Number 2321: “Rio! The American spy!”

Señorita Rio is one of my favorites from Fiction House. She lasted from 1942 until 1950 in Fight Comics, illustrated by several of the top artists associated with that line, including Nick Cardy (who drew her first story) and Lily Renée Wilhelm, who is the artist most identified with the character.

Rio (real name, Rita Farrar) was a spy. As I read in this story, she was even known as a spy to the villain when he spotted her on a train. Pardon me for stating the obvious, but the usefulness of a spy is nil once identified by the other side. Maybe they let her go because they wanted to see her eye-popping whip dance (page 6).

In looking at Lily Renée’s Wikipedia page I read that she was born in 1921, which makes her about 98 right now. If Wikipedia is correct, then she would be one of the few remaining artists from the golden age of comic books. She and her parents escaped the Nazis and eventually ended up together as war refugees in New York. Lily began drawing comics because her mother saw an ad from Fiction House. In those days the male artists were being taken by the armed forces to fight the war. Lily was a fast learner, and according to Wikipedia, “at some point, she studied at the Art Students League of New York and the School of Visual Arts.” She dropped out of comics in the fifties, but continued working, writing some plays and children’s books.

From Fight Comics #50 (1947):

Number 2007: Lovely Lily drew lovely Rio

I read that during her time drawing comic books, Lily Renée was subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace. Is calling someone “lovely” a no-no? I hope not. Ms Renée was certainly a talented — and lovely — artist at age 20 when she drew this Señorita Rio story for Fight Comics #36 (1945). Poor behavior by the guys she worked with was as inexcusable then as it is in the workplace today.

She said once she dressed Rio as she wanted to dress herself. So she used the opportunity to have Rio looking stylish and beautiful in an assortment of knockout dresses. The large splash panel looks more like what we find in old Katy Keene stories. The look of the Rio stories is helped by Ms Renée’s personal style sense.

Oh, and there is a story in here, about Rio disrupting a coup d'etat, all while dressed in form-fitting party dresses and spike heels. Olé!

Number 1789: Favorite Females Week: Señorita Rio

Here is the third and final post in our Favorite Females Week, Señorita Rio, drawn by one of our real-life favorite females, Lily Renée (born Lily Renée Wilhelm). She was, you may recall, a war refugee from Austria, who ended up in New York. She was fortunate to be reunited with her parents, who had also made their way from war-torn Europe. Her mother saw an ad for artists wanted at Fiction House, and encouraged teenage Lily, who had a talent for drawing, to apply. Rio was a regular character appearing in Fight Comics, and Ms Renée also regularly drew “The Lost World” for Planet Comics, and “Werewolf Hunter” for Rangers Comics.

In this entry, from Fight Comics #41 (1946), Rio faces off against an impersonator. Renée said she drew Rio in clothes she herself would like to wear, and for Fiction House, that meant the less clothes the better. On Rio, that is. I am not sure how Lily presented herself, but I guess she didn’t go to work dressed like Carmen Miranda.

More Rio: