SEÑORITA RIO

---

       One of the many comic book publishers that came into existence during the late 1930s was Fiction House. It had been around for quite a few years already as a pulp fiction publisher dealing largely in stories about aviation, the Old West, and sports of one sort or another. After nearly a decade of these genres, it branched into other fields most notably detective adventures. When comics showed promise, the company tried as well.
       Its biggest early success was Sheena, Queen of the Jungle but that was not the only success. Another magazine that came several years after Sheena's Jumbo Comics was Fight Comics and one of that publications many different denizens was Señorita Rio.
       The first dozen and a half issues had a wide assortment of storylines and characters all apparently striving for recognition but none truly gaining supremacy. Shark Brodie, Kinks Mason, Kayo Kirby, Oran of the Jungle and many others each had a tale or two. The artwork for the first issues was simplistic to be the most kind and the stories were largely of the "hey, I'm here. I might as well hit someone." variety. It would not take many issues, though, before the quality of the art rose tremendously and that of the stories improved as well (still a lot of punching when all else failed, of course).
       As the different genres tried to be noticed, the spy fiction was not absent but it was coupled with science fiction to give a futuristic Saber, the Spy Fighter. Actual contemporary spy stories would not come until Ms. Rio showed up.

       The first adventure of the lovely actress-turned-agent arrived on the newsstands in June of 1942 inside the pages of issue #19. The "creator" was said to be a Joe Hawkins for the first story but from the second until the last the byline was that of Morgan Hawkins. This was a house name as no such Hawkins existed and the actual writer and artist for the series would change over the eight years that Señorita Rio would wear her cloak and carry her dagger.
       The true creation would be credited by many authorities to Nick Viscardi, later known better as Nick Cardy, truly a legend in the industry by the time he laid down his artist pen. He stayed with the series for a few adventures before heading elsewhere and letting others continue the tales. One artist stayed with the job longer than any other and that was Lily Renée, one of the greatest female comic artists in the history of the business. According to Wikipedia, Ms. Renée's work on Ms. Rio would take place in Fight Comics #34-44 and 47-51 (stories #16-26 and 29-33 in my numbering below). Who the other writer/artists were is not yet known by me.

       For a pretty fascinating story of its own, check out the many Internet references to Lily Renée.

       In 1985, Paragon Publishing, aka AC Comics came out with a new series of scantily-clad, big-breasted women out to fight for justice. Fem Force was the name of the group, short for Federal Emergency Missions Force. The members of this group were either actual characters from defunct companies of the 40s or interpretations of such heroines. Miss Victory, She Cat, the Blue Bulleteer and others flew whenever and wherever trouble was happening and did what it took to save the day.
       Apparently one of its original members "back then" was, according to AC's storyline, Rio Rita, a woman who gave up her movie career to help fight the fascists. She would later move to Brazil, from what I can discern, and became head of that country's intelligence force. She would remain in contact with the revitalized modern Fem Force and, in that comics' first issue, ask for help to save a valuable scientist who was being guarded by her own granddaughter, Rita Farrar. This younger Rita would work occasionally with Fem Force as time went along.