A Brief History of Iconic Women Spies in the Comics

Señorita Rio is a fictional spy character created by writer Joe Hawkins and artist Nick Viscardi (also known as Nick Cardy) for the comic book Fight Comics, published by Fiction House. She first appeared in Fight Comics #19 in June 1942. Her real name is Rita Farrar, a Latinx actress and stuntwoman in Hollywood. After her fiancé, a naval officer, dies in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, she joins the intelligence service to avenge his death. Señorita Rio embodies two common tropes in female spy stories: the patriotic hero and the vengeful woman. Her background in acting and language skills lead to her assignment in South America, where she adopts the codename Señorita Rio and fakes her death to begin her espionage career.

Señorita Rio operates as a spy for the Allies during World War II, using her acting skills, marksmanship, fencing abilities, and intelligence to fight Axis powers across South America. Her missions include gathering secrets and resisting romantic advances from suitors, as seen in Fight Comics #20, where she declines a marriage proposal from an Argentinian guide, stating, my life now is vengeance. She remains active until 1950, when her comic book series concludes. The character was later revived in 1994 by AC Comics under the name Rita Rio. Señorita Rio’s adventures reflect the wartime context of the 1940s, when many women took on unconventional roles to support the war effort.

Lily Renée, a trailblazing female comics artist born in 1921, played a key role in shaping Señorita Rio’s visual identity. Renée fled her native Austria on the Kindertransport in 1938, a rescue effort that brought Jewish children to safety in the UK. She later reunited with her parents in the United States at age 16 and became a comics artist, filling in for male artists drafted into military service during World War II. Renée worked on Señorita Rio comics from 1944 to 1947, helping popularize the character. She signed her work as L. Renée, leading many readers to assume she was a man. Renée’s personal experiences, including her hatred of Nazis, influenced her illustrations, which combined glamour, fashion, and action.

Sanjak is a villainous spy character from the comic strip Terry and the Pirates, created by Milton Caniff and first appearing on February 12, 1939. She is widely credited as the first lesbian character in comics. Unlike other female spies of the era, Sanjak does not fit traditional tropes such as the femme fatale or the patriotic hero. Instead, she works solely for her own self-interest, using disguises, trickery, and charm to achieve her goals. In her debut, she kidnaps April Kane, Terry’s sweetheart, steals treasure, and flees to a secret island. Sanjak’s character was coded as LGBTQ+ using stereotypes of the time, such as masculine clothing and a monocle.

Milton Caniff, the creator of Terry and the Pirates, coded Sanjak as a lesbian using subtle references and stereotypes from the 1930s and 1940s. The name Sanjak refers to a Greek island near Lesbos, a historical symbol associated with female homosexuality. Caniff also drew inspiration from the Parisian lesbian bar Le Monocle, where women wore masculine suits and monocles. Sanjak’s character includes these elements, such as her short hair, masculine-coded clothing, and a monocle she uses to hypnotize victims. Despite being portrayed as a villain, Sanjak was immensely popular with readers, who praised her cynicism, independence, and complexity.

Despite Sanjak’s portrayal as a villain in Terry and the Pirates, readers responded enthusiastically to her character. Letters to Milton Caniff in 1939 praised her as the most colorful personality in comics and begged for more appearances. Some readers even suggested Sanjak would make a better romantic partner for April Kane than Terry, with one letter stating, I wish she were a real person. I could go for her myself. Another reader described Sanjak as a jewel and urged Caniff not to make her a pure villain. These reactions highlight how Sanjak challenged traditional gender norms and offered a more nuanced portrayal of a female character during a time when LGBTQ+ identities were poorly understood.