SEÑORITA RIO

Señorita Rio is an agent with American Intelligence.

Numerous times throughout the series it is stated that she worked for U.S. Intelligence but as many times it said she was a part of the Secret Service. This term, though, was not used as one might talk about the former Treasury bureau lending credence to the idea that she was not a Secret Service agent but rather an agent with America's secret services. This is, still, just conjecture but since the duties of the true Secret Service is either Presidential protection (and related dignitaries) and protecting the Economy, my percentage is high.

Before Ms. Rio became a name spoken of with awe in the cloak and dagger world, the lady went by the screen name of Rita Farrar. It is not known if that was her real name or just a stage-name but it is as that she was known throughout the movie viewing world for several years when she was described as a Hollywood starlet, the toast of Hollywood and later also of Broadway. She was likely to become even more famous with the release of her latest film, "Lady Dance No More". Her personal life was as stellar as her professional one as she was deeply in love and engaged to be married to a Naval officer we only know of as Bill.

Then came the attack in 1941 on Pearl Harbor and with it the death of her beloved Bill and a deep growing hatred for all things Axis-related. She searched for some way to fight back and the solution came with an offer by a leader in the Intelligence field - she could come work for him and use her knowledge of Spanish and her Hispanic complexion to head south of the border and fight the numerous incursions by the fascists to either take control of the many nations there or to cause enough trouble for the U.S. as to make their war efforts that much harder.

As she described shortly after she started her work, "my life is now revenge" and she would prove that many, many times over the next few years. Coupling her incredible good looks and sultry beauty with an extremely athletic body, she would become a tremendous weapon against the Nazis and their friends. Add to that her impressive ability to control her fears and forage into the mouths of danger over and over and she would gain a reputation throughout both continents.

Over the next three years Señorita Rio would continue her fight against the Nazis and their confederates in Central and South America. When the War was finally over, though, it was clear that the troubles in the area would change but still continue and America would still need for some years to come an able-bodied representative to keep up the fight and Rio was it.

Note: in several place early in the series, the back-story to who and why of Señorita Rio is told. For some unknown reason, late in the series in the 47th tale, The Affair of the Liquid Gold, a bad guy is shown reading a dossier on Señorita Rio which has her full name as Consuela Maria Ascencion De Las Vegas, a former star of the Brazilian stage, who left show biz when her husband, Luis De Las Vegas, was jailed by local fascists. Nowhere in the story does that revised bio play a part and it is not mentioned in the few subsequent stories. It is likely the bad guy was handed incorrect data.

I enjoyed the heck out of the Señorita Rio stories and it had nothing to do with the fact that she was a good looking, well-drawn sexy female character. [When I mentioned this to my wife, the eye-roll she performed was not the least bit subtle.]

The artwork is really good at the beginning and IMHO just kept getting better. The stories were standard fare for the times but presented well and with enough interesting characters supporting the plot that they remained interesting. Moreoever, the attitudes and feelings of each of the years both during and after the War are great indicators of reality.

Another highly impressive aspect to the Rio stories is the longevity of them. When compared to the many other spy comic series that came and went in the Golden Age, the ability for Señorita Rio to survive eight years in a male-dominated "world" and not need the constant saving by a man is truly remarkable. Rio took care of things herself and when danger popped up, she invariably thought of a way out instead of shrinking back in terror praying for a strong man to rescue her. If I was in trouble but knew Rio was on her way, I'd feel a lot better.