Mary Perkins On Stage 1957-09-16

While Mary Perkins has certainly never been thought of as unattractive, I think it's fair to say that she was generally portrayed as either "pretty" or "cute". One could see that fact immediately upon looking at her face, but for the vast majority of the strip's life Starr drew her with a somewhat matronly hairstyle and constantly had her wearing very conservative clothing.

In the very 1st year of the strip however, she was initially drawn with a more "youthful" hairstyle and wardrobe. So much so that in this strip in particular, Mary actually looks quite sexy! That is not a word fans normally use to describe Mary, and rightfully so, which makes this particular example so incredibly rare. The figure movement is incredibly fluid and reminiscent of the fluidity found in the body language/figure work of other greats such as Neal Adams and John Buscema. insofar as "great shots of Mary" being the primary criteria for seeking out the best possible exaples is concerned, this example goes down as the absolute best I've ever come across!