- Tarpe Mills
Infobox Comics creator
name = Tarpé Mills
imagesize =
caption =
birthname = June Tarpé Mills
birthdate = 1915
location =
deathdate = 1988
deathplace =
nationality = American
area = artist, writer
alias =
notable works = "Miss Fury"
awards =Tarpé Mills (1915 - 1988) was the pen name of
comic book creator June Mills. Mills is considered one of the first major female comics artists, best known for her action comics series "Miss Fury", the first female action hero created by a woman.Cite web|last=Don Markstein's Toonopedia|title=Miss Fury|url=http://www.toonopedia.com/missfury.htm]Biography
Born June Tarpé Mills, she chose to sign her work by her middle name "Tarpé" intent to conceal her gender. She received her education at the
Pratt Institute in New York. Mills created several action comics characters: "Devil's Dust", "The Cat Man", "The Purple Zombie", and "Daredevil Barry Finn", before creating her most remembered character, "Miss Fury", in 1941.Cite web|last=Lambiek Comiclopedia|title=Tarpe Mills|url=http://lambiek.net/artists/m/mills_tarpe.htm] A character based loosely on Mills' own appearance, the artwork was created in a glamorous style, with considerable attention placed on the heroine's outfits. As the strip became more popular, it eventually became public knowledge its creator was a woman. DuringWorld War II , Mills had her cat Perri-Purr, who had also been introduced into the strip, become the unofficial mascot for the allied troops."Miss Fury" ran until 1952, at which point Tarpé Mills mostly retired from the comics industry. She briefly returned in 1971, with "Our Love Story" for
Marvel Comics . Miss Mills died in 1988.ources
External links
* [http://lambiek.net/artists/m/mills_tarpe.htm Tarpé Mills biography] on Lambiek Comiclopedia
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