Ruth Atkinson
Born(1918-06-02)June 2, 1918
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DiedJune 1, 1997(1997-06-01) (aged 78)
Pacifica, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Penciller
Notable works
Millie the Model
Patsy Walker

Ruth Atkinson Ford, née Ruth Atkinson and a.k.a. R. Atkinson (June 2, 1918 – June 1, 1997),[a] was an American cartoonist and pioneering female comic book writer-artist who created the long-running Marvel Comics character Millie the Model and co-created Patsy Walker.[6]

Biography

Her creation Patsy Walker would become the superheroine Hellcat in 1976, but Ruth Atkinson was drawing Hellcats long before then. From Wings Comics #45 (Nov. 1944).

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Ruth Atkinson as an infant moved with her family to upstate New York.[4]

One of the first female artists in American comic books, she entered the field doing work for the publisher Fiction House beginning either 1942 or 1943, and either on staff[7] or, as noted by the Connecticut Historical Society, through the Iger Studio, a comic book packager that produced comics for publishers on an outsource basis.[8] Fellow female artists Fran Hopper, Lily Renée, and Marcia Snyder also worked for Iger, where one of the business partners was a woman, Ruth Roche.[9] Atkinson's first confirmed, signed work is the single-page "Wing Tips" featurette in Wings Comics #42 (Feb. 1944).[4]

Atkinson continued to pencil and ink that airplane-profile featurette, as well such Fiction House features as "Clipper Kirk" and "Suicide Smith" in Wings Comics, "Tabu" in Jungle Comics, and "Sea Devil" in Rangers Comics. At some point, she became the Fiction House art director, but left the position to freelance after finding that the managerial position left little time for her art.[1]

With writer Otto Binder, she went on to draw and co-create the feature "Patsy Walker", for Marvel Comics predecessor Timely Comics in Miss America Magazine #2 (Nov. 1944).[10] She would draw that humor/romance feature for two years, as well write and draw the premiere issue of the long-running series Millie the Model.[11]

Atkinson later drew true-life adventures for Eastern Color Printing's Heroic Comics, as well for some of the first romance comics, including Lev Gleason Publications' Boy Meets Girl and Boy Loves Girl, through the early 1950s.

Atkinson retired from comics sometime after her marriage. She was living in Pacifica, California, at the time of her death from cancer.[4]

Personal

Her brother, horse-racing Hall of Fame jockey Ted Atkinson, died in 2005.[12][7]

Bibliography

See also

Notes

  1. ^ There is some dispute as to Atkinson's date of death, with the Ink Blots column of the Comic Artists Professional Society monthly newsletter[1] and Comics Buyer's Guide[2] giving the date as June 1, 1997. Lambiek Comiclopedia[3] and The Comics Journal,[4] however, both give the date of death as May 31, 1997. Finally, Atkinson's Social Security Death Index entry gives a date of June 15, 1997, and states verification came per a family member or someone acting on behalf of a family member, rather than an observed death certificate. Family members sometimes inadvertently submit filing dates or burial dates.[5]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b McGeehan, Ed (October 3, 1997). "Ink Blots (column)". Comic Artists Professional Society monthly newsletter. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008 – via "Cartoon News and Views" (column; ed. Daryl Cagle), MSNBC.com.
  2. ^ Miller, John Jackson. "1997: The Year in Comics: Sidebar: 'Passages: 1997'". CBGXtra. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
  3. ^ "Ruth Atkinson Ford: (2 June 1918 – 1 June 1997, USA)". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d "Atkinson Ford Dead at 79". Newswatch. The Comics Journal (198): 31. August 1997.
  5. ^ "Ruth Ford, Social Security Number 073-14-6513". United States Social Security Death Index. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015 – via FamilySearch.
  6. ^ Vassallo, Dr. Michael J. (December 26, 1997). "A Look at the Atlas Pre-Code Crime and Horror Work of Stan Lee". Comics Buyer's Guide. No. 1258. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008 – via Live ForEverett. MILLIE THE MODEL and PATSY WALKER were inaugurated with artwork by Ruth Atkinson, an artist whose style would be the template for all Millie and Patsy Walker artists to follow.
  7. ^ a b "The Gentleman of Comics: Murphy Anderson". Sequential Tart. Interviewed by Laurie J. Anderson. December 2001. Archived from the original on February 9, 2007. Ruth Atkinson was an artist who worked there. Her brother happened to be a very prominent jockey; he was one of the top jockeys in the country at the time.
  8. ^ Goldstein, Andrew. "Fiction House: History and Influences". The Connecticut Historical Society. Archived from the original on September 8, 2008.
  9. ^ "Iger Studio". Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  10. ^ Miss America Magazine #2 at the Grand Comics Database.
  11. ^ Dowsett, Elizabeth, ed. (2008). "Millie the Model debuts". Marvel Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 31. ISBN 978-0756641238. Millie the Model was created by cartoonist Ruth Atkinson, who drew the stories in the first issue. Mike Sekowsky ... took over as principal Millie the Model artist after the first issue)
  12. ^ "Ted Atkinson". Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on June 19, 2009.

References

Further reading

Categories