Flying With Lily And Jane

Well over a year after introducing her and promising more this Fly Girl, at last Jane Martin arrives -

Jane Martin - War Nurse was introduced in 1940 in the first issue of Wings Comics. It was, as we saw previously, a good year for Fly Girls.

Today, we're joining her a few years later, after dropping War Nurse from her title. And, more to the point, after Lily Renée joined her team. Lily started drawing Jane a couple issues earlier, but i just love the framing on the splash for this one, and it's the first one that she signed -

It's worth noting that, while the Asian baddies may look like they came from central casting, Lily avoids the sub-human look so often seen in those days. This is especially noteworthy given Lily's personal history, having been driven from her homeland by the invading Nazi forces. Demonization of the enemy would have been more understandable from her, but she was better than that.

When choosing a third story to round out this first set, I chose this one simply for the outfit worn in the splash (and later in the tale). Doesn't she look like she's going full superhero here?

We opened with the first Jane Martin story that Lily signed. We close with her final issue (Lily's, not Jane's). I tend to think that Lily knew this next one was to be her last Jane Martin tale. The splash panel looks like a fond farewell -

That may have been Jane's last tale drawn by Lily Renée, but she illustrated nearly a score of them in total. So we'll be back with some of those we flew over in the next post.

page art by Lily Renée for Wings Comics #s 33, 42 & 48 (1943, 1944)

Jimmy Wears Pink Too!

I mentioned yesterday that we'd be revisiting with folks who've appeared here previously. 'Folks' is used here to refer to creators, characters, and publications. Sounds much better than 'topics' to my inner ear.

To kick things off, let's welcome back Grass Green, making 3 Stooges with Mark Burbey and Eddie Eddings. I guess that works either way you read it. This one comes from RBCC #152...

Hmm...
Y'know, i don't think we've looked at Eddie Eddings yet...

We'll have to peek soon, eh?

Up next, we've got a one-shot Fly Girl, from Trina Robbins, no less. (How has Trina not appeared here yet? She's done some damned Odd things over the years.) 

At least, i think she's a one shot. There might have been some strips featuring her in The East Village Other, but i've only got maybe a half dozen issues and it's not exactly cataloged. This one pager comes from Gothic Blimp Works, which was published by the EVO back in 1968...

Trina's Sky Doll is not to be confused with Barbuci & Canepa's somewhat more famous Sky Doll, who has at least 3 books out there.


Now let's visit once again with a favorite of this blog (and of The 1940's Funny Animalphabet), that mysterious maker of madness - Ellis Chambers. This short tale is from a 1950 issue of Dizzy Duck (#32, for the curious who don't want to go all the way down to the credits notice), and so it belongs here and not there.

To wrap up our batch of bits & pieces, here's a lovely Ralph Bakshi based wrap-around cover from #149 of the Rocket's Blast Comic Collector from Wendy Pini -

Yeah - we need to run another batch of RBCC covers soon.

page art by Grass Green & Eddie Eddings, Trina Robbins, Ellis Holly Chambers, and Wendy Pini for RBCC #s 148, 149 & 152, Gothic Blimp Works #2, and Dizzy Duck #32 (1950, 1968, 1979, 1982)

Jane Dodge - Former Fly Girl

To answer the question we left off with last time, it was Page Parks - Air Hostess who never appeared again. That seems appropriate since she wasn't truly a Fly Girl. Lee Preston of the Red Cross appeared in the first 9 issues of Crack Comics before fading into history. Jane Martin - War Nurse had the longest run, appearing regularly in the first 111 issues of Wings.

In 1946, another Fly Girl, Jane Dodge, made a rather drastic career change to Jungle Goddess in the pages of Zoot -

Jack Kamen drew the cover above. The writing credit for the introductory strip is unknown, and the artwork is uncertain, but a good educated guess is Matt Baker, who did indeed draw the next issue, and the cover as well. Matt, as you may recall, was the artist on another Fly Girl, Ginger Maguire - Sky Girl, and our No-Fly Girl, Canteen Kate.

After almost a dozen issues, Rulah took over Zoot and had her own title from #s 17-27, while also appearing in All Top Comics. She was regularly reprinted over the years and is fondly remembered by genre aficionados. That's something of a regular footnote for characters drawn by Matt Baker.

Jungle Goddesses/Jungle Queens/Jungletc.,. is another recurring topic planned for this blog if i can ever figure out what to call them. (And, y'know, get things organized)

page art from Zoot #7 (1946)

1940 - A Good Year For Fly Girls

We haven't looked at any Fly Girls in a bit, and since we've been poking around in the 1940s lately, let's jump back to the beginning of the decade. 1940 saw the debut of at least 3 Fly Girls in the comics - Jane Martin - War Nurse, Lee Preston of the Red Cross, and Page Parks - Air Hostess.

While i'm trying to salvage data as the new hard drive exhibits signs of advanced dementia, why don't you folks take a look at the introductory tales for each of the ladies. All three of them debuted as features in the first issue of new titles.

Page Parks premiered in issue #1 of Blue Bolt, written by Ray Gill with art from William Rowland. (The standard practice of writer/artist ordering on the credits hadn't yet been established at this point) -

Okay, you're right. Page doesn't really qualify as a Fly Girl since she never takes the stick. But she was up there in the air very early on, and debuted in a highly prestigious title with a Joe Simon cover and young Jack Kirby just getting together with him in the background, about to start a partnership that would help shape the next half century of comics, and beyond. So she gets a mention anyway.
Meanwhile...

Actually, one month prior... Crack Comics #1 featured the debut of Lee Preston with Bob Powell using the Terrence MacAully pseudonym -

Three or four months later, depending on which comic you're counting from, Wings #1 hit the stands with Jane Martin. (Fred Hawks is a house name, not the actual creator)

Of the three, one had another handfull (and a half) of adventures, the second appeared perhaps a hundred times or more, and the third was never seen again. Care to guess who was whom?

This afternoon, we'll have the answers and an odd entry from later in the decade - a long running character who quit being a Fly Girl at the start of her first adventure.

See you in 12 hours!

page art from Blue Bolt #1, Crack Comics #1, and Wings Comics #1 (1940)