Omaha The Cat Dancer - Publication History

Publication History

In 1976, Reed Waller founded Vootie, a fanzine intended to promote funny animal comics. He began developing the concept for "Omaha" the Cat Dancer after one of the magazine's contributors said that there was not enough sex in the genre. Inspired by Robert Crumb's Fritz the Cat, Waller began looking for a theme for his new comic. He visited local strip clubs in St. Paul with his sketchbook, and read newspaper articles about attempts to shut the bars down. Another contributor to the magazine, Jim Schumeister, proposed a comic called Charlie's Bimbos, in which "a bevy of strippers champion liberty in the face of Puritan oppression". This proposal sparked the idea for Omaha.

The character debuted in The Adventures of Omaha, which was published in Vootie in 1978. The first chapter of "Omaha" the Cat Dancer was published by Kitchen Sink Press in Bizarre Sex #9 in 1981. A five page untitled story appeared in Bizarre Sex #10 in 1982, as a followup to the first chapter. In 1983, a one-page parody strip starring Omaha, titled "Hotsizz Twonkies", was published in E-Man #5 by First Comics. Another five page untitled story, identified as "Shelly and Omaha" in The Collected Omaha Volume 1, appeared in Dope Comix #5; it was reprinted in Bizarre Sex Series #5. In 1991, the Omaha story "A Strip in Time" appeared in Munden's Bar Annual #2, published by First Comics.

In 1984, SteelDragon Press published the first issue of "Omaha" the Cat Dancer, which featured the second chapter of the story. Waller then was unable to continue with the story. The third chapter was completed with help from Kate Worley, who continued to write the series thereafter. In August 1988, Worley was injured in a car accident; the series' frequency slowed as a result of her recovery process. In November 1991, Waller was diagnosed with colon cancer; two issues of Images of "Omaha" were published in 1992 to pay for Waller's medical expenses, featuring art and writing by several major comic creators. In 1995, Waller and Worley ceased production of the series. In 2002, Waller and Worley agreed to complete the story; Worley was diagnosed with lung cancer, and began chemotherapy and radiation treatments in that year. On June 6, 2004, Worley died before completing the story; her husband, James Vance began to edit and complete the final chapters.

The series lasted 19 issues before being cancelled in 1993. Fantagraphics Books later relaunched the series, but it only lasted four issues, the last published in 1995. In 1994, Rob, a supporting character from the series, appeared in Gay Comix #22. The final chapters of the story were serialized in Sizzle, beginning in 2006.

From 1987 until 1998, Kitchen Sink, and later Fantagraphics, published six volumes of the Omaha strips under the title The Collected "Omaha" the Cat Dancer. From 2005 to 2008, NBM Publishing imprint Amerotica published seven volumes of strips under the title The Complete Omaha the Cat Dancer.