Long before the term "supermodel" was coined, Katy Keene was one. She first appeared in Wilbur Comics #5, cover-dated Summer of '45, and published by the Archie people. Katy may have spent her days modeling glamorous gowns, but she had the same kind of familiar comic adventures: Troubles with boy friends, rivalries with girl friends, and even a bratty younger sister. The publishers saw instantly that it all appealed to the same folks who purchased the Archie titles, and they kept the lovely Ms. Keene around for decades, both as a back-up feature in those books and — beginning in 1949 — also in her own title. One thing that convinced them of Katy's popularity was an enduring and unprecedented avalanche of mail.
Cartoonist Bill Woggon, who created Katy and her adventures, had the idea of asking readers to submit their own fashion designs for his leading lady to wear, and every story was footnoted with little captions: "Katy's swimsuit designed by Becky Lou Freebish of Jerkwater, Alabama," or whatever. In truth, Woggon — and the many fine artists who assisted him over the years — usually had to embellish and improve the readers' submissions, but he at least tried to incorporate their concepts. When other companies began imitating the same gimmick, the usual procedure was to cheat. The artists would draw whatever they wanted and then some secretary would wade through the mail and assign reader credits whenever some kid's sketch seemed vaguely close — or if none did, they'd make up phony names. Woggon never did that.
Photo by Alan Light.
Katy's comic book lasted until 1961. Apart from a few reprints, she didn't get star billing again until her book was revived in 1983 — reprints of Woggon's work, then new stories by a fine Katy fan named John Lucas — and it lasted until 1990. She still has devout fans out there who collect old Katy Keene comics, which are not always the easiest thing to find in complete form. You see, most issues also included cut-out paper dolls, and many readers cut them out.
All of this, unfortunately, is leading up to an obit for Bill Woggon, who passed away March 2 at the age of 92. Woggon was a charming man who devoted much of his life to cartooning, and who injected a personal touch into a kind of comic that was too often produced by anonymous assembly lines. He was an enormous friend and teacher to many artists who assisted him, including Floyd Norman, Bill Ziegler and Barbara Rausch. In his later years, he was delighted by the vast number of adults in both fields who told him he was an inspiration that had led them into cartooning, fashion design and even — in at least a few cases — modeling, itself. He will be missed but his work will not be forgotten.