Miss America (Madeline Joyce Frank) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Gabriele, the character first appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #49 (November 1943) in the Golden Age of Comic Books. She is the first character to use the moniker Miss America, before America Chavez. Publication history As superheroes began to fade out of fashion in the post-World War II era, comic-book publishers scrambled to explore new types of stories, characters, and audiences. In an attempt to appeal to young female readers, comics companies began introducing more female superheroes, including Timely's Blonde Phantom, Golden Girl, Namora, Sun Girl, and Venus, and its teen-humor star Millie the Model; Fox Comics' revival of Quality Comics' Phantom Lady; and DC's Black Canary. Quality Comics had featured an unrelated character called Miss America in Military Comics in 1941 and 1942. In 1943, Timely Comics published Marvel Mystery Comics #49, featuring a new character by the name "Miss America." Following two appearances in Marvel Mystery, Timely's Miss America received her own book, Miss America Comics (no cover date) in early 1944. She was the third female comic book heroine to get her own solo book, after Wonder Woman and Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. Some sources list Ken Bald as the cover and interior artist, though Vincent Fago, Timely's interim editor for the drafted Stan Lee, recalled, "I hired a friend from the animation business, Pauline Loth, and she did the art for the first Miss America book". Fago has also stated, "I hired her at Timely when she left Fleischer's and came to New York. She did "Miss America" for us and created her costume." The series changed format with its second issue to become the larger, magazine-sized Miss America, though with the conventional comic book combination of glossy covers and newsprint interior. Initiating this format as vol. 1, #2 (Nov. 1944), the publication relegated its superhero to a secondary role and began focusing on teen-romance comics stories plus articles on such topics as cooking, fashion, and makeup. This second issue—which featured a photo-cover of an unknown model dressed in the Miss America costume—also introduced the long-running, teen-humor comics feature "Patsy Walker". According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, Miss America "fights ordinary criminals, Axis agents, Baron Shinto the Gouger, the murderous teen the Cherub, King Cobra, and the