Ruth Atkinson Explained

Birth Date:2 June 1918
Birth Place:Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Death Place:Pacifica, California, U.S.
Nationality:American
Write:y
Pencil:y
Notable Works:Millie the Model
Patsy Walker

Ruth Atkinson Ford, née Ruth Atkinson and a.k.a. R. Atkinson (June 2, 1918 – June 1, 1997), was an American cartoonist and pioneering female comic book writer-artist who created the long-running Marvel Comics character Millie the Model and co-created Patsy Walker.[1]

Biography

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Ruth Atkinson as an infant moved with her family to upstate New York.

One of the first female artists in American comic books, she entered the field doing work for the publisher Fiction House beginning either 1942 or 1943, and either on staff[2] or, as noted by the Connecticut Historical Society, through the Iger Studio, a comic book packager that produced comics for publishers on an outsource basis.[3] Fellow female artists Fran Hopper, Lily Renée, and Marcia Snyder also worked for Iger, where one of the business partners was a woman, Ruth Roche.[4] Atkinson's first confirmed, signed work is the single-page "Wing Tips" featurette in Wings Comics #42 (Feb. 1944).

Atkinson continued to pencil and ink that airplane-profile featurette, as well such Fiction House features as "Clipper Kirk" and "Suicide Smith" in Wings Comics, "Tabu" in Jungle Comics, and "Sea Devil" in Rangers Comics. At some point, she became the Fiction House art director, but left the position to freelance after finding that the managerial position left little time for her art.

With writer Otto Binder, she went on to draw and co-create the feature "Patsy Walker", for Marvel Comics predecessor Timely Comics in Miss America Magazine #2 (Nov. 1944).[5] She would draw that humor/romance feature for two years, as well write and draw the premiere issue of the long-running series Millie the Model.[6]

Atkinson later drew true-life adventures for Eastern Color Printing's Heroic Comics, as well for some of the first romance comics, including Lev Gleason Publications' Boy Meets Girl and Boy Loves Girl, through the early 1950s.

Atkinson retired from comics sometime after her marriage. She was living in Pacifica, California, at the time of her death from cancer.

Personal

Her brother, horse-racing Hall of Fame jockey Ted Atkinson, died in 2005.[7]

Bibliography

See also

References

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Vassallo. Dr. Michael J.. https://web.archive.org/web/20080828180033/http://www.ess.comics.org/ess/docvstan.html . A Look at the Atlas Pre-Code Crime and Horror Work of Stan Lee. Comics Buyer's Guide. 1258 . December 26, 1997. Live ForEverett. Aug 28, 2008. MILLIE THE MODEL and PATSY WALKER were inaugurated with artwork by Ruth Atkinson, an artist whose style would be the template for all Millie and Patsy Walker artists to follow..
  2. Web site: The Gentleman of Comics: Murphy Anderson. Laurie J. Anderson. Sequential Tart. Dec 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20070209035526/http://www.sequentialtart.com/archive/dec01/anderson.shtml . Feb 9, 2007. Ruth Atkinson was an artist who worked there. Her brother happened to be a very prominent jockey; he was one of the top jockeys in the country at the time..
  3. Web site: Goldstein. Andrew. https://web.archive.org/web/20080908090243/http://www.chs.org/comics/fictionhouse.htm . The Connecticut Historical Society. Fiction House: History and Influences. Sep 8, 2008.
  4. Web site: Iger Studio. Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. 23 March 2023.
  5. http://www.comics.org/issue/3970/ Miss America Magazine #2
  6. Book: Marvel Chronicle . Elizabeth . Dowsett. . 2008. 978-0756641238. Millie the Model debuts. 31. Millie the Model was created by cartoonist Ruth Atkinson, who drew the stories in the first issue. Mike Sekowsky ... took over as principal Millie the Model artist after the first issue).
  7. Web site: Ted Atkinson. Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. https://web.archive.org/web/20090619165914/http://www.canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com/jockeys/2002/Ted_Atkinson.html . June 19, 2009.