Origin
Katy Keene was a glamorous brunette college student when she was first discovered as a potential fashion model at age 21. After a brief stint as an aspiring Broadway performer, Katy rose to stardom as a model, singer, and actress.
Creation
Katy Keene was created by cartoonist Bill Woggon in 1945 and first appeared in Wilbur Comics #5.
Character Evolution
For several years, Katy Keene was just a side feature in Wilbur and other Archie Comics titles. But her popularity grew to the point where she received her own title in 1949, which ran for twelve years and firmly established her as one of the most iconic fashion models in comics.
Katy has a red-haired and bespectacled younger sister she calls "Sis," and whose real name was never mentioned during the 40's, 50's, or 60's. In these appearances, Sis was just seven years old. When Katy's title was brought back in the 1980's, "Sis" became an attractive young teenager and her name was mentioned by the editors as Melissa, though Katy still always called her Sis. In Katy's most recent appearances starting in the 2000's, her sister was given a new name, Mackenzie Keene. This newest version of her sister has brown hair instead of red, and no longer wears glasses.
Reader Participation
A popular feature of Katy's comics was reader submitted fashions. Readers would submit sketches and drawings for outfits to be worn by Katy and her supporting cast. In a look through a typical Golden Age Katy Keen comic the reader is hard pressed to find a page that does not have reader submitted fashions.
Popular Recognition
- Calling her "the queen of comic book pin-ups," Katy Keene was ranked 57th in Comic Buyer's Guide's 100 Sexiest Women in Comics. She was the sexiest of five Archie Comics characters to make the list.
- In recent years, fans have noted that Katy Keene has many similarities to real-life celebrity Katy Perry. Besides sharing the same first name and a remarkable visual resemblance, the two have taken a similar path to fame, and even the many fashions Katy Keene has worn in her comic book appearances are echoed in the many outfits that Perry has worn. Comparisons between the two grew so prevalent in the media that Perry actually issued a statement in Rolling Stone magazine saying that she did not in fact base anything in her life on the comic book Katy. However, Perry did jokingly acknowledge the number of coincidences between herself and the fictional character.
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