Number 1859: The invisible woman

There are claims that Scarlet O'Neil, by achieving the powers of invisibility — from a ray invented by her scientist father, and controlled by pressing a nerve in her left wrist — is the first super heroine in comics. She made her debut in daily newspapers June 3, 1940, created by Russell Stamm, who had been an assistant to Chester Gould (Dick Tracy). The comic strip lasted until 1955, although Scarlet stopped using her invisiblity trick in 1950.

She had a career in comic books, appearing in Famous Funnies, and in four separate issues from Harvey Comics. I am showing #3 (1951), the last of her short-lived series. (She also appeared in a Harvey Comics Hits one-shot packaged as Tales of the Invisible.)

Here is a tip for you young folks. Live long enough and you too can achieve invisibility. Or at least a form of it. The older we get the less visible we become. It works for me. Store clerks, beautiful girls, teenagers...they all look right through me as if I am not there. Don’t feel sorry for me. It can be handy to watch the world go by without being noticed. Someday you may feel my hot breath on the back of your neck and whirl about. “That’s funny,” I will hear you say. “I thought there was someone behind me, but I don’t see anyone.”

Boo-hahaha!