Number 1374: A one-two punch from Fight Comics

In this 1945 Hooks Devlin story from Fight Comics we see a tattooed woman. In that era tattooed women were seen in circuses and sideshows, not walking down every street in cities and towns, large and small. Times, people and fashions change. Nowadays we don't see men going to circuses or carnivals wearing suits and ties. The difference is, of course, that putting on a suit and tie is temporary, whereas ink on skin will live with the wearer forever. However, not in the case of this tattooed woman in the story. You'll understand what I mean when you read it.

I don’t remember if I ever told you that Señorita Rio was a movie star who became a spy. In this episode she meets up with a young admirer and wannabe movie star, Susy, who helps her.

At the Grand Comics Database art credits for “Hooks” are given as Alex Blum pencils and Al Feldstein? inks. It doesn't look like Feldstein to me. His inking is usually heavier than the thin, slick lines in this story. Lily Renée signed the Rio story.

From Fight Comics #38 (1945):

Number 934


Rio seems straight, with her seams straight


Señorita Rio, the lovely spy we love, is back. This time, according to the Grand Comics Database, drawn by comic book journeyman Maxwell Elkans and inked by either Elkans or George Evans (they use the ? after the name, so they aren't sure, but the inks look like Evans to me). The story is from Fight Comics #54, 1948.

We have featured Rio before, in Pappy's #682 and Pappy's #803.

I love Rio, who goes through this adventure while wearing a skirt with a hem that flutters about mid-thigh, high heels, and nylons. She is very talented: even while swimming she can keep the seams of her stockings straight. In this story she also wears those textured nylon "arm stockings," for lack of a better word. I don't know what they're called. They're sexy, though.

Fight Comics had two gorgeous stars, Tiger Girl and Rio, twice the bang for your comic book dime in the late 1940s.

Number 803

Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand...

Ah, that sultry, seductive and sexy spy, Señorita Rio, the babe from Brazil, is back. This beautifully drawn story is from Fight Comics #53, 1947. It's credited to Nick Viscardi, who later changed his name to Cardy. His work at DC Comics is still loved by fans. This fan especially. I thought at the time he was active he was one of DC's top artists. I think history, and other fans, will agree with my assessment.

Born in 1920, Cardy is now retired, and according to the latest information I have, still drawing in his 90th year.

Rio had some great artists assigned to her: Lily Renée, Jack Kamen, Bob Lubbers, Cardy (who was also the first to draw Rio before he went into the service during World War II)...and Jerry Grandenetti even pitched in. I showed a Señorita Rio story by him in Pappy's #682.

Number 682


The spy who me loved...


This is such a pretty comic strip! Jerry Grandenetti, who was an assistant to Will Eisner, did an excellent art job on this episode of Señorita Rio. The sexy spy had a distinguished career as a lead in Fight Comics for a few years until displaced by Tiger Girl. Her adventures were drawn by top artists like Nick Viscardi (later known as Nick Cardy), Lily Renée, and Jack Kamen (if my art-spotting skills are correct with what copies of Fight Comics I've seen).

There's a recap of Rio's origin in the splash panel. This is from Fight Comics #65, 1949.