Comic Book Cats, number 52: Cat-Man Comics #27, drawn by Bob Fujitani, published by Continental Magazines in April 1945, and Crime Does Not Pay #96, drawn by Bob Fujitani, published by Lev Gleason in March 1951.
Longtime comic book artist Bob Fujitani passed away earlier this week. He was either 98 or 99 years old. Fujitani’s career in comic books stretched back to the early 1940s and lasted until the 1970s, at which point he then worked on newspaper comic strips such as Flash Gordon and Rip Kirby for another 20 years.
I searched through some of Fujitani’s work to see if I could find any cats. I did not locate any examples of Felis catus, but I did come across a couple of striking splash pages featuring some of their cousins.
The first, from Cat-Man Comics #27, features the Golden Age superhero team of the Catman and the Kitten accompanied by a trio of leopards. This striking image was later utilized by Bill Black for the cover to Golden-Age Men of Mystery #11, published by AC Comics in 1998.
The second, from Crime Does Not Pay #96, has Chip Gardner, Private Eye chasing down a pet cheetah on a railway train. Fujitani was a regular contributor at Lev Gleason during the late 1940s and early 50s, illustrating numerous stories and covers for their crime and romance titles.
Bob Fujitani was interviewed by First Comics News in January 2019…
https://www.firstcomicsnews.com/interview-with-legendary-comic-artist-robert-fujitani/
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