Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Harvey Comics

Russell Stamm's Invisible Scarlet O'Neil in Her Own Series, at Auction

After running in Famous Funnies, Russell Stamm's Invisible Scarlet O'Neil was picked up by Harvey, who gave the character her own title.

Early female comic superhero Invisible Scarlet O'Neil was created by Russell Stamm for a comic strip that debuted in 1940 via the Chicago Daily Times and its syndicate. Notably, the cover of her first comic book appearance in publisher Eastern Color's Famous Funnies #81 was drawn by H.G. Peter, who would soon co-create Wonder Woman.  The character's comic strip adventures would be reprinted in Famous Funnies through issue #167 in 1948.  Harvey picked up the comic book reprint rights to the strip a few months later, eventually leading to the short-lived Invisible Scarlet O'Neil #1-3 (Harvey, 1950-51).

According to researchers, as World War II progressed, the character was also used in some contexts in response to publisher directives from the Office of War Information to promote the role of American women in efforts in support of the war. It was not uncommon for publishers of all types to cooperate with OWI directives during World War II, and there is certainly evidence that this happened in various circumstances in comics, particularly in regards to the role of women during the war. There's actually a fair bit of scholarship surrounding the character along these lines, most prominently Invisible Scarlet O'Neil and the Whitman Authorized Editions for Girls: Homefront Representations of the American Feminine and the Feminine Heroic During World War II by Anna L. Nielsen, which notes:

Invisible Scarlet O'Neil… the star of her own Whitman Authorized Edition in 1943, the height of the mobilization efforts of women during World War II. Set against the background of the World War II recruitment of women as wage workers, and the beginning of their return to the home in Reconversion and de-mobilization efforts, Invisible Scarlet O'Neil is adroitly retrograde in her modesty and functions as an avatar of pre-mobilization sensibility. Scarlet O'Neil's invisible enactments of the feminine heroic reveal a historical continuation of interpretations of the mythological feminine heroic and also showcase a version of women's adjustment to paid employment that is, perhaps unsurprisingly, deliberately incomplete and hidden from view, and, as it turned out, also a prefigurement of events to come as women after the war were herded out of the wage workforce and into marriage.

Harvey initially ran Invisible Scarlet O'Neil as a backup feature in Black Cat Comics.  When the character got her own title, creator Russell Stamm created new covers for the comic books.  The short-lived title was an important artifact of the war era and beyond, there are copies of Invisible Scarlet O'Neil #1-3 Complete Series Group (Harvey, 1950-51) up for auction in the 2024 June 16-18 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction #122425.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!