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  1. #1
    Astonishing Member Electricmastro's Avatar
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    Default Golden Age superheroines that weren't created by DC or Marvel.

    A thread about interesting comic book female superheroes from the Golden Age of Comic Books (circa 1938-1955) that you've come across, but aren't from DC or Marvel and don't seem to be particularly well-known.

    One that interested me (and is quite possibly the first comic book character to use an alter ego of a superpowered costumed crimefighter) is the Magician from Mars, from Centaur Publications' Amazing-Man Comics. A half-human/half-Martian who gains reality-warping powers after being exposed to cathode tube rays and, after losing her parents, is raised by her aunt, who turns out to be the leader of a villainous organization.



    Also, I'll put a list I put together here which includes many non-DC/Marvel heroes too:

    1939 - Crimson Rider, Golden Amazon, Magician from Mars

    1940 - Alice of the Winged People, Black Widow (Timely Comics), Fantomah, Headless Horseman, Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, Lady Luck, Mighty Woman, Miss X, Red Tornado, Woman in Red

    1941 - Black Cat, Black Widow (Holyoke Publishing), Blue Lady, Bulletgirl, Flame Girl, Hawkgirl, Kitten, Lady Fairplay, Lady Satan (Harry 'A' Chesler), Madame Strange, Margo the Magician, Miss America (Quality Comics), Miss Fury, Miss Victory, Mother Hubbard, Nelvana of the Northern Lights, Owl Girl, Pat Patriot, Phantom Lady, Ranger Girl, Rocketgirl, Silver Scorpion, Spider Queen, Super Ann, USA the Spirit of Old Glory, Wildfire, Wonder Woman

    1942 - Black Angel, Blonde Bomber, Girl Commandos, Liberty Belle, Lightning Girl, Mary Marvel, Señorita Rio, Spider Widow, The Wing

    1943 - Black Orchid (Harvey Comics), Lady Satan (Harvey Comics), Miss America (Timely Comics), Miss Patriot, Superwoman

    1944 - Black Orchid (Consolidated Book Publishers), Black Venus, Catgirl, Diana the Huntress, Dotty Whirlwind (aka Dotty Virvelvind), Miss Espionage, Purple Tigress, Spider Woman, Veiled Avenger, Will O' The Wisp

    1945 - Comandette, Firehair, Freckles Marvel, Ghost Woman, Mysta of the Moon, Polka-Dot Pirate, Yankee Girl (Four Star Publications)

    1946 - Blonde Phantom, The Flame, Front Page Peggy, Futura, Golden Girl (Spark Publications), Lady Fantax, Magga the Magnificent, Miss Fear, Miss Masque, The Torch (aka la Antorcha)

    1947 - Acromaid, Atoma, Black Canary, Electro Girl, Iron Lady, Marvel Maid, Moon Girl, Namora, Phantom Maid, Undercover Girl, Vampire, Varga, Yankee Girl (Harry 'A' Chesler)

    1948 - The Cat (aka de Kat), Elektra, Gimmick Girl, Golden Girl (Timely Comics), Lady Danger, Miss Devil (aka Miss Diavolo), Sun Girl, Val Venture, Venus

    1949 - The Queen of Spades (aka la Dama di Picche), Supergirl

    1950 - The Avenging Plainswoman (aka la Llanera Vengadora), Calamity Kate, Darna, The Silent Three, Starlight, TNT Tina

    1951 - Black Phantom, Corsair Queen, Doll Girl

    1952 - Galaxy Gals

    1953 - Sri Asih, Zina of Koroka

    1954 - Princess Bintang (aka Putri Bintang), Tomboy
    Last edited by Electricmastro; 11-10-2019 at 11:53 AM.

  2. #2
    Extraordinary Member foxley's Avatar
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    One intriguing one to me is Spider Queen, from Fox Feature Syndicate. First appearing in 1942, Spider Queen was the alter ego of Shannon Kane, a young chemist assistant who became the wife of the brilliant, and older, chemist, Dr. Harry Kane. Harry was killed by "enemies of his country." In her husband's research she found the “spider‐web fluid” formula, which “sticks like glue—and it's actually strong enough to swing on!” Shannon invented a set of bracelets to shoot out the fluid, and became the sworn enemy of all criminals. Coupled with her athleticism, she became the Spider Queen.

    What particularly interests me is that Spider Queen had several elements that are considered now vital parts of Spider-Man (such as the web-shooters, swing on webs, and the red and blue colour scheme): 20+ years before Spidey.

    After Spider Queen lapsed into the public domain, Marvel brought her into the Marvel Universe as a hero turned villain in the 1993 The Invaders mini-series.


  3. #3
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by foxley View Post
    One intriguing one to me is Spider Queen, from Fox Feature Syndicate. First appearing in 1942, Spider Queen was the alter ego of Shannon Kane, a young chemist assistant who became the wife of the brilliant, and older, chemist, Dr. Harry Kane. Harry was killed by "enemies of his country." In her husband's research she found the “spider‐web fluid” formula, which “sticks like glue—and it's actually strong enough to swing on!” Shannon invented a set of bracelets to shoot out the fluid, and became the sworn enemy of all criminals. Coupled with her athleticism, she became the Spider Queen.

    What particularly interests me is that Spider Queen had several elements that are considered now vital parts of Spider-Man (such as the web-shooters, swing on webs, and the red and blue colour scheme): 20+ years before Spidey.

    After Spider Queen lapsed into the public domain, Marvel brought her into the Marvel Universe as a hero turned villain in the 1993 The Invaders mini-series.
    From some posts I made in a different thread / different area in the past:
    Quote Originally Posted by MajorHoy View Post
    As mentioned in a previous post,In fact, that applies to all the members of the "Battle-Axis" from the 1990s four-issue Invaders series.

    In fact, as Roy himself explained in one of the information pages (in issue #4),

    So, while Roy was originally thinking of turning Blazing Skull, Silver Scorpion, Captain Terror, and a few other long un-used Timely heroes into villains during WWII, instead they took characters originally published by other companies that were now in the public domain and made them villains for Marvel's purposes.
    and
    Quote Originally Posted by MajorHoy View Post
    . . . Finally, there was Shannon Kane, the Spider-Queen!

    from The Eagle comics in 1941 (Fox Features).

  4. #4
    Astonishing Member Electricmastro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by foxley View Post
    One intriguing one to me is Spider Queen, from Fox Feature Syndicate. First appearing in 1942, Spider Queen was the alter ego of Shannon Kane, a young chemist assistant who became the wife of the brilliant, and older, chemist, Dr. Harry Kane. Harry was killed by "enemies of his country." In her husband's research she found the “spider‐web fluid” formula, which “sticks like glue—and it's actually strong enough to swing on!” Shannon invented a set of bracelets to shoot out the fluid, and became the sworn enemy of all criminals. Coupled with her athleticism, she became the Spider Queen.

    What particularly interests me is that Spider Queen had several elements that are considered now vital parts of Spider-Man (such as the web-shooters, swing on webs, and the red and blue colour scheme): 20+ years before Spidey.

    After Spider Queen lapsed into the public domain, Marvel brought her into the Marvel Universe as a hero turned villain in the 1993 The Invaders mini-series.

    Yep. There were more spider-themed characters back in the day than I had thought.


  5. #5
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    Mysta of the Moon is one of my favorites.
    http://thatsmyskull.blogspot.com/201...chapter-1.html



    You can read all of her adventures on that blog.

    I also like Peggy Allen, the Woman in Red.


  6. #6
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    A really interesting one that I doubt many of you here have heard about: Dotty Virvelvind ("Dotty Whirlwind"). She was created by Sture Lönnerstrand, who was probably the first genre-aware writer of science fiction in Sweden. Her first adventures were illustrated short stories, published in Levande livet, a weekly magazine with a focus on mysteries, adventures, and articles on sports and outdoors activities. It also contained comics, and Dotty's later adventures were made as comics. She was published in 1944 and 1945. Lönnerstrand was a regular contributor of science fiction stories.

    The motto of her stories were: "the girl who does what she wants".

    The original short stories were illustrated by Björn Karlström. The comics were first drawn by Lennart Ek and later by Björn Karlström.

    One of Ek's pages:



    A couple of Karlström's panels:

    karlstrom_b_dotty.jpg
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  7. #7
    Extraordinary Member Güicho's Avatar
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    *





    Two of my favorites.

    And of course one the first masked heroines to lead her own film.

    *(Once standing in the trades/reprints section (mostly golden age stuff) of my favorite (now defunct) comic shop, and overhearing two young women perusing the same, I hear; - "So except what, Wonder Woman? There is not a single female character or anything created for women here...?"
    - I casually point to Miss Fury reprints, (this was a while ago, I believe they had just begun a trade collection),
    - Reply (accompanied by scornful look back at me (like how dare I); - " I meant something created by women, and not for men . Followed by the other - "...and not an obvious catwoman rip off."
    Ok? They are insulted (I guess?) that I even suggested it? They ignorantly and proudly moved on.
    Last edited by Güicho; 07-17-2019 at 12:17 PM.

  8. #8
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    It's amazing how accepting men were of these REALLY great women in the Golden Age, overall, but we've seemed to have gone backwards in some ways.

  9. #9
    Astonishing Member Electricmastro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Güicho View Post
    [IMG]
    *(Once standing in the trades/reprints section (mostly golden age stuff) of my favorite (now defunct) comic shop, and overhearing two young women perusing the same, I hear; - "So except what, Wonder Woman? There is not a single female character or anything created for women here...?"
    - I casually point to Miss Fury reprints, (this was a while ago, I believe they had just begun a trade collection),
    - Reply (accompanied by scornful look back at me (like how dare I); - " I meant something created by women, and not for men . Followed by the other - "...and not an obvious catwoman rip off."
    Ok? They are insulted (I guess?) that I even suggested it? They ignorantly and proudly moved on.
    Miss Fury felt ahead of its time in a way:


  10. #10
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Black Angel (Hillman)


    Black Venus (Aviation Press)


    Blue Lady (Centaur)

  11. #11
    Mighty Member Shalla Bal's Avatar
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    Oops, somehow this was duplicate post.
    Last edited by Shalla Bal; 07-18-2019 at 02:30 AM.

  12. #12
    Mighty Member Shalla Bal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Güicho View Post

    *


    *(Once standing in the trades/reprints section (mostly golden age stuff) of my favorite (now defunct) comic shop, and overhearing two young women perusing the same, I hear; - "So except what, Wonder Woman? There is not a single female character or anything created for women here...?"
    - I casually point to Miss Fury reprints, (this was a while ago, I believe they had just begun a trade collection),
    - Reply (accompanied by scornful look back at me (like how dare I); - " I meant something created by women, and not for men . Followed by the other - "...and not an obvious catwoman rip off."
    Ok? They are insulted (I guess?) that I even suggested it? They ignorantly and proudly moved on.

    Did they not realize Miss Fury was created by a woman?

    Miss Fury was influential; Romita Sr. always said his 1970 costume redesign for the Black Widow was based on Miss Fury. Also, Miss Fury's origin story--donning a costume for a Halloween party and then running into some crooks--is similar to what happens in the Silver Age Batgirl's first story (not to mention that the then-new Batgirl sported a sleek black bodysuit, not unlike Fury's). And the notion of Miss Fury's "ceremonial" garb is not unlike what we get much later on when Lee and Kirby introduce the Black Panther in FF #52.

    There are some books I like by Mike Madrid that give great overviews about various lesser-known Golden Age female heroes and villains: Divas, Dames and Daredevils and Vixens, Vamps and Vipers.
    Last edited by Shalla Bal; 07-17-2019 at 07:37 PM.

  13. #13
    Astonishing Member Electricmastro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tazirai View Post
    It's amazing how accepting men were of these REALLY great women in the Golden Age, overall, but we've seemed to have gone backwards in some ways.
    Yeah, I had found that there were more superheroines in the Golden Age than people usually remember, and not just with DC and Marvel's superheroines either:

    1939 - Crimson Rider, Golden Amazon, Magician from Mars

    1940 - Alice of the Winged People, Black Widow (Timely Comics), Fantomah, Headless Horseman, Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, Lady Luck, Mighty Woman, Miss X, Red Tornado, Woman in Red

    1941 - Black Cat, Black Widow (Holyoke Publishing), Blue Lady, Bulletgirl, Flame Girl, Hawkgirl, Kitten, Lady Fairplay, Lady Satan (Harry 'A' Chesler), Madame Strange, Margo the Magician, Miss America (Quality Comics), Miss Fury, Miss Victory, Mother Hubbard, Nelvana of the Northern Lights, Owl Girl, Pat Patriot, Phantom Lady, Ranger Girl, Rocketgirl, Silver Scorpion, Spider Queen, Super Ann, USA the Spirit of Old Glory, Wildfire, Wonder Woman

    1942 - Black Angel, Blonde Bomber, Girl Commandos, Liberty Belle, Lightning Girl, Mary Marvel, Señorita Rio, Spider Widow, The Wing

    1943 - Black Orchid (Harvey Comics), Lady Satan (Harvey Comics), Miss America (Timely Comics), Miss Patriot, Superwoman

    1944 - Black Orchid (Consolidated Book Publishers), Black Venus, Catgirl, Diana the Huntress, Dotty Whirlwind (aka Dotty Virvelvind), Miss Espionage, Purple Tigress, Spider Woman, Veiled Avenger, Will O' The Wisp

    1945 - Comandette, Firehair, Freckles Marvel, Ghost Woman, Mysta of the Moon, Polka-Dot Pirate, Yankee Girl (Four Star Publications)

    1946 - Blonde Phantom, The Flame, Front Page Peggy, Futura, Golden Girl (Spark Publications), Lady Fantax, Magga the Magnificent, Miss Fear, Miss Masque, The Torch (aka la Antorcha)

    1947 - Acromaid, Atoma, Black Canary, Electro Girl, Iron Lady, Marvel Maid, Moon Girl, Namora, Phantom Maid, Undercover Girl, Vampire, Varga, Yankee Girl (Harry 'A' Chesler)

    1948 - The Cat (aka de Kat), Elektra, Gimmick Girl, Golden Girl (Timely Comics), Lady Danger, Miss Devil (aka Miss Diavolo), Sun Girl, Val Venture, Venus

    1949 - The Queen of Spades (aka la Dama di Picche), Supergirl

    1950 - The Avenging Plainswoman (aka la Llanera Vengadora), Calamity Kate, Darna, The Silent Three, Starlight, TNT Tina

    1951 - Black Phantom, Corsair Queen, Doll Girl

    1952 - Galaxy Gals

    1953 - Sri Asih, Zina of Koroka

    1954 - Princess Bintang (aka Putri Bintang), Tomboy
    Last edited by Electricmastro; 08-01-2019 at 12:31 PM.

  14. #14
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Flame Girl (Fox)


    Iron Lady (Hillman)


    Veiled Avenger (Harry A. Chesler/Dynamic)

  15. #15
    New old guy Surf's Avatar
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    Some of these are excellent. I notice several Hispanic themed heroines.
    Shoutout to all of Matt Baker's great female illustrations.
    Beefing up the old home security, huh?
    You bet yer ass.

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