Devotees of forties-era "cheesecake" will probably recall there were three main types of
heroine back in the golden age. The first were of the costumed variety (such as
Mary Marvel or
Flame Girl) . The second were those muscular amazons who cavorted around the Jungle in leopard skin bikinis (
Sheena,
Tiger Girl). Then there were those intrepid adventurers - mainly girl fridays and female detectives - who, for unexplained reasons, spent most of the war battling the Axis in their
underwear.Needless to say, such characters were few and far between back in the day. The most prominent examples that spring to mind are Norman Pett's
Jane, Adolphe Barreaux's
Sally the Sleuth and Bill Ward's
Torchy (who didn't fight many Nazis but tended to fall out of her clothes at least once per story).
Personally, I believe this is a sadly neglected sub-genre of the comics artform, and have, over the years, attempted to fill the breach with a few scantily clad OC's of my own (I actually started out back in high school, when I did a series of "strips" about a girl named
Cathy. Unfortunately, none of those fondly-recalled images have survived to the present day). Here, in no particular order of appearance, are my tributes to the
Lingerie Heroines of yesteryear:
First, we have
Miss Jamie Woolcraft of the British Intelligence Bureau.Trained from early childhood in self-defense by her Military-based family, Jamie has grown into an expert combatant with a prodigious talent for solving mysteries - so prodigious, in fact, that her parents attempt to curb her exuberance by packing her off to an exclusive finishing school in Switzerland. Unwilling to tolerate the restrictions of traditional College life, Jamie promptly runs away, eventually returning to London two years prior to the outbreak of WW2. Now aged 18, she manages to find work with a local theatre company, starting out as a low-paid chorus girl. Gradually working her way up the ranks to become a top performer, Jamie becomes an expert acrobat, dancer and tumbler.
Some time later, when a gang of West End thugs attempt to extort money from her employers, Jamie quickly takes them down with a dazzling display of
Combat Gymnastics, making headlines as the
High-Kicking Queen of Shaftesbury Lane. Her reputation grows as she starts spending her free time investigating local crime as an amateur sleuth. Aided by her best friend Patrica Hawkridge and circus strongman Victor Neveroyatnyy (Russian for "the unbelievable"), Jamie begins cleaning up the back streets of London's theatre districts.
Her unusual abilities bring Jamie to the attention of the British Intelligence Bureau, which offers her a position as an undercover agent. Eager to serve her country, Jamie agrees without hesitation. Her assignment is to travel the country with a military revue company, ferreting out Nazi spies and saboteurs.
Ever since undertaking this new role, Jamie has discovered it's virtually impossible to get changed in peace. No matter what precautions she takes, someone - usually a party of lecherous males - always walks in on her while she's dressing. It's almost as if the fates are conspiring to embarrass her in public. Fortunately, her cover as a touring show girl ensures that he always has a good supply of silken lingerie to get caught in...
Will post some more ideas when I get the chance. Feel free to post your own "Lingerie Heroines" if you feel so inclined.
Cheers, Simon.
Subject: (Mildly) Adult themes 
