Black Fury

For the film starring Paul Muni, see Black Fury (1935 film).

Black Fury is the name of several fictional comic book characters.

Miss Fury

Miss Fury, on the cover of issue #1. Art by Alex Schomburg.

The first Black Fury debuted on April 6, 1941 as a Sunday comic strip distributed by the Bell Syndicate, and created by artist Tarpe Mills. Originally called the Black Fury, she eventually became known as Miss Fury; her alter ego was wealthy socialite Marla Drake. Miss Fury wore a skintight catsuit when fighting crime, and had no superpowers. The Miss Fury strip ran until 1952. Marvel Comics (then known as Timely Comics) reprinted her Sunday strips in comic book form from 1942 to 1946. In 1979 Archival Press reissued her early adventures in graphic novel format, with new covers by Mills.

John Perry

The second Black Fury premiered in Fox Feature Syndicate's Fantastic Comics #17 (April 1941). This version was created by artists Dennis Menville and Mark Howell. Black Fury was the alter ego of John Perry, gossip columnist for the Daily Clarion. Perry used his newspaper connections to uncover information on crime and corruption, which he would then fight in his costumed form. He had no superpowers, and was assisted by Chuck Marley, the son of a slain policeman. The Fox Black Fury character appeared in eight issues of Fantastic Comics.

Rex King

The third Black Fury appeared in Super-Magic Comics #1 (May, 1941), published by Street & Smith Publications. There were no writing or artists credited. Black Fury was the secret identity of Rex King, a costumed adventurer who could glide through the air, using the wing-like underarm flaps of his costume. He defended the jungles of Africa with the help of his pet black panther, Kato.

Female Criminal

The fourth Black Fury was created by Matt Baker, and debuted in Fox Feature Syndicate's Zoot #9 (Oct. 1947). This was a female criminal who used trained black panthers to battle the jungle goddess Rulah. She appeared in a story entitled "Fangs of Black Fury".

Charlton Comics

The fifth Black Fury debuted in Charlton Comics' Black Fury #1 (May 1955). This character was a horse that roamed the West righting wrongs, bearing some resemblance to the 1955-1960 NBC Saturday-morning TV series Fury (for which Dell Publishing released a tie-in comic-book series). The Charlton comic featured artwork by Dick Giordano and Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio and lasted 58 issues.

Other appearances

Tarpe Mills' Miss Fury was revived in a four-issue mini-series published in 1991 by Adventure Comics (an imprint of Malibu Comics). In that series, we learned that the new Miss Fury (Marlene Hale) is the granddaughter of the original. Marlene's Aunt Stephanie also becomes a costumed adventurer, called The Black Fury. A battle between the two ends when both fall into a vat of chemicals.

This version of Miss Fury would return in Malibu Comics' Protectors series, in issues 10-12. Black Fury (who no longer remembers her own name due to the earlier accident) has kidnapped the grandson of President Brian O'Brien (O'Brien was formerly The Clock). Miss Fury helps the Protectors rescue the boy, but Black Fury slips away.

Miss Fury would continue to appear in the pages of The Protectors until the series ended with issue #20 in 1994.

The original Miss Fury also saw a brief cameo reappearance in 2008 when Marvel Comics published the first issue of the series The Twelve. She was depicted as part of an army of 1940's costumed heroes storming Berlin, Germany during the final days of World War II.

External links

• Fury at TVTome.com
• Miss Fury at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
• Black Fury the horse at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
• Black Fury #2 at International Heroes
• Miss Fury Profile at Jess Nevin's Golden Age Heroes page
• Miss Fury at International Heroes
• Black Fury #3 at International Heroes