SwanShadow Thinks Out Loud

Hey, friend reader. Thanks for dropping by to wish me a happy half-birthday.

That is why you dropped by, isn’t it?

What? Oh… Comic Art Friday.

I see. I will swallow my disappointment. Moving on, then.

While you’re here, you might as well check out the latest addition to my Bombshells! theme gallery.

For the benefit of those who haven’t been around in a while, Bombshells! is a series of original, custom-commissioned pinups modeled after vintage bomber nose art. Each Bombshell! features a comic book heroine who made her published debut in the 1940s or 1950s — the period during which nose art was in its heyday. The series is a tribute to my youth as a U.S. Air Force kid, growing up admiring aviation memorabilia.

Today’s Bombshell! comes to us from Steve Mannion, making his fourth commission appearance in my collection. Steve’s work has appeared in comics from both Marvel (Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty) and DC (various Batman titles), as well as on the covers of the recent Tales from the Crypt revival from Papercutz. However, he’s probably best known for his creator-owned projects, including Fearless Dawn and The Bomb. What could be better than a Bombshell! by the creator of The Bomb?

For Steve’s project, I chose Miss Victory, one of comics’ earliest patriotic-themed heroines. She and two other flag-waving females already represented in the Bombshells! gallery — Pat Patriot and Miss America — debuted simultaneously in August 1941.

Miss V., whose civilian name was Joan Wayne (hmmm… I wonder where the inspiration for that secret identity came from…?), first displayed her red, white, and blue colors in the back pages of Holyoke Publishing’s Captain Fearless. After a couple of appearances in that book, she transferred over to Captain Aero — I guess Joan had a thing for captains — where she remained until the series was canceled in the summer of 1946.

Like many Golden Age characters who fell into the public domain following the demise of their original publishers, Miss Victory eventually resurfaced in the 1980s, in new stories published by Bill Black’s AC Comics. Black has carved out a tidy niche resurrecting long-forgotten masked marvels, especially superheroines like those who populate AC Comics’ flagship title, Femforce. Miss Victory — redubbed with the more politically correct moniker Ms. Victory — continues to lead AC’s cadre of comely crimebusters to this day.

Steve Mannion dove into this commission assignment with his customary aplomb. His unique retro style suits the Bombshells! theme perfectly.

Suits my half-birthday pretty doggoned nicely, too.

And that’s your Comic Art Friday.

[View the back catalog of Comic Art Friday posts here.]

This entry was posted on June 19, 2009 at 12:19 am and is filed under Comic Art Friday, They Say It's My Birthday. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.