Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: fox features syndicate, golden age, Weird Comics

Marga the Panther Woman Hits Fox's Weird Comics #8, Up for Auction

The product of a "mad physio-biologist" and the creation of composer George Gershwin's cousin, Marga was at home in Weird Comics.

Published Mon, 13 Jun 2022 13:32:09 -0500

by Mark Seifert

Last updated Wed, 18 Sep 2024 16:52:09 -0500

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Article Summary

Marga the Panther Woman, a product of a mad physio-biologist, debuts in Fox's Weird Comics #8
Marga boasts superhuman abilities and a vengeful spirit, joining aviator Ted Grant in jungle adventures.
Created by Emil Gershwin, cousin of composer George Gershwin, Marga adds to Weird Comics' unique flair.
Though the Eagle was most successful, Marga's peculiar story makes Weird Comics a historical gem.

With names like the Eagle, featuring a scientist with anti-gravity wings; Dynamo, master of electricity; and Marga the Panther Woman, the product of a "mad physio-biologist"; the characters of Science Comics were true to the title of their original series. But all three of these characters hit the Weird Comics series after the demise of the Science Comics title, and among the characters in that series, Marga the Panther woman is undoubtedly the weirdest character of them all. The result of a mad physio-biologist attempting to produce "a race of people with the blood of panthers fused into them", Marga is a fascinatingly unusual character, and there's a GD- copy of Weird Comics #8 (Fox Features Syndicate, 1940) featuring the invasion of the Science Comics characters into Weird Comics and other issues of the series up for auction in the 2024 September 26 – 27 Heroes of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40265 at Heritage Auctions.

Weird Comics #8 featuring Marga (Fox Features Syndicate, 1940)

Marga was depicted with superhuman strength, durability, speed, and a greater degree of viciousness than the typical superhuman of her era. After she killed the mad scientist who had performed this experiment on her against her will, she joins aviator and explorer Ted Grant on adventures in various jungle locales. Marga is said to be the creation of Emil Gershwin, an underappreciated Golden Age artist who worked for a range of publishers throughout the 1940s and beyond, as well as assisting on the Flash Gordon comic Sunday page and the Tarzan comic daily for a period. Interestingly, Gershwin was the cousin of the famous musician and composer George Gershwin.

Of all of these Science Comics transplants into Weird Comics, the Eagle became the most successful, eventually taking over the covers of that series and getting a short-lived title of his own. But the addition of Marga and company into the mix of Weird Comics made it a historically weird comic indeed, and there's a GD- copy of Weird Comics #8 (Fox Features Syndicate, 1940) featuring the invasion of the Science Comics characters into Weird Comics and other issues of the series up for auction in the 2024 September 26 – 27 Heroes of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40265 at Heritage Auctions. If you've never bid at Heritage Auctions before, you can get further information, you can check out their FAQ on the bidding process and related matters.