Lexi

Let’s see what happens when a man runs against a woman for president!

He tries to kill her…

He tries to jail the opposition and commit election fraud…

…It’s a hell of an election.

Re-posting this because I finally got to scan it in high-res.

Betty Bates is a goddamn hero.

Comics in the United States in the 1940s were a relatively new and extremely popular form of entertainment verging on mass media. Superheroes had not yet become the dominant genre, and comics were a hotbed of creative experimentation in a wide variety of genres.

So you had comics where women were heroic PHOTOGRAPHERS (from Blue Circle Comics #1, 1944):

You had comics where women were heroic NEWS REPORTERS (from Fighting Yank #27, 1949):

You had comics where women were heroic POLICE OFFICERS (from National Comics #8, 1941):

You had comics where women are heroic AIRLINE HOSTESSES (from Banner Comics #5, 1942):

You had comics where women are heroic NURSES (from Speed Comics #15, 1941):

(from Wings Comics #3, 1940):

…who also became a heroic SPY (Wings Comics #31, 1943):

…who also became a heroic AVIATRIX (Wings Comics #51, 1944):

…who also became a heroic TEST PILOT and PLANE SALESPERSON after the war (Wings Comics #70, 1946):

…who also became a heroic REPORTER (Wings Comics #94, 1948):

You had comics where women are heroic SCIENTISTS (and also PRIVATE DETECTIVES) (from Wonder Comics #14, 1947):

You had comics where women are famous ACTRESSES and MODELS (from Miss Beverly Hills of Hollywood #5, 1949):

You had comics where women were both famous MODELS and heroic PRIVATE DETECTIVES (from Guns Against Gangsters #4, 1949):

You had LOTS of romance comics — including niche ones like these about women who are students:

…and that’s not counting all the sensationalized comics where women were cowgirls and criminals and superheroes and funny animals and evil sorceresses and space adventurers!

So here’s what I’d say:

1.) “A woman being a lawyer” is not the “fantastic” or “sensational” thing about the comic — she also solves crimes and fights criminals!

2.) What’s “to be said about the state of things” is that comics were actually much more diverse in terms of the genres and professions of women in the starring roles in the 1940s before superheroes became the dominant genre!

3.) …although they were mostly all white women, with very rare exceptions. Diversity in race and ethnicity was definitely NOT a hallmark of the 1940s.