Number 2237: Pat Patriot: Women can fight, too!

I have told this story before, but it seems time to dredge it up tell it again. In the early '70s I helped my wife with an essay for a class she was taking. Her paper was on patriotic comic book heroes of World War II. It was the era of anti-war protests, and while I was definitely anti-war, I was also a veteran and writing about WWII comic books was hard to resist (it still is). The teacher liked it so much he had her read to the class. When she got to the name Pat Patriot her classmates exploded in laughter.

I subsequently found out that Pat Patriot’s name was Patricia Patrios, and she was introduced in Daredevil Comics #2. Some character in the origin story misspelled her last name and she became Pat Patriot. It was a short-lived series, lasting only until Daredevil #11. But what I like about it is its portrayal of a female character who is without super powers, but who can fight. That was considered fanciful 80 years ago, but then as now some women kick butts as well as a man.

The Grand Comics Database has questions about who wrote and drew this story from Daredevil Comics #3 (1941), Pat’s second appearance. They guess it was written by Charles Biro and Bob Wood, and also guess at artists Frank Borth and Reed Crandall. I see a couple of panels I believe are by Crandall, but I would not be able to identify anything by Borth.