Patsy and Hedy

Patsy and Hedy is a comic book title featuring the character Patsy Walker originally published by Atlas Comics beginning in 1952 and later by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

Created by writer Stuart Little and artist Ruth Atkinson, Patsy Walker first appeared in Miss America Magazine #2 (cover-dated November 1944), published by Marvel precursor Timely Comics.[1][2] Redheaded Patsy Walker, her parents Stanley and Betty, her boyfriend Robert "Buzz" Baxter, and her raven-haired friendly rival Hedy Wolfe appeared from the 1940s through 1967 in issues of Miss America, Teen Comics, Girls' Life, and the namesake teen-humor series Patsy Walker,[3][4] as well as in the spin-offs Patsy and Hedy,[5] Patsy and Her Pals,[6] and the single-issue A Date with Patsy.[7]

The first issue was published in with a cover date of February 1952, and was published by Atlas Comics until issue #76 (June 1961), while Marvel Comics continued the publication beginning with issue #77 (August 1961) with an Annual #1 in 1963.

As Timely segued into Atlas Comics, Marvel's 1950s predecessor, Al Hartley made his mark with a more than decade-long run on the Patsy Walker teen-girl titles. With writer-editor Stan Lee, Hartley chronicled the redheaded high schooler's lightly comic adventures in her namesake series (which ran through 1964) and in its spin-offs, Patsy and Hedy (which ran through 1967) and the single-issue A Date with Patsy (Sept. 1957).[9]

Among the earliest work of Roy Thomas for Marvel included two issues of the teen-romance title Patsy and Hedy #104–105 (Feb.–April 1966).

Patsy Walker lasted through issue #124 (Dec. 1965),[10] with Patsy and Hedy outlasting it to its own #110 (Feb. 1967).[11]

Writer Steve Englehart later introduced the concept of Walker as a superhero in the Beast feature in Amazing Adventures #13 (July 1972).[12] Englehart recalled that Walker's cameo in Fantastic Four Annual #3 had: "'struck my fan's eye by including her in the Marvel Universe. ... I thought it would be cool to bring her in as a real character, with things to do. Part of my 'training' as a Marvel writer was writing romance stories and Westerns, but Patsy [Walker] was defunct as a comic by the time I got there. ... Still, as a fan, I had collected everything Marvel, including Patsy Walker and Patsy and Hedy ... so I knew them as characters.'[13]"

The Annual was reprinted in the "Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades" collection in 2011, while several issues were reprinted in the "Marvel Months" series beginning in 2021.