Have you met
Gale Allen? She's another
Fly Girl, and she was a little different...
I've put off Gale while trying to access better copies of early issues of
Planet Comics. Unfortunately, many of those old issues are only available to me in microfiche format.
Ack.
However, i've managed to track down paper versions of those first couple appearances, so let's talk Gale.
She wasn't around as early as
Connie, nor quite as early as
Flyin' Jenny. She debuted a year later in 1940 in the 4th issue of
Planet Comics. And, as one might guess from the title of the book, Gale her girls weren't limited to atmospheric vehicles as members of the
Women's Space Battalion.
Gale went through a number of changes over the course of her 39 adventures
(not counting reprints & revivals), including multiple variations on the title and changes of creators. She started out fairly simply in Planet Comics #4. Though signed
Fred Nelson, that was a pen name and the actual writer and artist(s) are unknown...
...and #5, now
Gale Allen Of The Girl's Patrol with art from
Bob Powell...
Within a few issues, her page count was increased by 50% and the possessive 's' was dropped from the title. Bob Powell was still handling the art chores this time...
Planet Comics #11 featured the last tale from the original scripter, or rather, the original nom de plume - Fred Nelson. Perhaps the unknown writer continued with a new house name signed to the book. Al Bryant took over the art for this one...
The next issue (#12) saw a new name on the title -
Douglas McKee - another pen name that leaves us with no clue to the writer, and a new artist each issue as they switched gears on the strip
(apologies for the first two - i cleaned up the microfiche as best i could)...
Oh, yeah - we'll be coming back here next time...
art by Bob Powell, Al Bryant, George H. Appel, Robert Webb, Art Saaf(?) for Planet Comics #s 4, 5, & 10-14 (1940, 1941)
