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)
