Reed Waller - Omaha the Cat Dancer

Omaha the Cat Dancer was truly a product of the "Indie" and underground movement in comics. It began in 1976 when Reed Waller founded Vootie, a fanzine promoting funny animal comics. The idea came from one of Vootie's contributors who said that there was not enough sex in the genre. Supposedly inspired by Crumb's Fritz the Cat, Waller developed the character by visiting strip clubs in St. Paul with his sketchbook. The character feature, The Adventures of Omaha, appeared in Vootie in 1978 then in Bizarre Sex No. 9 published by Kitchen Sink Press in in 1981. A follow-up five-page story appeared in Bizarre Sex No. 10 in 1982, In 1984, SteelDragon Press published the first issue of Omaha and began more regular publication in 1986 through Kitchen Sink Press, which published 20 issues through June 1994. Tragically, Kate Worley (who wrote many of the stories), was injured in a car accident in August 1988 and the frequency of new issues slowed as a result of her recovery process. Then, in November 1991, Waller was diagnosed with colon cancer. In 1995, Waller and Worley ceased production of the series until, in 2002, Waller and Worley agreed to complete the story. However, Worley was dealing with the effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments to treat d with lung cancer, and died before completing the story; her husband, James Vance, completed the final chapters.