Omaha The Cat Dancer - Cultural Impact

Cultural Impact

"Omaha" the Cat Dancer was the first of several comic books in the early 1980s which integrated sex into their storylines, rather than utilizing sexual explicitness for shock value. In 1988, Friendly Frank's, a comic book store in suburban Chicago, was fined $750 for selling "obscene" material, including "Omaha" the Cat Dancer; as a result of the obscenity controversy, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was formed. In 1990, issues of "Omaha" the Cat Dancer were seized by New Zealand authorities; the country's Obscene Publications Tribunal declared that the series was not indecent. In the same year, police in Toronto seized issues of the comic, claiming that it depicted bestiality.

In Graphic Novels: A Bibliographic Guide to Book-Length Comics, D. Aviva Rothschild praised the series, writing "the plot is always strong, and the characters are always three-dimensional and appealing." Entertainment Weekly writer Alex Heard panned the comic, writing that "The story moves very slowly one can readily agree with the disgruntled fan who wrote, 'My God! Where did you dredge up those horrid characters?'"

In 1992, Kitchen Sink published two volumes of Images of "Omaha" as a benefit to pay for the treatment of Waller's bowel cancer. The volumes featured contributions by major comic book artists, such as Dave Sim, Alan Moore and Frank Miller. Trina Robbins, James Vance and Neil Gaiman have provided introductions to collected editions of the series. "Omaha" the Cat Dancer was nominated for Eisner Awards for Best Continuing Series, Best Black-and-White Series, and Best Writer/Artist in 1989; in 1991, the series received Eisner Awards for Best Black and White Series and Best Writer.