Before Agent Carter there was...Senorita Rio!

"Señorita Rio" was the code-name given to popular Hispanic-American film actress Rita Farrar (real name: Consuela Maria Ascencion De Las Vegas), as she spied on against Axis agents in Central and South American countries during World War II.

She was proficient with weapons, and could handle herself in perilous situations, requiring rescue by male associates far less frequently than most heroines of the Golden Age of Comics.

Based on real-life actress and World War II pin-up queen Rita Hayworth, whom most people don't realize was Hispanic/Irish-American (Her real name was Margarita Carmen Cansino), Señorita Rio started as a backup feature in Fight Comics #19 in 1942, and took over the cover slot as of #37 for a year.
After that, she remained as a backup, at least, until #71 came out in 1951, as the series ended with her retiring from espionage and returned full-time to her acting career.

The first few Señorita Rio stories, including this premiere tale, were illustrated by noted Golden and Silver Age artist Nick Cardy (using his full name Nick Viscardi), but the bulk of her tales were rendered by one of the few female comic book artists of the era, Lily Renee, who did spectacular work in every comics genre: sci-fi, adventure, superhero, war, western, horror, and romance!

Atomic Kommie Comics™ has lured Señorita Rio out of retirement, as beautiful and deadly as ever, on two of her best covers, in our Heroines™ line of cool comics-based collectibles including tops, bottoms, t-shirts, mugs, and other goodies!
(She's also one of the dozen dynamic dames on our Heroines™ 2015 12-Month Calendar!)

If you're a gal who wants to show off a classic example of Hispanic female empowerment, a guy who's confident enough in his masculinity to display a strong (and voluptuous) woman, or someone who wants a spectacular Cinco de Mayo gift for a pop-culture-oriented loved one, head over to see Señorita Rio!
Just make sure to tell her you're on the Allied side. She can be a bit trigger-happy!

PHANTOM LADY in "Army of the Walking Dead"

It's almost Halloween, so here's some Matt Baker "good girl" art! Plus: Zombies! Doctor Crime!

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

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 story from Fox's Phantom Lady #15 (1947) was reprinted as the cover feature in IW's Great Action Comics #8 (1958), the splash page was left out, because the reprint publisher didn't have the cover printing plates, only the interior plates 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 new cover art is attributed in the Grand Comics Database to Jack Abel and Sol Brodsky.

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featuring goodies emblazoned with cover art that Fredric Wertham railed against in Seduction of the Innocent.

3-D SHEENA QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE "Sargasso of Lost Safaris"

Get out the red/blue 3-D glasses (red on the left, blue on the right)...

Cover art for the 1985 reprint by the late, great, Dave Stevens

 ...cause it's 3-D Week at all the RetroBlogs™!

This tale, penciled by Robert Webb and Inked by Ann Brewster for Jumbo Comics #87 (1953), was adapted from 2-D to 3-D for 3-D Sheena Queen of the Jungle #1 (1953) during the 1950s 3-D craze and reprinted (with corrected 3-D effects by Ray Zone) in 1985 (which is the version we're presenting here).

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FRANCES CRAIG "Routine Assignment"

Though the opening caption refers to an unpublished story...

...this never-reprinted tale from Eagle Comics #2 (1945) could've been the beginning of a kool ongoing strip!

Regrettably, this was the last issue of Eagle Comics, and feisty aviatrix Frances Craig never appeared anywhere, ever again.

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PHANTOM LADY in "Vortex of Scoundrels and Scandal!"

Page 1 of the story is the book's 2-color inside cover.

More Matt Baker "good girl" art in the first of three stories from Phantom Lady #14!
Enjoy!

When this story was reprinted as the cover feature in Daring Adventures #12, the splash page was left out, because the reprint publisher didn't have the cover printing plates, only the interiors for this issue!
FYI: Covers (on slick paper) and insides (on newsprint) are printed on separate presses and combined later.
Because the splash page was missing, the reprint editor didn't know the original title, and renamed the story "The Great Stamp Robbery"!
The splash page above is blue and black, not four-color, because, until recently, inside covers of comics were either b/w or 2-color, with the second color being either cyan (blue, as in this case) or magenta (pinkish-red).
Since the plates for the cover weren't available, a new cover by Joe Simon was commissioned, which was nowhere as nice as the original Matt Baker cover, and features Sandra Knight's boyfriend Ted being much more heroic than in the actual story!
You can see one of Matt Baker's 1950s romance stories at our sister blog True Love Comics Tales.
For those interested in writer Ruth Roche and / or artist Matt Baker, the books below will be of interest.

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featuring goodies emblazoned with cover art that Fredric Wertham railed against in Seduction of the Innocent.