Halloween Heroines ARROW COMICS "Headless Horseman Rides Again"

We've Witnessed the First Adventure of The Headless HorseMAN...

...now read the second (and final) tale of the transvestite crimefighter of the Plains!

Amazing how dense the Sheriff is, eh?

I'm really surprised no B-movie producer or early TV series executive thought of using this concept!
It's relatively low-budget and would've made for an attention-getting gimmick!
Ah, well...
Though this never-reprinted appearance in Centaur's The Arrow Comics #2 (1940) was her last appearance, it wasn't Headless Horseman creator Martin Filchock's last comics work.
In fact, he was just beginning!
When he died in 2012, at the age of 100, he was considered "America's oldest working cartoonist" with credits ranging from comic books to risque mens' magazine to The American Legion Magazine to the Journal of the American Medical Association!

Next Week:
There's Magic in the Air!
But Is It a SuperHeroine...or SuperVillainess?

Check Out the Other Countdown to Halloween 2024 Participants

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Halloween Heroines AMAZING MYSTERY FUNNIES "Headless Horseman"

Why is a character called "Headless Horseman" featured in a blog about heroines?

Yes, there is a logical explanation, so bear with us!

You knew it all along, didn't you?

This character, introduced in this never-reprinted tale from Centaur's Amazing Mystery Funnies #19 (1940) was one of several transvestite heroes/heroines who appeared that year!
There was also the first Cat-Man, who disguised himself as a little old cat lady as shown HERE!
Madam Fatal, who ran for 22 issues of Quality's Crack Comics used a similar gimmick, minus the felines!
Sadly, both The Headless Horseman and Cat-Man I made only 2 appearances each before disappearing into oblivion!
You'll see the Horseman's other (also never-reprinted) adventure here on Thursday!

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Halloween Heroine TRACY THOMPSON "Strange House"

Meant to be a resourceful "everywoman" to contrast with Adventure Comics' lead character, Supergirl...

Tracey Thompson and her comic relief BFF Betsy were introduced in this never-reprinted backup tale from DC's Adventure Comics #401 (1971)!

Written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Frank Giacoia, this story was the first in a projected series, but only this and another tale in the next issue were ever published!

Were there others in any stage of production when the project was abandoned?
Could any of them have been reworked with different characters and used?
Since all the involved creatives have passed from this mortal coil, we'll never know!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Heroine PHANTOM LADY "Monster in the Pool!"

Sexy women and werewolves...

...long before Twilight or True Blood, the Phantom Lady put her scantly-clad body between lycanthropes and an innocent human race!

The art for this tale from Fox's Phantom Lady #16 is by the inimitable Matt Baker, and the story is probably by Ruth Roche.

Supernatural elements would crop up in several more Phantom Lady stories.

Halloween Heroine PHANTOM LADY "Army of the Walking Dead!"

For the Halloween season we offer...Matt Baker "good girl" art!  Zombies! Doctor Crime!

The splash page of the story is the inside cover of the comic, with only two colors, black and cyan.

Oh, did we mention ZOMBIES???

Enjoy...

"America comes first, even before Dad!"--Phantom Lady's Words to Live By!

Doctor Crime (not to be confused with The Crime Doctor), despite being the first supervillain the Fox incarnation of Phantom Lady fought, never returned.

When this Ruth Roche-scripted and Matt Baker-illustrated tale from Fox's Phantom Lady #15 (1947) was reprinted as the cover feature in IW/Super Comic's Great Action Comics #8 (1958), the splash page was left out, because the reprint publisher didn't have the cover and inside cover printing plates, only the interiors for this issue!

As a result, the editor retitled the story "The Zombie".

The new cover was a combination of two redrawn story panels and a badly-rendered (and mis-colored) Phantom Lady.

The cover art is by Carl (Golden Age Human Torch) Burgos.