Miss America (Marvel Comics)
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- For the DC Comics character, see Miss America (DC Comics); for the beauty pageant, see Miss America.
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Miss America (Madeline Joyce Frank) is a fictional Golden Age superheroine in the Marvel Comics universe. She debuted in Marvel Mystery Comics #49 (Nov. 1943), and was created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Gabriele for Timely Comics, the 1940s precursor of Marvel.
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[edit] Publication history
As superheroes began to fade out of fashion in the post-war era, comic book publishers scrambled to explore new types of stories, characters, and audiences. In an attempt to appeal to young female readers, comics companies began introducing some of the first significant superheroines since Wonder Woman (created for one of DC Comics' predecessors, All-American Publications). These new female leads would include Timely's Blonde Phantom, Golden Girl, Namora, Sun Girl, and Venus, and its teen-humor star Millie the Model; Fox Comics' revival of Quality Comics' Phantom Lady; and DC's Black Canary.
Following two appearances in Marvel Mystery, Miss America received her own book, Miss America Comics (no cover date) in early 1944. Some sources list Ken Bald as the cover and interior artist, though Vincent Fago, Timely's interim editor for the drafted Stan Lee, recalled, "I hired a friend from the animation business, Pauline Loth, and she did the art for the first Miss America book".[1]
The series, however, changed format with its second issue to become the larger, magazine-sized Miss America, though with the conventional comic-book combination of glossy covers and newsprint interior. Initiating this format as vol. 1, #2 (Nov. 1944), the publication relegated its superheroine to a secondary role and began focusing on teen-romance comics stories plus articles on such topics as cooking, fashion, and makeup. This second issue — which featured a photo-cover of an unknown model dressed in the Miss America costume — also introduced the long-running, teen-humor comics feature "Patsy Walker".
Together with the single superhero comic, Miss America ran 126 issues in a complicated numbering that continued through vol. 7, #50 (March 1953), the 83rd issue. It then reverted to comic-book format as Miss America vol. 1, #51-93 (April 1953 - Nov. 1958). The magazine format had used photo covers of everyday teens. In 1951, starting with vol. #7, #40, 41, or 42 (information uncertain), the logo changed to Patsy Walker Starring in Miss America, with covers now depicting high-schooler Patsy, boyfriend Buzz Baxter and romantic-rival Hedy Wolfe in cartoon art by, variously, Al Jaffee or Morris Weiss.
[edit] Fictional character biography
Socially aware teenaged heiress Madeline Joyce was the ward of radio mogul James Bennet, who was sponsoring a Professor Lawson, a scientist claiming to have gotten superpowers through a device that had been struck by lightning. Joyce, secretly tampering with the contraption during a thunderstorm that night, herself gained the ability to fly and great strength after lightning similarly struck, knocking her unconscious (she originally had super strength, as well as other powers, but after her few early appearances they were retconned out). The panicky scientist, seeing the apparently dead young woman, destroyed the device and then killed himself. Joyce survived to fight crime as the patriotically garbed Miss America, appearing regularly in Marvel Mystery Comics and All Winners Comics.
In the latter, she was a member of Timely's superhero team the All-Winners Squad (hyphenated), fighting alongside Captain America and Bucky, the original Human Torch and Toro, the Sub-Mariner, and the Whizzer in the group's two Golden Age adventures. In the second of these, she wore glasses, one of the extremely few superheroes to require them. Miss America made her final Golden Age appearance in Marvel Mystery Comics #85 (Feb. 1948).
In Giant-Size Avengers #1 (Aug. 1974), Joyce was revealed to have married fellow Golden Age superhero Robert Frank (the Whizzer), and to have had a son with him. However, Joyce died in childbirth due to radiation poisoning from her offspring, the radioactive mutant Nuklo. It was also suggested during this time that Joyce and Frank were the parents of Avengers members Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, although this was ultimately refuted when it was revealed that Magneto and his wife Magda were those twins' biological parents. Miss America was then retconned in 1976 as a member of the World War II super-team the Liberty Legion, set at a time before the Invaders or the post-war All-Winners Squad.
Miss America returned from the dead for 24 hours in X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl #1 (March 2006). The running joke of her appearance there was that she is a racist, which often brought her into conflict with Tike Alicar of X-Statix.
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Television
Miss America also appeared in the 1990s Spider-Man animated TV series, as one of the "Six Forgotten Warriors". She was voiced by Kathy Garver.
[edit] Trivia
Miss America was loosely adapted for the 1979 "Super Sentai" Japanese TV series Battle Fever J as part of the collaboration between Marvel Comics and the studio Toei. While retaining the name, the costume and character were both changed for the series.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Daniels, Les, Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics (Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1991), p. 54
