Betsy Ross is a character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. Created by

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (born Hymie Simon; October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books ...

and

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

, the character

first appeared In comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader interest in fir ...

in ''

Captain America Comics ''Captain America Comics'' is a comic book series featuring the superhero character Captain America. The series was originally published by Timely Comics from 1941 to 1950, with a brief revival by Atlas Comics (1950s), Atlas Comics in 1954. Pub ...

'' #1 (March 1941). Betsy Ross is

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

's early love interest and supporting character in

s published by

during the 1930-1940s period known to historians and collectors as the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and ma ...

. She then debuted as the

superheroine A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses Superpower (ability), ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, t ...

Golden Girl in ''Captain America Comics'' #66 (April 1948).

Publication history

Marvel Comics' first Golden Girl, Elizabeth Ross,

, without yet a superhero identity, as Betty Ross in ''

'' #1 (March 1941). A

supporting character A supporting character is a character in a narrative that is not the focus of the primary storyline, but is important to the plot/protagonist, and appears or is mentioned in the story enough to be more than just a minor character or a cameo a ...

who appeared in occasional stories, she assisted the U.S. Army and was a love interest for Steve Rogers, Captain America's real identity. She succeeded Bucky as Captain America's sidekick in issue #66 (April 1948), in the 12-page story "Golden Girl", by an unconfirmed writer and by

penciller A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations. In the American comic book industry, the penciller is the first step ...

Syd Shores. Later, it was retconned that this was not Steve Rogers but Jeff Mace, the superhero Patriot and the third man to be called Captain America. Golden Girl appeared in ''Captain America'' stories through issue #74 (Oct. 1949), except for issue #71, and also in the Captain America stories in '' Marvel Mystery Comics'' #87-88 and #92 (Aug. & Oct. 1948, June 1949). Betsy's non-superhero design has changed over the years; when she first appeared she was blonde, but later stories had her with red hair and wearing a blonde wig as part of her Golden Girl costume. The 2010 miniseries ''Captain America: Patriot'' retroactively revealed that she was the aunt of General

Thunderbolt Ross General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics featuring the Hulk. Ross is a United States Armed Forces, United States military Officer (armed forces)#United States, officer, ...

, and the great-aunt of his daughter Betty Ross, two characters introduced in '' The Incredible Hulk'' #1 (May 1962).

Fictional character biography

Immediately before and during most of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Elizabeth (then known as Betty) Ross was a member of the U.S. Army's Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, and had previously worked as a waitress and later an FBI agent. She became a friend and eventual girlfriend of Army Private Steve Rogers, unaware of his dual identity as Captain America, whom she admired and who had saved her on more than one occasion. She was kind and resourceful, but not especially strong at first. Betsy investigated fortune tellers Sando and Omar and exposed them as spies. In issue #6 (Sept. 1941), she was captured by the

Imperial Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

ese spy known as Fang along with Bucky, but was rescued by Captain America. After the attack on

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

and the United States' official entry into the war, she soon became involved in more missions that had her opposing

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

and Imperial Japanese forces. Over the course of the comics, Ross grows into a tough and capable ally of Captain America and Bucky. She had adapted her name slightly to Betsy Ross — the name of the U.S. colonial-era woman to whom legend ascribes sewing the first American flag — by the time that Captain America's sidekick, the second Bucky (Fred Davis) was shot and wounded. The third Captain America, Jeffrey Mace, who'd succeeded the M.I.A. Rogers and the killed-in-action William Naslund, revealed his civilian identity to Ross and gave her a bulletproof cape previously owned by Naslund and trained her as his new partner, the costumed crime-fighter Golden Girl. For Ross' first mission as Golden Girl, she and Captain America investigated strange seismic activity in a city, leading them to encounter Mr. Zrr from Dimension Zee and assisted him in capturing Denton Smith and Cecil Babylon, two criminals who found safe haven in that dimension. After many more adventures, culminating in a battle with the

Red Skull The Red Skull is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by France Herron, Jack Kirby, and Joe Simon, the character first appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1 (March 1941), in ...

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

, Ross and Mace married by 1953 and eventually retired from their superhero duties. After Mace died of cancer, Betsy moved to Valhalla Villas, a Florida retirement community for ex-heroes and ex-villains. She was one of the Golden Age heroes who went back into action one last time after being temporarily de-aged as part of the "Last Days" part of the "

Secret Wars ''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'', is a 12-issue American comic book Fictional crossover, crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter ...

" storyline.

Powers and abilities

Betsy Ross had no superpowers but was a skilled hand-to-hand combatant and wore a bulletproof cape that belonged to William Naslund, formerly the Spirit of '76.

Critical reception

Deirdre Kaye of '' Scary Mommy'' called Betsy Ross a "role model" and "truly heroic." Megan Nicole O'Brien of '' CBR.com'' ranked Betsy Ross 7th in their "Marvel: 10 Best Golden Age Heroines" list.

In other media

Betsy Ross appeared in the Captain America portion of ''

The Marvel Super Heroes ''The Marvel Super Heroes'' is an American animated television series starring five comic book superheroes from Marvel Comics. The first TV series based on Marvel Comics, Marvel characters, it debuted in broadcast syndication, syndication on Amer ...

'' TV series (1966), voiced by Vita Linder.

References

External links

Grand Comics Database
* ''All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update 2 - Adam II to Zodiac'' (May 2007)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Betsy) Characters created by Jack Kirby Characters created by Joe Simon Characters created by Roy Thomas Comics characters introduced in 1941 Golden Age superheroes Fictional World War II veterans Marvel Comics female superheroes Marvel Comics military personnel Marvel Comics mutates Timely Comics characters