When Superman first leapt across the comic book page in 1938, he embodied an ideal that humans had revered for thousands of years—handsome, physically perfect, literally descended from the heavens. He was, in a word, godlike. He flew like a bird, bent steel in his hands, and weapons bounced harmlessly off his indestructible chest. However, Superman couldn’t command wild animals to do his bidding, transform men into monsters, destroy squadrons of airplanes with a single thought, or reshape reality. But Fantomah could.
Making her debut in 1940, Fantomah is considered to be the first female with extraordinary powers to appear in comics—the Eve to Superman’s Adam. But while Superman chose to live among humanity, Fantomah set herself apart from it. She was a beautiful white woman who lived in a “secret observatory” deep in the heart of the African jungle. From there, readers were told, through her “strange wizardry, she guards the jungle’s secrets and avenges the evil deeds against the jungle-born.” Fantomah is described as “the most remarkable woman in the universe,” which sounds less like a superhero, and more like a goddess. Fantomah best fits that ancient image of the goddess who could be both benevolent and terrifying. Like all deities, Fantomah is all-knowing and all-seeing, and has established a set of laws. And woe unto anyone who breaks those laws! Fantomah possessed a seemingly endless array of powers, which she used to smite those who dared threaten the peace of the jungle. “Now you will pay a dreadful penalty!” Fantomah would announce, as she transformed herself from a lovely blonde into a hideous, skull-faced angel of destruction. With her boundless powers, Fantomah could have simply destroyed her foes. But like a true goddess, she used her magnificent abilities to pass judgment on her enemies, and punish them with divine fury. “Farewell, you fool!” Fantomah would say, after sentencing a fallen foe to spend the rest of his days deep within the bowels of the earth.
To call Fantomah a “goddess” is not to say that she is literally from a pantheon of divinities. The comic book goddess is simply a woman who is other than a mere human. More than human. Sheena, the Queen of the Jungle, arguably the first heroine of comics, first appeared in 1937. Sheena established the image of the woman as goddess who is both an object of desire and fear. Powerful, beautiful, unattainable. She is like a force of nature, and can’t always be held to follow the same laws that mere mortals must adhere to. Of the women we will meet in this chapter, only Diana the Huntress is a familiar goddess of antiquity. Others, like Maureen Marine and Wildfire were humans who were granted powers by ancient gods. Fantomah and Amazona both have mysterious origins, while Marga the Panther Woman is a primal being that is just not like other humans.
In the wake of Superman’s arrival, publishers scrambled to jump on the superhero bandwagon. Obvious choices to fill the pages of comic books were the mythological figures of antiquity. Soon, a parade of deities and demigods and heroes of the past made their way into the comic to fight evil—Hercules and Samson, Mercury, Thor and Vulcan, Diana and Venus. But there were some interesting cultural, or even theological, clashes that arose when the ancient pagan gods appeared in comic books in the modern world, circa the 1940s. In 1944’s Yellowjacket Comics, Zeus sends his daughter Diana, the goddess of the hunt, to modern day Greece to fight the Nazi invaders. Diana arrives to learn the Nazis have stolen an icon from a Greek Orthodox Church. “Here is a chance for me to do my first kindness for my people! I’ll find their sacred picture!” Diana declares, as she sets off, an ancient Olympian pagan goddess on a mission to save an image of a Christian saint. Ironic when you consider that it was Christianity that toppled the worship of the Olympian gods. A few months later we see Diana, in her short Grecian chiton, fire a deadly arrow at a Turk bandit who begs, “No! In Allah’s name, spare me!” That same year in Red Circle Comics, young fisherman’s daughter Maureen drowns in a shipwreck. “W-where am I? Is this Heaven?” she asks, when she awakes in the arms of a white bearded gentleman. But God the Father is not Maureen’s savior, but rather Father Neptune, the ancient pagan god of the sea. One wonders if Maureen, presumably a good Catholic girl, felt like she’d wasted her time saying the rosary all those years.
Then there is the question of morality and the goddess. Gods have always established laws—morals—by which mortals must live their lives. But does a goddess have to abide by the rules of humanity, when she is apart from humanity? To readers of modern comic books, the “Dark Phoenix Saga” in Marvel Comics’ X-Men is considered to be a classic. It is the tale of mutant heroine Jean Grey’s transformation into the all-powerful Phoenix, a goddess-like being—a fiery angel of death who killed billions. Phoenix ultimately sacrifices herself to atone for her sins: her human soul can’t live with her godly deeds. But forty years earlier, Fantomah wielded infinite powers that rivaled those of the Phoenix, and she had no qualms about wreaking havoc on a humanity that broke her laws. Similarly, Marga the Panther Woman’s “primitive emotions” result in bloody carnage in the story presented here. But she isn’t punished because she doesn’t follow the same rules humans do. Humans can’t hold the goddess accountable for her actions because she is above humans.
Now, in this chapter, let us worship at the altar of the 20th Century Goddesses—
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FANTOMAH, MYSTERY WOMAN OF THE JUNGLE—As the first superheroine of comics, Fantomah’s story reflects how experimental the early comics were. Created by artist Fletcher Hanks (drawing as Barclay Flagg) Fantomah was a godlike creature with almost limitless powers. Hanks’ tales are truly among the most bizarre of their day. When he left the series in 1941, Fantomah became more of a typical jungle queen à la Sheena, still possessing some magic but not the infinite power she’d had earlier. By 1942, Fantomah became the ruler of a lost Egyptian city, and her fantastic powers were all gone. Her adventures in Jungle Comics came to an end in 1944, bringing a rather lackluster close to the story of this first powerful superwoman of comics.
AMAZONA, THE MIGHTY WOMAN—A beautiful and powerful young woman from a lost race falls in love with a man from the modern world, and leaves her faraway homeland to travel to America. Is this Wonder Woman? No, it’s Amazona, who made her debut in 1940, over a year before Wonder Woman, but whose story is remarkably similar. Besides arriving in comics earlier, Amazona was also a bit more “untamed” than Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman extolled the virtues of peace and love; Amazona hit first and asked questions later. And while Wonder Woman is seen as a symbol of feminism, in this story we see Amazona stand up for her rights in a highly aggressive, no nonsense manner. One feels pity for her boyfriend Blake, who finds himself on one of the worst first dates in history. Amazona seemed like a mythical creature that was too imposing to fit into the world of mortals. Maybe that’s why she only made this one appearance in Planet Comics.
MARGA THE PANTHER WOMAN—Comic book jungle queens were a dime a dozen in the ’40s and ’50s. Marga was unique. As a girl, Marga had been nursed by panthers, which gave her the strength, speed, and agility of the great jungle cat. She also had the claws and savage nature of a panther. For years, modern day comic book fans have been thrilled by the savage temperament and killer instinct of Wolverine, the sharp-clawed member of Marvel’s X-Men. Judging by this story, Marga could have given Wolverine a run for his money. Here, Marga leaves the jungle and tries living in the civilized world, with dire results. This story represents the peak of Marga’s animalistic side. After this, she became steadily tamer. Marga the Panther Woman appeared in Science Comics and Weird Comics between 1940–42.
WILDFIRE—When a forest fire orphaned young Carol Vance, the God of Fire granted the child mastery over flame. Adopted by a wealthy couple, she grew up to become yet another of the many beautiful debutantes of comic books. “I’m happiest when using my powers to help others!” Carol said, as she became Wildfire, “princess of flame, and nemesis of all who break man’s laws.” In an era when few heroines wielded mighty powers, Wildfire’s fiery abilities were unique. She also sported one of the most racy costumes of her day. This story introduces readers to Wildfire, who conjures giant flaming hands to pass judgment on Nazi evildoers in true goddess-like fashion. Wildfire appeared in Smash Comics from 1941–42.
DIANA THE HUNTRESS—In Homer’s Iliad, the gods of Olympus interfered in the battles of the mortal Trojan War. So it seems fitting that they would do the same in WWII. When Zeus orders the gods to protect their beloved Greece from the Nazis, his daughter Diana, the goddess of the hunt, takes aim at the Axis invaders. In this story, the sight of a vengeful Diana and her fellow Olympians destroying German battleships is certainly frightening. But it is the cold look in Diana’s eyes as she instructs the gods to show the mortals no mercy that reminds us of the perils of incurring the wrath of a goddess. These stories also remind us of the reassuring quality that deities have on mere mortals. “Always remember: we are with you in your time of need!” Diana tells a group of Greek freedom fighters, as she and Zeus ascend once more into the heavens. Diana the Huntress appeared in Yellowjacket Comics between 1944–46.
MAUREEN MARINE—Young Maureen thought it would be fun to stow away on her father’s fishing boat, never dreaming a Nazi U-boat would sink it. Father Neptune rescues the drowned girl and transforms her into a water breather. He then takes Maureen to Atlantis, where she is crowned queen of the undersea kingdom. There’ll be no competition for the title of prettiest girl under the sea, since Maureen is the sole female in an all-male population. Even godly father Neptune must bow to the authority of the girl ruler, who in this story proves that she is a good military strategist. Maureen never seemed to miss the surface world she left behind, as she had fanciful fairy tale style adventures beneath the waves. Maureen Marine ruled Atlantis between 1944–45 in the pages of Blue Circle Comics.
