Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: golden age, h.g. peter, wonder woman

Wonder Woman's H.G. Peter Covers Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, at Auction

Famous Funnies #81 features the comic book debut of early female comic superhero Invisible Scarlet O'Neil. The character 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 Famous Funnies #81 was drawn by H.G. Peter, who would soon co-create Wonder Woman. 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.  The comic book debut of an incredibly underrated female comic character with superpowers, there are copies of Famous Funnies #81 and #87 featuring Invisible Scarlet O'Neil covers by H.G. Peter, plus other issues of Famous Funnies featuring the character up for auction in the 2022 October 9-10 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122241 at Heritage Auctions.

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 Invisible Scarlet O'Neil 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.

The cover of Famous Funnies #81 is among H.G. Peter's first work in the comic book industry proper (he had previously done significant work in newspapers and magazines), and he has a brief run of work in that series during this time, including another Invisible Scarlet O'Neil cover for Famous Funnies #87, before moving onto to his work on Wonder Woman.  The comic book debut of an underappreciated female superhero, there are copies of Famous Funnies #81 and #87 featuring Invisible Scarlet O'Neil covers by H.G. Peter, plus other issues of Famous Funnies featuring the character up for auction in the 2022 October 9-10 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122241 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.

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