19 – Sandra of the Secret Service

Sandra of the Secret Service, from More Fun Comics #8, 1936
Sandra of the Secret Service, 1936

With the introduction of its New Comics magazie, National Allied Publications renamed their “New Fun” comic to “More Fun”.  Sandra of the Secret Service had been present in that magazine since its first issue and is thus the very first example of a female comic book hero.  Note that the villain here, Count Taurus, has made the oh-so-common mistake of so many comic book villains by monologuing and revealing how his complicated death device works to the hero (Sandra).

Oh, and something  happened in January 1936:  A third comic book company entered the industry, Dell Comics.  Dell starts to print “Popular Comics” featuring reprints of Dick Tracy and Little Orphan Annie, among some strips that originally appeared in Eastern Color’s “Famous Funnies” magazine: Tailspin Tommy and Mutt & Jeff