Little Girl



In sequential art, Little Girls are young female characters appearing in primary or secondary roles in a cartoon or comic strip. First appearing in news strips as early as 1895, little girls emerged as a clearly defined genre during the 1920s and continued to flourish over the next three decades, reaching their greatest prominence between 1952 and 1968.

At the peak of their popularity, the majority of young female characters starred in their own comic features (Li'l Jinx, Little Dot); others, such as Gloria from Harvey's Richie Rich franchise, played mainly supporting roles. Some, like Archie Comics' Little Betty, were simply child versions of better-known adult characters, created simply to exploit a trend in juvenile characters.

The genre suffered a general decline throughout the 1970s, all but disappearing by 1984 due to a widespread slump in the comics industry. Renewed interest in little girl characters has occurred since the 1990s, spurred on in part by the rise of the Internet and the influence of Japanese animation on Western audiences.