The San Francisco Chronicle has written that Martha Arguello has passed away at the age of 90. Martha was the creator of a comic strip called Bobby Sox and another one called Emmy Lou that ran in the Chronicle for 35 years. Bob Sox was syndicated to about 100 papers and Emmy Lou inspired a television series that ran briefly based on its heroine.
“Bobby Sox and ‘Emmy Lou were just perfect for the time,” said Malcolm Whyte, founder of San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum. “Bobby Sox,was more than just a comic, he said. It was social commentary as well.
At a time when most comic strips featured adventures, detectives or fantasies like “Terry and the Pirates,Bobby Sox represented the life of teenage girls as it was two generations ago.
“It caught the angst and confusion of teenage girls,” Whyte said. “It was a more innocent time … a gentler era, and the gags were a little less gross than they might be now.”
Martha is survived by two daughters, Victoria Arguello and Elizabeth Arguello, and by six grandchildren.
There will be a reception in her honor at the Cartoon Art Museum 655 Mission St., San Francisco, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday.