Ruth Ann Roche (18 February 1917 – 4 May 1983), also credited as R. A. Roche and Rod Roche, was a writer and editor in the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era 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 many well-known char ...

. 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 deman ...

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 ...

, in 1940. She wrote such features as "

Phantom Lady Phantom Lady is a Fictional character, fictional Superhero#Female superheroes and villains, superheroine, one of the first such characters to debut in the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books. Originally published by Quality Comics, the character was ...

", "Senorita Rio", "

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, is a fictional American comic book jungle girl heroine, originally published primarily by Fiction House during the Golden Age of Comic Books. She was the first female comic book character with her own title, with her ...

", "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, wit ...

and syndicated by Iger's Universal Phoenix Features Syndicate. In 1944, she created the Kismet, Man of Fate, the first Muslim 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 in ...

. She soon became Iger's associate editor; later they became business partners, and the studio became the Roche-Iger studio. She stayed with the Roche-Iger studio until it ceased operations in 1961. She later married a man named Schaffer (or possibly "Schaefer").Roche entry
Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. She died in 1983.

Legacy

Trina Robbins Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins beca ...

and Catherine Yronwode 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 meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

'' (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 1938–1953. ''Jumbo Comics'' was Fiction House's first comics title; the publisher had previously specialized in pulp magazines. The lead feature for ''Jumbo C ...

'' (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

*Robbins, Trina and Catherine Yronwode, ''Women in the Comics'', Eclipse Books, 1985.
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 useful ...

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