Ruth Atkinson Ford, née Ruth Atkinson and a.k.a. R. Atkinson (June 2, 1918 – June 1, 1997), Includes obituary for Ruth Atkinson Ford, giving date of death date as June 1, 1997.Date of death given as May 31, 1997 at th

at the

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

WebCitation archive
October 18, 2011) and at The entr
Ruth Ford

Social Security Number In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, codified as . The number is issued to ...

073-14-6513, at the United States

Social Security Death Index The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) was a database of death records created from the Social Security Administration, United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File until 2014. Since 2014, public access to the updated Death Mas ...

via FamilySearch.org
Archived
from the original on July 18, 2015) gives a date of June 15, 1997, and states verification came per a family member or someone acting on behalf of a family member, rather than an observed death certificate. Family members sometimes inadvertently submit filing dates or burial dates. was an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

and pioneering female

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

writer-artist who created the long-running

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

character

Millie the Model ''Millie the Model'' was Marvel Comics' longest-running humor title, first published by the company's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and continuing through its 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics (1950s), Atlas Comics, to 1970s Marvel. The comic b ...

and co-created

Patsy Walker Patricia "Patsy" Walker is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stuart Little and Ruth Atkinson, Patsy Walker first appeared in ''Miss America Magazine'' #2 (November 1944), published by Marvel precu ...

Biography

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, Canada, Ruth Atkinson as an infant moved with her family to

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

. One of the first female artists in

American comic books An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'', ...

, she entered the field doing work for the publisher

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 ...

beginning either 1942 or 1943, and either on staff or, as noted by the

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

Historical Society, through the Iger Studio, a comic-book "packager" that produced comics for publishers on an outsource basis. Fellow female artists

Fran Hopper Fran Hopper (July 13, 1922 – November 29, 2017), née Frances R. Deitrick, was an American comic-book artist active during the 1930s–1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. One of the earliest women in the field, she drew primari ...

Lily Renée Lily Renée Phillips (''née'' Willheim; May 12, 1921 – August 24, 2022), often credited as L. Renée, Lily Renée, or Reney, was an Austrian-born American artist best known as one of the earliest women in the comic-book industry, beginning in ...

, and

Marcia Snyder Marcia Louise Snyder (sometimes spelled "Snider") was a comic book artist and newspaper cartoonist who worked for the Binder Studio, Timely Comics, Fawcett Comics, and Fiction House during the Golden Age of Comic Books. Biography Snyder was bo ...

also worked for Iger, where one of the business partners was a woman, Ruth Roche. Atkinson's first confirmed, signed work is the single-page "Wing Tips" featurette in ''

Wings Comics ''Wings Comics'' was an aviation-themed anthology comic book published by Fiction House from 1940–1954. ''Wings Comics'' was one of Fiction House's "Big 6" comics titles (which also included ''Jumbo Comics'', ''Jungle Comics'', ''Planet Comics' ...

'' #42 (Feb. 1944). Atkinson continued to

pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail ...

and

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thi ...

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 Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

, but left the position to freelance after finding that the managerial position left little time for her art. With writer

Otto Binder Otto Oscar Binder (; August 26, 1911 – October 13, 1974) was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books. He is best known as the co-creator of Supergirl and for his many scripts for '' Captain Ma ...

, she went on to draw and co-create the feature "

", for

predecessor

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

in ''Miss America Magazine'' #2 (Nov. 1944). She would draw that humor/romance feature for two years, as well write and draw the premiere issue of the long-running series ''

''. Atkinson later drew true-life adventures for Eastern Color Comics' ''Heroic Comics'', as well for some of the first

romance comics Romance comics is a comics genre depicting strong and close romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published t ...

, including

Lev Gleason Publications Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Stone Gleason (1898–1971), was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including '' Daredevil Comics'', '' Crime Does Not Pay'', and ''Boy Comics''. Backgr ...

' ''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 Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

jockey

Ted Atkinson Theodore Frederick Atkinson (June 17, 1916 – May 5, 2005) was a Canadian-born American thoroughbred horse racing jockey, inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His sister was ...

, died in 2005.Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame: Ted Atkinson

u

Bibliography

Miss America (Vol. 1) (1944–45
#2#4
Patsy Walker (1945–46
#1#2#4
Miss America (Vol. 3) (1945
#1#4
Andy Comics (1948
#20
Juke Box Comics (1948
#3#4
Lovers' Lane (1949–52
#1#3#4#6#7#9#10#11#14#16#24#26#27
Boy Meets Girl (1950–52
#1#6#7#12#16#18#19#20#21#22
Boy Loves Girl (1952
#25#26#28
A Century of Women Cartoonists (1993) - Chapter
45

Footnotes

References

Grand Comics DatabaseComic Book DatabaseAtlas Tales''Sequential Tart'' (Dec. 2001): Interview with Murphy AndersonWebCite archive
*Goldstein, Andrew

ttps://web.archive.org/web/20091030161559/http://www.chs.org/comics/fictionhouse.htm WebCite archive *Vassallo, Dr. Michael J
"A Look at the Atlas Pre-Code Crime and Horror Work of Stan Lee"
''The Buyer's Guide'' #1258 (December 26, 1997), via Live ForEverett.

*

Biography

Personal

Bibliography

See also

Footnotes

References

Further reading