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Ruth Ann Roche (18 February 1917 – 4 May 1983) was a writer and editor in the Golden Age of Comic Books. She was also the business partner of Jerry Iger.

Life and career

Roche started as a writer at the Eisner-Iger Studio, a packager for Fiction House, in 1940. She wrote such features as "Phantom Lady", "Senorita Rio", "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle", "Kaanga", and "Camilla". She also wrote the female-led adventure newspaper strip Flamingo, drawn by Matt Baker and syndicated by Iger's Universal Phoenix Features Syndicate. In 1944, she created Kismet, Man of Fate, the first Muslim superhero, published in the comic book Bomber Comics from Elliot Publishing Company.

She soon became Iger's associate editor; in 1945 they became business partners, and the studio became the Roche-Iger Studio. She stayed with the studio until it ceased operations in 1961.

She later married a man named Schaffer (or possibly "Schaefer"). She died in 1983.

Legacy

Trina Robbins and Catherine Yronwode dedicated their 1985 book, Women in the Comics, to Roche.

Bibliography

Writer

• America In Action (1945) #1
• Bomber Comics (1944) #2
  • "Pixie" story
• Classic Comics (1941) #32
  • Lorna Doone
• Classics Illustrated (1947) #26, 31-32
  • Frankenstein
  • The Black Arrow
  • Lorna Doone
• Fight Comics (1940) #53
• Haunted Thrills (1952) #11
  • Out of the Grave
• Jumbo Comics (1938) #44, 152
• Phantom Lady (1947) #13-23
• Phantom Lady (1954) #5 -4
• The Rider (1957) #3
• Seven Seas Comics (1946) #1-4, 6
  • The Ol' Skipper

Editor

• Aggie Mack (1948) #8
• All True Romance (1955) #23-24, 27, 30
• Battle Report (1952) #1-3
• Black Cobra (1954) #6
• Bomber Comics (1944) #3
• Bride's Secrets (1954) #9-10, 19
• Ellery Queen (1949) #2
• Fantastic Comics (1954) #11
• The Fighting Man (1952) #1-8
• The Flame (1954) #5
• G-I in Battle (1952) #8
• Gunsmoke Trail (1957) #2-3
• Haunted Thrills (1952) #3, 10, 12, 17-18
• Lone Eagle (1954) #4
• The Lone Rider (1951) #3, 11, 15, 18, 20
• Lonely Heart (1955) #12
• Men in Action (1957) #1-2, 6
• Midnight (1957) #1-2, 4
• Phantom Lady (1954) #5 -4
• The Rider (1957) #3
• Samson (1955) #12-14
• Secret Love (1957) #2
• Seven Seas Comics (1946) #1-4
• Spitfire Comics (1944) #132
• Spunky the Smiling Spook (1957) #1
• Strange (1957) #1-6
• Strange Fantasy (1952) #2, 4-7, 9-14
• Super Cat (1957) #1
• Swift Arrow (1954) #1-2
• Today's Brides (1955) #4
• Voodoo (1952) #1-6, 8, 10-15, 17, 19

References

1. ^ "Ruth Roche". Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999.
2. Saunders, David (2015). "Ruth Roche". PulpArtists.com. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
3. Greenfield, Dan (Nov 3, 2016). "13 DAYS OF SUPER WEIRD HEROES: Kismet — Man of Fate! | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture". 13thDimension.com. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
4. ^ "Iger Studio". Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
5. MacDonald, Heidi (Sep 19, 2014). "Must Read: Women Who Conquered the Comics World". The Beat.
6. Robbins, Trina; Yronwode, Catherine (1985). Women in the Comics. Eclipse Books.

Sources

• Ruth Roche at the Grand Comics Database.

• 1917 births
• 1983 deaths
• 20th-century American women writers
• 20th-century American writers
• American comics writers
• Female comics writers
• Golden Age comics creators