Ruth Ann Roche (18 February 1917 – 4 May 1983) was a writer and editor in 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 was also the business partner of

Jerry Iger Samuel Maxwell "Jerry" Iger (; August 22, 1903 – September 5, 1990) was an American cartoonist and art-studio entrepreneur. With business partner Will Eisner, he co-founded Eisner & Iger, a comic book packager that produced comics on demand ...

Life and career

Roche started as a writer at the Eisner-Iger Studio, a packager for

Fiction House Fiction House was an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. It was founded by John B. "Jack" Kelly and John W. Glenister.Saunders, David"JACK BYRNE (1902-1972),"Field Guide to Wild American P ...

, in 1940. She wrote such features as "

Phantom Lady Phantom Lady is a fictional superheroine appearing in media published by Quality Comics and DC Comics. She was created by the Eisner & Iger studio, one of the first to produce comics on demand for publishers. The character's early adventures we ...

", "Senorita Rio", "

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, is a fictional American comic book jungle girl heroine during the Golden Age of Comic Books. She originally debuted in the British magazine ''Wags'' #46 (January 1938). and later made her first American appearance i ...

", "Kaanga", and "Camilla". She also wrote the female-led adventure newspaper strip ''Flamingo'', drawn by

Matt Baker Matthew James Baker (born 23 December 1977) is a British television presenter. He co-presented the children's television show ''Blue Peter'' from 1999 until 2006, BBC One's '' Countryfile'' since 2009 and ''The One Show'' from 2011 to 2020, wi ...

and syndicated by Iger's Universal Phoenix Features Syndicate. In 1944, she created

Kismet, Man of Fate Kismet, Man of Fate is a superhero published by Elliot Publishing Company in the Golden Age of Comic Books. The series features adventures of an Algerian superhero who was thought lost by the Allies at the end of World War II. The character origin ...

, the first

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

superhero, published in the comic book ''Bomber Comics'' from

Elliot Publishing Company The Gilberton Company, Inc. () was an American publisher best known for the comic book series ''Classics Illustrated'' featuring adaptations of literary classics. Beginning life as an imprint of the Elliot Publishing Company, the company became i ...

. 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 Trina Robbins ( Perlson; August 17, 1938 – April 10, 2024) was an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first women in the movement. She co-produced the 1970 underground comic '' I ...

and

Catherine Yronwode Catherine Anna Yronwode (née Manfredi; May 12, 1947) is an American writer, editor, graphic designer, typesetter, and publisher with an extensive career in the comic book industry. She is also a practitioner of folk magic. Early life Catherine ...

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 Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is resorted to either as a method of ...

'' (1940) #53 * ''Haunted Thrills'' (1952) #11 ** Out of the Grave * ''

Jumbo Comics ''Jumbo Comics'' was an adventure anthology comic book published by Fiction House from 1938 to 1953. ''Jumbo Comics'' was Fiction House's first comics title; the publisher had previously specialized in pulp magazines. The lead feature for ''Jumbo ...

'' (1938) #44, 152 * ''

'' (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

Sources

Ruth Roche
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information use ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Roche, Ruth 1917 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American writers American comics writers American female comics writers Golden Age comics creators