Golden Age Miss America (Madeline Joyce Frank) Appreciation (2019)

[MajorHoy]

from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Golden Age (2004)

First appearance:
Marvel Mystery Comics #49 (November 1943):


No, that's not at all sexist!

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Marvel has really missed a lot of opportunities to give some deserving ladies their time to shine on their own. If you think about it Sue is getting her first ever mini in July. And she is the first lady of Marvel and has been around since the very beginning.

Medusa would certainly also be deserving of a solo book imo, but right now I think most Marvel fans would reject it simply because it's an Inhuman book.

Agree with more ladies getting their own books; this should have happened decades ago. Fans would have bought them.

But Sue is (only) the Modern First Lady of Marvel. Sue herself and other Marvelous Ladies recognized Miss America as the First Heroine, so that would make her the True First Lady (of Marvel).

In which marvel comic did Sue Storm acknowledge Madeline Joyce, aka Miss America, to be the True First Lady of Marvel?

[Gaastra]

She and wonder woman were the big female heroes for marvel and dc. Both came back later. DC gave wonder woman a ongoing, put her in cartoons, movies and toys and she is now one of the three big heroes of dc and one of the most known heroes worldwide!

Good job dc!


Marvel made her less powerful in the invaders, turned her into a old lady, got her pregnant, then killed her off right away and no one knows who she is outside of hardcore marvel fans!

Good job marvel!


She did get her own tv show---in japan! Never aired in America! How ironic.

[Phoenixx9]

In which marvel comic did Sue Storm acknowledge Madeline Joyce, aka Miss America, to be the True First Lady of Marvel?

Hmmmn. Know it was a few years ago at least. Not sure, it might have been She-Hulk? They called it something like the Miss America Society or something in honor of Madeline.

[Venom Melendez]

Marvel made her less powerful in the invaders, turned her into a old lady, got her pregnant, then killed her off right away and no one knows who she is outside of hardcore marvel fans!

And made her racist. In Dead Girl i believe.

[Tycon]

yeah she called anarchist a very mean word

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Avengers #185 Jul 1979
"The Yesterday Quest!"
The Avengers agree to pay for damages to the harbor incurred during the battle against Absorbing Man, and then return to the mansion.
The Avengers settle in to relax for a little bit.

In East Transia, Wanda, Pietro, and Django check into a hotel for the night.
Quicksilver's thoughts are much troubled by conflicting recollections of the past.


Wanda's sleep is disturbed by a rather different sort of phantasm - Mordred!
He offers help on her quest, but to her alone, for the path is dangerous for those without arcane might!
She agrees to go with him, and they fly off into the night.

Arriving on Wundagore, they are attacked by a defensive device of the High Evolutionary's that Wanda defeats.
They then come to the stronghold's ruins itself, and there before them is a floating book and altar.
A book belongs to Mordred's master, and the altar... is for Wanda!
Mordred knocks Wanda out with an arcane blast, and the mountain is silent except for the low rumble of laughter.

In the morning, Quicksilver and Django find Wanda missing.
Quicksilver, distraught, searches all over the village for her, but finds no clue,
until a little girl tells him she saw lights fly up to Wundagore last night.
Quicksilver races up the mountain, only to be repelled by a pin sphere and knocked unconscious.

Quicksilver finally comes to in the care of the bull-headed creature who delivered him into the world!

Cameo appearance by Bova. Flashback cameos by Robert Frank, Madeline Frank and the Toad.
Avengers Lineup: Beast, Captain America, Falcon, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Jocasta, Ms. Marvel, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision and the Wasp.
NOTES: Mark Gruenwald's participation in this three-part story was an indication of the storyline's importance to the continuity of the Marvel Universe.
Modred previously appeared in Marvel Two-in-One 33.

Plot by Mark Gruenwald and Steven Grant. Script by David Michelinie. Pencils by John Byrne. Inks by Dan Green.

[Gaastra]

256 views and only 6 comments after a week. That's tells you everything you need to know how marvel treated it's first big female hero over dc treating wonder woman.

That says it all.

[MajorHoy]

256 views and only 6 comments after a week. That's tells you everything you need to know how marvel treated it's first big female hero over dc treating wonder woman.

That says it all.

Actually, I don't know how many people may have (wrongly) thought the thread would also discuss the later America Chavez version.

Golden Age characters that aren't continuously published / updated seem to be of little interest to many posters who use these forums (unfortunately).

[Captain Craig]

Marvel could bring her back in some contrived story. I'm always game to see Golden Age characters get a real second chance but it's a real long shot in today's market place.

[MajorHoy]

Marvel could bring her back in some contrived story. I'm always game to see Golden Age characters get a real second chance but it's a real long shot in today's market place.

Or they could just publish new stories set back in the days of WWII with the Invaders and/or the Liberty Legion.

Guess we'll have to see what the overall interest in this month's Captain America & The Invaders: The Bahamas Triangle by Roy Thomas & Jerry Ordway was like.

[kcekada]

The Liberty Legion was a fun concept that unfortunately didn't get much exposure after a few appearances in the mid 70s. That was my introduction to Miss America. Marvel seems to shy away from any new Invaders series set in the past, so it's unlikely we'll see much of Miss America again.

I do know that in her Golden Age appearances, she had a number of different powers -- including X-Ray vision. Most all of that was abandoned when she was reintroduced so that she could only fly and had something called vitality -- which I gather meant increased endurance. She should have at least retained super-strength -- or super-speed.

[JudicatorPrime]

256 views and only 6 comments after a week. That's tells you everything you need to know how marvel treated it's first big female hero over dc treating wonder woman.

That says it all.

In fairness, if Wonder Woman looked like Miss America, I doubt they would have given her a push. The fan support would not have been there. Sensibilities and standards may change from generation to generation, but in a visual medium, the race is often won by the character that catches the eye and, in turn, the imagination. It sucks, I know, but some truths about the world never change, no matter how repulsive or bass-ackwards the logic may be. Imagine you're a young soldier headed off to war, possibly to make the ultimate sacrifice. You pass a newsstand and the below represent your reading choices. Can you honestly say that you'd reach for the Miss America book first?

[Gaastra]

In fairness, if Wonder Woman looked like Miss America, I doubt they would have given her a push.

Wonder woman looked just as campy. Even the game "you don't know jack" made fun of it. Plus mary marvel looks a little like miss America and you can buy her toy at Wal-Mart! It's not the outfit but that dc USED wonder woman. They gave her a ongoing, put her in the jla their main team, put her in superfriends for over two decades and gave her a live action show. She is now one of the most known heroes. WW started out in ww2 stories also but they put her in todays time.

Marvel depowered miss america (in some stories she is as strong as superman!) then made her old and klled her. She only showed up in a few issues of the invaders but got captured a lot. They never USED her back in the 60s and 70s. If they did like captain America and de-aged her, put her in the avengers, updated her costume like they did caps, put her in some of the marvel cartoons, put her in the first secret wars, give her a mego toy along with dc's wonder woman in the 70s, would she have been as big as wonder woman? We don't know because marvel dumped her. Would she work today? Not without a update and good writer (her outfit would have to be updated) but it's marvel fault for throwing her away and never using her in the 60s!

She is marvels first big female hero and at one point a superman type hero. She was the captain marvel/ ms marvel of the 40. There have been more then one thread about how marvel needs it's own wonder woman. They had their own wonder woman and they didn't use her.

[Sandy Hausler]

256 views and only 6 comments after a week. That's tells you everything you need to know how marvel treated it's first big female hero over dc treating wonder woman.

That says it all.

Uh, of course, Wonder Woman has had a comic book since the 40s. Except for appearances in Giant Size Avengers #1 , the Liberty Legion and the Invaders, Miss America has not been present in the comics since the 40s. Plus, they can't trademark her name.