1940s SUPERHEROINE MISS AMERICA

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at the early stories of Marvel’s superheroine Miss America from back when the company was called Timely Comics.

MISS AMERICA

Created By: Otto Binder and Al Gabriele

Secret Identity: Madeline Joyce 

First Appearance: Marvel Mystery Comics #49 (November 1943) Her final Golden Age appearance came in 1948.

Origin: Sixteen-year-old Madeline Joyce was the ward of railroad magnate James Bennett, or “Uncle Jim” as she called him. He showed her one of the outside projects that he financed, an electrical research center set up in what had formerly been a lighthouse.

That night, during a violent thunderstorm, the fascinated Madeline snuck back to the laboratory to more closely examine the equipment. At one point a lightning bolt struck the lab and Madeline, destroying the equipment but granting her superpowers. Adopting the nom de guerre Miss America, she donned a costume and went into action.

Powers: Miss America possessed Superman/ Wonder Woman levels of strength. She could also fly and had x-ray vision. In addition, she had a large degree of invulnerability.

Comment: For a time in the 1970s Miss America was, according to Marvel Comics canon, the mother of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. The Whizzer was their father. That has since been retconned, but she and the Whizzer are still the parents of the Avengers’ foe Nuklo.

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #49 (Nov 1943)

Title: Scourge of the Nazis

Villains: Nazi spies

Synopsis: After gaining her superpowers (see above), Madeline dons a costume and calls herself Miss America. Flying around on patrol, she saves a young man from being hit by a truck and then investigates reports of sabotage at a local munitions plant.

She finds the plant infested by Nazi saboteurs and after saving an honest worker from being killed by them, she confronts the spies.

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #50 (Dec 1943)

Title: Scourge of the Nazis, Part 2

Villains: Nazi spies

Synopsis: Miss America battles the Nazis, who use the munition plant’s heavy machinery plus their own weapons to fight her. She withstands it all, rounds up all the bombs the spies admit to placing all around the plant and throws them to where their explosions can do no harm.

Miss America then rounds up the spies and turns them over to the authorities. Miss America is praised in the newspapers, but Madeline keeps it a secret from “Uncle Jim” that his eyeglass-wearing ward is really the new superheroine.

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #51 (Jan 1944)

Title: Adventure of the Bridge of Death

Villains: Nazis

Synopsis: Miss America helps a police officer involved in a shootout with Nazi saboteurs. When the cop gets fatally shot by them, he uses his dying words to tell Miss America about the villains’ plans.

Our heroine foils the Nazi plans to destroy a major bridge and to blow up a battleship passing upriver. 

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #52 (Feb 1944)

Title: Pinheaded Killer

Villain: The Pinheaded Killer

Synopsis: Miss America’s first supervillain foe goes by the confusing alias the Pinheaded Killer even though he’s not a Pinhead. He does possess superstrength and is in charge of a group of Nazi spies operating out of a skyscraper’s penthouse apartment. (The Nazi spy to citizen ratio is mind-boggling in this city!)

The Pinheaded Killer (Maybe he kills Pinheaded people?) and his men have kidnapped a woman and are threatening to torture her unless her uncle reveals the plans to his Top Secret weapons research. Miss America totals the underlings and then overcomes the brand-wielding Pinheaded Killer before calling in the cops.

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #53 (Mar 1944)

Title: Flaming Hate

Villain: The Flaming Hate

Synopsis: Continuing her theme of oddly-named supervillains, Miss America repeatedly clashes with a serial arsonist called the Flaming Hate. (?) He wears a firefighter costume and helmet, generates fire from his hands and uses fireman-themed weapons like a firehose, etc.

Our heroine’s need to rescue victims from the burning buildings that the villain strikes enables him to escape during their first few battles. When the vile figure sets a hospital on fire he winds up dying under a collapsing ceiling during his clash with Miss America. She then evacuates all the patients.

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #54 (Apr 1944)

Title: Masked Murder

Villains: Masked Axis Assassins

Synopsis: Madeline Joyce’s guardian James Bennett takes her with him to a ritzy party thrown by his wealthy friends. A combined gang of German and Japanese agents raid the party and make off with the secretary of an army officer.

Madeline slips away to become Miss America and chases the gang, who keep her at bay by threatening to kill the secretary. They have their hostage take them to her boss’s Top Secret documents but before they can kill her, the stalking Miss America attacks.

She saves the secretary’s life and corrals all of the spy gang in a running battle on the highway. She then flies back to the party to resume her Madeline Joyce identity.

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #55 (May 1944)

Title: Chain Murders

Villain: The Chain Murderer

Synopsis: Miss America continues her crusade against awkwardly-named supervillains. A mysterious figure called the Chain Murderer has been sending threatening letters to people in the District Attorney’s office and other city officials, then killing them.

Our heroine investigates and learns that an Assistant District Attorney with political ambitions is the villain, but he kills himself rather than be taken in alive by Miss America.

MISS AMERICA COMICS Vol 1 #1 (Jun 1944)

NOTE: Miss America has proven popular enough to have her own series alongside her appearances in Marvel Mystery Comics.

Title: Baron Shinto the Gouger

Villain: Baron Shinto

Synopsis: A Japanese supervillain called Baron Shinto frees several Japanese POWs and leads them in a campaign of terror. The Baron has superstrength and wears long razor-sharp metal nails with which he gouges out the eyes of some of his victims.   

Miss America becomes involved in the schemes of Baron Shinto and his small army as they attack a Filipino delegation to the U.S. She also thwarts the Baron’s plan to blow up a plane factory.

Title: The Mystery of the Monster Men

Villains: Professor Drakla and his Monster Men

Synopsis: Madeline Joyce, after reading news reports (in a paper called the Daily Bugle!) about prominent men going missing decides to investigate as Miss America. It turns out Prof. Drakla is a mad scientist who takes body parts from different victims to make super-strong Monster Men. His ultimate plan is to have an army of his creations and take over the world.

Miss America fights several of the professor’s Monster Men, some of giant size. Our heroine defeats all of these most dangerous foes she’s faced yet. In the end the professor’s castle blows up and he dies along with his remaining creations.

Title: Murders by Yogi

Villain: The Yogi

Synopsis: A fresh murder victim on a city bus taken by the shopping Madeline Joyce prompts her to investigate the situation as Miss America. She runs afoul of a supervillain called the Yogi who runs a cult of killers and a seance racket simultaneously.

Miss America takes down the Yogi’s subordinate killers, then faces him at his farmhouse hideout. She overcomes his tech-ridden crystal ball and turns him over to the police.  

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #56 (Jun 1944)

Title: Peddler of Doom

Villain: The Peddler of Doom

Synopsis: Madeline Joyce is intrigued by news reports of multiple victims who have dropped dead with no apparent cause of death.

Looking into the matter as Miss America, she exposes a mysterious peddler who dresses up as an old woman and peddles flowers that have been dosed with knockout chemicals or fatal chemicals, depending on the peddler’s goals for a particular victim. Those who are just knocked out are robbed. Miss America brings in the entire gang.

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #57 (Jul 1944)

Title: The Corpse That Walks

Villain: Killer Pedro

Synopsis: A criminal called Killer Pedro is robbing banks and killing cops despite having been shot to death himself months earlier. Madeline Joyce is walking along near his latest bank robbery and becomes Miss America to join the police chasing him.

Our heroine pursues Killer Pedro into a cemetery before losing him. She searches his family mausoleum and finds his coffin is empty. His brother runs a funeral home and the cemetery and helped Pedro fake his death. The villain attacks Miss America in a suit of armor but she defeats him and turns him in.

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #58 (Sep 1944)

Title: Black Widow

Villains: The Black Widow and her assassins

NOTE: This villainess is not related to Marvel/ Timely’s Black Widow superheroine whose series ran from 1940-1943.

Synopsis: Miss America clashes with a league of assassins led by a costumed woman called the Black Widow. Eventually our heroine gets to the bottom of things and learns that the villains are paid by women to kill their husbands.

Miss America also exposes the Black Widow as a man disguised as a woman.

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #59 (Oct 1944)

Title: The Horror of the Secret Weapon

Villains: Nazis

Synopsis: Madeline Joyce accompanies her “Uncle” Jim Bennett on another inspection of one of his electronics companies as part of learning to run his business in the future. They witness a kidnapping and Madeline slips away to become Miss America.

The heroine frees the kidnapping victim from her Nazi Agent abductors and learns about their plan to use her boss’s Top Secret new torpedo to blow up a nearby hydroelectric dam. Miss America corrals all the Nazis and carries the torpedo away from the dam before it blows up. 

MISS AMERICA Vol 1 #2 (Nov 1944)

Title: Mystery of the Shocker

Villain: The Shocker

Synopsis: Madeline Joyce is at a bank regarding Uncle Jim’s latest purchase of War Bonds when a costumed supervillain calling himself the Shocker shows up to rob the place. When the security guards try to stop him he fires electrical energy at them, killing them.

He takes the money and flees with Miss America pursuing him. He causes car accidents to force our heroine to stop and save people and when he reaches the docks she sees him dive underwater to disappear.

During the Shocker’s next bank robbery Miss America is ready and tries to stop him. They battle and his electrical blasts are powerful enough to knock her for a loop. When he dives underwater this time she is driven off when he electrifies the water.

As Madeline Joyce our main character visits City Hall and looks at plans for the docks. She sees a construction tunnel that the Shocker must be using as his underwater lair.

As Miss America, she attacks him there and during their fight he reveals the gigantic electric eels he bred to siphon their electrical charges for himself. As the battle continues, Miss America knocks him into the tank with his enormous eels who devour him.   

NOTE: As of this issue the format of Miss America’s solo series changes. It will still feature her adventures but will also feature advice and fashion articles plus tales of Marvel/ Timely’s teenage character Patsy Walker who has “Archie” style teen adventures for years. In the 1970s she became the superheroine called Hellcat.

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #60 (Dec 1944)

Title: Murder, Inc.

Villains: Murder, Inc.

Synopsis: While out shopping, Madeline Joyce becomes Miss America to save a homeless man from being killed by Murder, Inc. (NOT the real-life gangster organization.) While busting up the operations of this fictional Murder, Inc. our heroine learns their m.o.

These racketeers run homeless missions where they set up homeless people with big insurance policies then murder them for the proceeds. Miss America smacks around the whole gang and turns them over to the police.

MISS AMERICA Vol 1 #3 (Dec 1944)

Title: The Case of the Goldfish

Villain: King Cobra

Synopsis: Madeline Joyce investigates as Miss America when her Uncle Jim’s defense industry friend is murdered by a costumed villain called King Cobra and his men. It turns out that the villain wants the late friend’s plans for a new bomber so he can sell it to the Axis Powers.

Miss America battles King Cobra and his thugs when they are looking for the hidden plans. King Cobra’s machine-gun bullets dipped in cobra venom eventually wear down our heroine and he leaves her in a death-trap with many, many explosives. She escapes, captures the villains and reveals the bomber plans were hidden inside the late tycoon’s pet goldfish.

Title: One Clue – A Ring

Villain: John Lukas

Synopsis: High society girl Dawana Lukas is killed when a man jumps her on the street and uses the bladed ring on his hand to inject poison into her.

The killer also makes off with the corpse after cops have been called.

Miss America looks into the situation and traces the type of ring being used to Dawana’s Uncle John, who wanted Dawana’s inheritance money to fund his own medical research organization. Our heroine exposes him and sends him to prison.

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #61 (Jan 1945)

Title: Eyes of Doom

Villain: Dr. Von Helstog

Synopsis: While accompanying Uncle Jim on a business trip to the Navy Department in Washington D.C. Madeline Joyce catches on to a Nazi spy ring being run by the supervillain Dr. Von Helstog. That villain has been using his mutant hypnotic powers to make War Department officials leak plans and blueprints to him and his agents.

Miss America clashes a few times with Dr. Von Helstog and his men, capturing one or two lackeys each time. In the end she breaks free of the trance the villain placed her in at one point and catches the mad doctor and his remaining men in a bomber as they try to trash U.S. battleships in the Navy Yard. She makes the aircraft blow up, killing all the Nazis.

MISS AMERICA Vol 1 #4 (Jan 1945)

Title: Case of the Crystal Unicorn

Villains: The Glassblower Gang

Synopsis: Madeline Joyce buys a glass stag for Uncle Jim at a hot new designer glass foundry in the city. While doing so she notices that an “employees only” display case is like a freezer. As Miss America she looks into things and learns the glassblowers have killed a cop investigating them.

Our heroine exposes the operation – when high income customers buy the frozen glass sculptures a burst of knockout gas is released at room temperature. The glassblowers then break in and rob the wealthy customers. (It’s only a comic book. Just go with it.)

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #62 (Feb 1945)

Title: Triple Mysteries

Villain: Nick Bruto

Synopsis: Madeline Joyce is reading the newspaper and notes three mysterious stories – gangster Nick Bruto has been evading a police dragnet for days; an unidentified object has been spotted flying over the city at night and a brilliant scientist has disappeared recently.

As Miss America she ties the stories together. She clashes with Nick Bruto a few times as he commits additional robberies but seems to disappear afterward. She realizes that’s because he hides in the stolen home of the scientist, a home that flies via antigravity and relocates after every theft. She captures Bruto and frees the scientist hostage.

NOTE: Nick Bruto has a degree of superstrength AND premature gray hair, so Marvel should retcon things so that he is either young Silvermane or maybe Silvermane’s father or grandfather. 

MISS AMERICA Vol 1 #5 (Feb 1945)

Title: The Cherub

Villain: The Cherub

Synopsis: Madeline Joyce is driving around town when her car radio picks up a news report that the serial criminal called the Cherub has just struck again. She pulls over, becomes Miss America and flies off to the stated address. As usual, the Cherub forced their victim to open their home safe, then stole their valuables and shot them dead.

The police tell Miss America that the villain also left a photo of himself, but they STILL haven’t been able to find and arrest him. Our heroine investigates and finds that the Cherub is really elderly Dr. Franz Neumensch, who has perfected a de-aging chemical. He commits his crimes in that young, handsome condition, leaves photos to mislead the cops and gets away before he reverts to old age.

Miss America defeats the villain and his burly chauffer, but the Cherub kills himself in a chemical fire rather than go to prison.

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #63 (Apr 1945)

Title: The Black Flag of Doom

Villains: Blackbeard and his Sky Pirates

Synopsis: Madeline Joyce learns that a supervillain calling himself Blackbeard has led his crew of Sky Pirates in attacking multiple American planes in mid-flight, boarding them and plundering what they can before destroying the planes.

Miss America clashes with Blackbeard and his men repeatedly but they can turn their plane invisible and keep getting away. When the villains raid a munitions plant to steal a fortune in arms to sell on the black market Miss America at last traces them to their hideout and defeats them all.   

*** There were plenty more Miss America adventures after this. If readers like this post I’ll do a sequel in the near future. Miss America not only had additional solo stories but she joined Marvel/ Timely’s 1940s superhero team the All-Winners Squad, whose adventures I reviewed previously. Her teammates included Captain America, Sub-Mariner, the original Human (android) Torch and her eventual husband the Whizzer.

FOR THE FIRST TWELVE ISSUES OF MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS CLICK HERE.

FOR MY LOOK AT SUN GIRL (1948-1950) CLICK HERE.

FOR MY LOOK AT THE BLONDE PHANTOM’S 1946-1949 STORIES CLICK HERE.