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Comic Strips: Miss Lace (Male Call)
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About This Comic Strip
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About Miss Lace (Male Call):
Legendary comic strip creator Milton Caniff, who first found great fame
with "Terry and the Pirates" and later "Steve Canyon," developed this
special strip which was exclusive to military newspapers during
WWII. It appeared in U.S. Army papers, and also went to navy,
marine, and coast guard publications from 1943-1946. It wasn't an
adventure strip and didn't even feature ongoing stories...unusual for a
Caniff creation. This was a gag strip that centered around a
dark-haired beauty named "Miss Lace." Since G.I.s and other
servicemen can't possibly read a paper every day, Caniff did not want
them to miss out on an ongoing storyline. For the time, these
strips were very racy. Even today, the sexuality of the strips
can be considered provacative. Although the strip was called
"Male Call," many people referred to it as "Miss Lace" due to the main
character. She wasn't in every single strip, but did star in the
vast majority of all that were created. These strips were not
released in civilian newspapers, although they have been reprinted in
book form for civilian audiences. Basically, this was a strip for
military men...not for kiddies...although it wasn't really dirty or
pornographic. The premise: a beautiful, scantily-dressed
woman is living near an Army base and DOES ALL SHE CAN for the war
effort. She does her part to lift their spirits very well.