A Nazi officer realizes -- too late -- who he's dealing with.

LADY SATAN

Medium: Comic books
Published by: Harry "A" Chesler
First Appeared: 1941
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Lady Satan was a costumed evil-basher whose adventures in off-brand comic books started with an issue dated December, 1941. Of course, characters like that were a dime a dozen, but Lady Satan had a distinction that set her apart from the crowd. She was part of a several-way tie for the dozenth or so female superhero — which doesn't seem like much of a crowd separator either, does it? With Phantom Lady,

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The Black Cat, Nelvana of the Northern Lights and lots of other women traipsing around in superhero tights, one more isn't likely to be noticed — unless one of her tie partners happens to have been Wonder Woman herself, the best-known of the '40s superhero women, and assumed, by many who haven't looked very closely into the topic, to have been the first.

Lady Satan debuted in Dynamic Comics #2, published by Harry "A" Chesler, a dabbler in comics publishing whose output doesn't even compare to Fawcett (Mr. Scarlet), Fox (The Blue Beetle), Quality (Blackhawk) or any of the other giants that shaped the comics industry of the '40s. The cover date of Dynamic #2 happened to be the same as that of DC/All-American's All-Star Comics #8, where Wondy got her start. Chesler's first foray into publishing, which folded about when Lady Satan was starting, was Centaur Publications, where his characters had included The Clock, first masked hero in comic books.

Lady Satan had been a passenger on an ocean liner, which was bombed in connection with World War II (which had been going on in Europe for a couple of years, tho America had yet to become involved). The woman's fiance was killed in the attack, which also sank the ship. But Lady Satan found safety in occupied France, where she swore an oath to oppose the Nazis, who had been responsible for the ship's destruction, in any way ahe could.

Lady Satan was the name she chose for her anti-Nazi activities. The one she'd used before was never mentioned. She wore a slinky red evening gown with a domino mask, which doesn't seem designed tp have gone unnoticed on the streets of Paris, but at least it made her stand out on the comics page. For weaponry, she used a chlorine gun, whatever that is.

Lady Satan was back, bashing more Nazis, in #3. But that was the last issue for a couple of years, and when the title came back, it had an entirely different line-up. There was no further word on how she'd fared in her personal war effort, but presumably, either she got a less conspicuous outfit, or she got shot as a spy before she'd gotten a whole lot of Nazis bashed. Anyway, she was never seen again.

In 1946, Chesler launched a completely separate character named Lady Satan. This one operated in peacetime, opposing occult menaces. She wasn't any more prominent than the Lady Satan who'd fought the war, and lacked the distinction of having started at the same time as Wonder Woman.

— DDM

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Text ©2009-10 Donald D. Markstein. Art © Harry "A" Chesler.