their stories into print.

As penned by Lawrence, Friday Foster doesn’t explicitly think of herself as a women’s libber. In one sequence, she refers to a group of female protesters as “them.” Friday’s feminism, circa 1970 before the term came into common usage, was mostly displayed in her actions. She moved to New York City in pursuit of her career. She doesn’t allow romance to distract her from her goals. And her rejections of male suitors always underscore her desire for independence.

When rejecting Dirk Maroon, an up and coming actor, she explains “I’d rather remember our summer the way it was … perfect … at least for awhile.” When rejecting Blake Tarr, a millionaire many times over, she declares she doesn’t want to be anyone’s possession and that she had her own dreams to pursue.

Explicit exploration of women’s issues ironically occur most often in storylines that revolve around Friday’s boss, Shawn North. While he always treats Friday with sensitivity and respect, his blatant sexism shows up in his romantic life.

Tralee Trevor, “women’s libber” and head of W.A.S.P. (Women Are Sex Prisoners), views Shawn’s style of photographing models and the very nature of fashion magazines as problematic. At a demonstration outside of the fashion magazine that employs North, she presents him with a pig. Shawn responds that “her kind does tend to bring out the swine in a man” (4/17/72). Later North refers to her unhappy kind” (4/24/72).

No great surprise in such narratives, at one point, Tralee slaps Shawn, he grabs her but then kisses her passionately and she kisses him back. He is astonished by his attraction to her, but when he finally admits he loves her, he proposes marriage and promises to let her educate him.

For her part, Tralee balks. In a conversation with her new friend, Friday tells her it is clear she loves Shawn and why is she making excuses about why she shouldn’t marry him. Friday finally wonders if she is afraid of marrying any man. Tralee ends up making up a story of still being married to someone else and flies out of the city hoping her lie will prevent Shawn from trying to follow her. The takeaway seems to be that “women’s libbers” are in some way emotionally wounded.

Shawn North’s sexism is on display again in his romance with Kissamee Carroll is a successful fashion designer for stylish clothing for plus-sized women. Somewhat heavy and very pretty, Kissy clashes with Shawn North when he chooses to shoot her models in a whimsical fashion rather than the usual seductive poses he usually utilizes. Kissy wants the whole thing reshot and Shawn challenges her to be the model.

“You could be quite attractive if you’d diet,” Shawn tells Kissy over dinner.

Kissamee’s response is wonderful. “I am attractive … and I do not diet. Nor do I suffer from any pang of unrequited affection.”

“Or,” Shawn responds, “unsatisfied appetite.” (5/12/73)

The reader suspects this passed for witty repartee in some circles in 1973.

And when Kissy gets ready for her photo shoot, Friday asks if if she is having any “camera nerves.”

“Not really,” Kissamee responds with an engaging smile. “I mean, after all, here I am. I can only be me.”

And Shawn—increasingly smitten—responds, “Who could ask for anything more!” (5/24/73)

Shawn ends up falling for her, but Kissy lets him down easy, saying she needs to return to her real job of designing. It was one of the best storylines in the life of the comic strip.

Given that Lawrence is providing the dialogue for both Shawn North and his assertive romantic interests, it seems to safe to surmise that his attitudes are more progressive than North’s. That said, Lawrence’s treatment of the character of Tralee Trevor suggests some ambivalence towards the women’s movement of the early seventies.

(For an article tracing the history of a pioneering comic strip about a white career girl, check out this article on Dixie Dugan.)

Race’s Role in the Strip’s Decline

Jordi Longaron recalled how Friday Foster only ran in Northern newspapers and my research suggests it was only Northern metropolitan papers at that. The artist noted how some newspapers “published it without knowing that the main character was a black woman and immediately decided to abandon it.”

The inclusion of the decidedly blond Shawn North and his occasional romantic ventures was an attempt to broaden the strip’s appeal but it wasn’t enough. In the 1970s, the majority of white audiences seemed not yet at a place to personally connect to and care about the adventures of black characters on an ongoing basis. Longaron left the feature in December of 1973. Gray Morrow did an admirable job in following his style for the last few months of the strip.

Friday Foster, the comic strip, was cancelled in February of 1974. But Friday Foster, the character was not yet done.

Friday Foster, the Movie

As early as April 1973, plans were afoot to produce a movie featuring Friday Foster. Early in the process, singer Carla Thomas was reported to be a front-runner for the starring role. Luckily, in retrospect, the producers settled on Pam Grier for the role.

No one knew that by the time the movie was released, the comic strip would have been cancelled.

Appearing in theaters in urban centers in 1975, Friday Foster utilized several characters from the comic strip. Shawn North, as one of only two white characters in the movie, played a decidedly minor role in the plot. The producers had no particular motivation to attempt to broaden the appeal of the movie to black audiences. As it was the film featured a who’s who of black actors, including a pre-Rocky Carl Weathers, Eartha Kitt, Yaphet Kotto, Godfrey Cambridge, Scatman Crothers, and (last but not least) Ted Lange of Love Boat fame!

The movie plot has Friday witnessing a murder attempt on Blake Tarr, the wealthiest black man in America. She is joined by Colt Hawkins, as a private detective not as a mystery novelist, to help uncover who is behind what appears to be a systematic attempt to cripple emerging black power in America. Friday’s little brother also has a role. All things considered, the movie honored its comic strip origins to a greater degree than many film adaptations. But it roots in the blaxploitation genre of movies is also very much in evidence.

It is interesting to also take note of which characters are created especially for the movie. In one advertisement for the feature, descriptions of the various characters are offered to entice viewers.

Fancy Dexter, as played by Ted Lange, is described is a street hustler and pimp who doesn’t quite have what it takes to win Friday’s heart. Yarbro—Carl Weathers before Apollo Creed—plays an assassin. Of Godfrey Cambridge’s Ford Malotte, high end dressmaker, the newspaper ad notes “his yen is for men, not for Friday Foster.” It is intriguing to try and get into the the promoters’s head as to what makes that detail a draw. Did it add to the impression that the movie would be provocative and daring? No matter. As was often the fate of such characters, Malotte is soon murdered. He is called a faggot by one character and another invites him to have a “man to man chat” with a tone that clearly conveys his belief that Malotte is no man.

The movie is both more political than the comic strip and also more willing to traffic in grittier and—yes—stereotypical images of black life. The director, producer and co-writer Arthur Marks, was a white filmmaker who made his mark making movies with black characters.

Friday Foster’s Comeback

The character of Friday Foster was not seen for 45 years. Her frankly well written and rendered comic strip has never been collected in the United States. She lived on in those few folks who bothered to watch her movie or some academics who wrote about whether the movie had any socially redeeming value.

Luckily, the current creators behind the Dick Tracy comic strip have been making a point of reviving  characters from old Tribune Syndicate comic strips. These characters have included Little Orphan Annie, Harold Teen, Hank from Brenda Starr, Hotshot Charlie from Terry and the Pirates, and Mary Perkins from On Stage.

In September 2019, Friday Foster was featured in a two week sequence in Dick Tracy. In town for a photo shoot, Foster calls Tracy when one of the models she is photographing turns up dead. Drawn by Mike Pepoy, Friday is as lovely as ever. Forty-five years have done nothing to dampen her beauty or her forthrightness. Hopefully this article further serves to generate a renewal of interest into a character who broke barriers in the world of comics.

Mark Carlson-Ghost

References

“The Artists Speak: Humor is a Must, ‘Message’ is Secondary. Los Angeles Time, 3/18/1973, p. 95.

Cedrone, Lou. “The Junky Movie That Makes the Money. The Evening Sun (Baltimore), 1/2/1976, p. 18.

Moreau, David. “Jordi Longaroun the Legend of ‘Friday Foster.’” Retrieved from The Museum of UnCut Funk.

Roskin, R. Terrance. “Duo Dreams Up a Human Hero, Captain Easy.” The News Journal (Wilmington), 6/14/1976, p. 22.

Friday Foster Timeline

1970  Friday becomes Shawn North’s assistant and models for Alan Abu.

1971  Friday meets novelist Colt Hawkins, aka Blackhawk.

1972  Friday rescues Zulu Jackson and is courted by billionaire Blake Tarr.

1973  In Africa, Friday is romanced by Slade King, a black king of the jungle.

1974  Friday is in a romantic triangle with Nero Nash and Bittersweet.  

1975  Friday Foster, the movie, appears in theaters.

Friday Foster’s Family

Friday’s Mother. Presumed deceased. Unable to decide what to name her baby girl, she named her after the day she was born.

Cleve Foster. Friday’s adolescent brother who lives with her in her modest Harlem apartment. Friday is vigilant in seeing that Cleve doesn’t fall into the wrong crowd and that he is included in at least of few of her adventures. She wants him to know the world is wider than their Harlem neighborhood. Cleve falls victim to Doctor Hoodoo’s curse and the only the timely intervention of Slade King appears to reverse his decline and return him to health. 3/21/70-onward.

Shawn North. Friday’s employer, a freelance fashion photographer who hires Friday as an assistant. The lion’s share of his assignments come from Mame Van Clive. Shawn is handsome, blond-haired, and good with his fists when he needs to be. Despite a rocky start, Shawn and Friday become close friends and he serves as a mentor and a surrogate big brother of sorts. While very respectful fo Friday, North can be quite sexist in his dating life, as demonstrated in the early stages of his relationships with both Tralee Trevor and Kissamee Carroll. He also often dates his models, including the unfaithful Daphne Brent and the more earnest Olwen Powell. 2/7/70-2/17/74

Friday Foster Friends and Allies

Aubry. No first name given. The fey (and likely gay) art director of She magazine. Has a bantering relationship with his editor, Mame Van Clive, who in the parlance is clearly his “fag hag.” While his sexuality is never directly stated, it is clear from context. 1/23/70-2/3/70, 4/9/70-4/14/70, 4/15/72-4/18/72, 5/2/73-5/4/73, 6/5/73.

Mame Van Clive. Flamboyant and snarky diva and editor of She magazine. She provides Shawn North with the majority of his assignments. She often banters with Aubry and his feisty but generally affectionate relationship with North, who refers to her (when speaking to Friday) as the Witch.  1/27/70-2/3/70, 4/9/70-4/14/70, 6/18/70, 4/15/72-4/20/72, 5/4/72, 7/25/72-7/26/72, 9/20/72, 5/2/73-5/5/73, 6/5/73.

Johnny Mungo. “Friday’s Mohawk friend,” Mungo is one of several Mohawk construction workers who work on high in the sky building projects. He meets Friday while she is helping with a photo shoot on top of one of Mungo’s worksites. He helps her find a home for the rare red macaw that Friday is trying to save from Vance Jardine. 7/24/70-9/23/70.

Alan Abu. French clothes designer inspired by African motifs seeks Foster as a model and a romantic interest. Abu is confident and bold and wears his own fashions, often revealing his manly chest. A few years after hisbrief flirtation with Friday, Abu is invited to Blake Tarr’s “coming out” party and attends with Zulu Jackson. An aggressive renewed flirtation with Friday leads to a confrontation with Tarr. 10/21/70-12/29/70, 12/14/72-12/17/72.

Rick Ho. Physically fit young man who heads up a Chinese American gang called the Red Dragon who serve as “street muscle” and who are interested in maintaining traditional Chinese values. As such Rick is very angry with his girl friend, Petal Ling, who is demeaning herself in his eyes by working as a model. In a violent scene, Rick cuts Petal’s hair short in an effort to end her modeling career. Nonetheless, Friday sees some good in him and asks Shawn to find him a job. Shawn finds him work as a security guard and a grateful Rick becomes less angry but insists he will continue to advocate for his values. Petal Ling, in turn, becomes engaged with the Chinese American painter who fell in love with her in their time together. Shawn thinks of him a year later when he and Colt Hawkins/Blackhawk need some backup in helping Friday out of bogus diamond theft charges. 6/29/71-8/23/71, 6/21/72-7/72.

Colt Hawkins. Successful mystery novelist who moonlights as “Blackhawk”, a mysterious underworld figure who leaves messages with only the drawing of black hawk as a signature. While authorities suspect Blackhawk as a possible thief, he uses his contacts to retrieve stolen goods and secretly does “business with all the big insurance companies.” When Friday asks if that isn’t dangerous, Colt replies, “Honey, crooks hate—and the feelings mutual! It’s our people who suffer the most from crime!” In his second appearance, Colt helps Friday Foster prove her innocence when she is falsely accused of being involved in a diamond heist of the precious “Mother Africa’s Treasures.”9/15/71-10/27/71, 6/14/72-7/25/72.

Zulu Jackson. Exotic dancer(who possibly works at Club Senegal) and advocate for the forlorn! Zulu establishes a helpline for black folks in emotional distress calledHarlem Heartline. In this capacity she tries to help Linc Torrey, the Monster Maker who becomes obsessed with her and begins stalking her. It becomes clear Zulu is one of Friday’s best friends and confidantes. Unlike Friday who straightens her hair, Zulu sports a dramatic Afro. 2/24/72-4/12/72, 12/14/72-12/19/72, 1/1/74.

Tralee Trevor. “Women’s libber” and head of W.A.S.P. (Women Arer Sex Prisoners). Tralee and Shawn clash when Mame assigns him to do a photo shoot of Tralee for a special issue on “The New Woman.” At one point, Tralee slaps Shawn, he grabs her but then kisses her and she kisses him back. He is astonished by his attraction for her, but when he finally admits he loves her, he proposes marriage. Tralee balks, and in a conversation with Friday, her friend wonders if she is afraid of marrying any man. Tralee ends up making up a story of still being married to someone else and flies out of the city hoping her lie will prevent Shawn from trying to follow her. 4/12/72-5/30/72.

Dirk Maroon. Successful star of an all-black Broadway show entitled Harlem Hash. Maroon must choose between a female film producer who promises him a chance to move into film and continuing to pursue Friday. He chooses Friday but she demurs, choosing to think of him as a “near perfect” summer romance. 7/21/72-9/12/72.

Olwen Powell. Blonde cover girl model who Shawn meets on a photo shoot. At the end of the shoot, she learns her wealthy grandfather has died. She subsequently is hypnotized by her cousin Hugh Treherne in a complicated plot to have her kill Friday so he alone will get their grandfather’s fortune.  After her cousin is arrested, Shawn begins to date her but the relationship apparently goes nowhere. 7/27/72-10/31/72, 12/14/72.

Blake Tarr. Wealthy and handsome African American who is described as a multi-millionaire. He is so reclusive he drives his own limo and has his driver sit in the back seat with a hood over his face so people think that’s him. Few know what he actually looks like and he shaves his head bald and wears sun glasses. Tarr trust very few people as early in his career, business associates derisively referred to him as the Tarr Baby and other racially derogatory terms. When Friday discovers his real identify, she coaxes him out of his shell, enough so he throws a “coming out” party. As that party, he almost gets into a fist fight with one of Friday’s old suitors, Alan Abu. He showers both Friday and Cleve with gifts and ultimately proposes. Friday declines, not wanting to be anyone’s possession. Blake vows to become a better man to win her back and begins using some of his money for charitable causes. 10/31/72-1/2/73.

Slade King. A former African-American football star who years ago moved to Africa to get in touch with his heritage. King soon dons a loincloth and uses his athletic gifts to pursue jungle justice in Africa. There he is known as Mwenye Nguvu or “the Mighty One.” North and Friday are sent over to uncover his story. King saves Friday from criminals and and a jungle cat and soon finds himself proposing to her, asking her to stay with him in Africa. Friday declines, but King promises she will see him in New York some day. Later, when Friday’s little brother falls ill due to the machinations of Doctor Hoodoo, only his knowledge of arcane African medicine can save Cleve. Fully clothed, he knocks Hoodoo for a loop. 3/14/73-4/24/73, 10/15/73-12/3/73.

Kissamee Carroll. AKA Kissy, Carroll is a successful fashion designer for stylish clothing for plus-sized women. Heavy and very attractive, Kissy clashes when Shawn North chooses to shoot her models in a whimsical fashion rather than the usual seductive poses he usually utilizes. Kissy wants the whole thing reshot and Shawn challenges her to be the model. Shawn ends up falling for her, but Kissy lets him down easy, saying she needs to return to her real job of designing. 5/2/73-6/25/73.

Nero Nash. Art director of Afrotique magazine, Nash engages in a romantic triangle with Friday and bald beauty Bittersweet Darlyn. Nash ends up proposing to Bitsy and giving her a spectacular engagement ring. 12/5/73-2/17/74.

Friday Foster Adversaries

Bittersweet “Bitsy” Darlyn. Strikingly beautiful bald black fashion model. She is extremely jealous of Friday’s developing connection with Nero Nash and can be verbally aggressive and underhanded in attempting to undermine it. In spite of this, in the end it’s Bitsy who ends up becoming engaged to Nash. 12/3/73-2/17/74.

Daphne Brent. Shawn’s alienated fiancee who is jealous of his relationship with Friday despite her own actual infidelities with a handsome Brazilian playboy, Fernando DaSilva.   1/18/70-5/6/70.

Doctor Hoodoo. Head of a voodoo cult, Friday and Shawn are sent on assignment to  expose his sinister doings. Hoodoo quickly becomes obsessed with Friday. When the photographer refuses to become his high priestess, Hoodoo threatens her brother who soon becomes deadly ill. Friday gives in and reluctant adopts the garb of a priestess and it falls upon Shawn and the arrival of Slade King from Africa to rescue her and restore Cleve’s health. 9/15/71-11/29/73.

Hugh Treherne. The unscrupulous cousin of Olwen Powell, when their wealthy grandfather dies, Hugh hypnotizes Olwen into almost killing Friday, all in a convoluted plot to gain her part of the inheritance.9/14/72-10/31/72.

The Monster Maker. Real name, Linc Torrey, anAfrican American actor who was only able to make it in Hollywood by playing monsters during the sixties horror boom. Now mentally unstable, he stalks Zulu Jackson. Friday is able to talk him down disguised as Jackson. Once his mental health his restored, Zulu even attends Blake Tarr’s “coming out” party with him. 2/24/72-4/12/72, 12/14/72.

Vance Jardine. Egotistical tycoon who boasts that nothing he wants escapes him. A hunter, the heads of animals he’s killed decorate the walls of his office. When he spies a rare red macaw, he is obsessed with capturing and mounting it—Friday Foster just as determined to save it. 7/20/70-9/24/70.