Rio Rita
Posted: December 8, 2009 at 3:35 pm | Tags: rio rita
Seniorita Rita by Nick Cardy
“Senorita Rio” Rita Farrar first appeared in Fight Comics No. 19 in June, 1942. Published by Fiction House she made a lasting impression and her run lasted 53 stories between 1942 and 1951, concluding in Fight Comics No. 71. The legendary artists that drew her adventures included Nick Cardy, Lily Renee, Jack Kamen, and Bob Lubbers. In the Fiction House tales, Rita Farrar was a popular film star of the 1940’s who had been recruited by the United States Secret Service because her status allowed her to go places and reach people otherwise untouchable by ordinary covert operatives. Her Latin background was exploited by assigning her to root out fascist insurgents in Mexico, Central, and South America during World War II. Information taken from “The Official Golden Age Hero and Heroine Directory” by Bill Black, ISBN 1-56225-017-5.
In 1984, AC Comics resurrected the character and in Issue 1 of the Femforce AC’s readers were introduced not only to the historic Rio Rita, who was now the head of Brazilian Counter-Intelligence, but her namesake granddaughter, as well.
Rio Rita's namesake granddaughter Art by Mark Heike
Seniorita Rita
In AC Comics’ continuity, the original Rio Rita retained most of her Fiction House history. She was still popular 1940’s film star, Rita Farrar, recruited by the U.S. Government to assist in the war effort. However, in the AC Universe, on a 1942 USO tour she crossed paths with Miss Victory, the Blue Bulleteer, and She-Cat in a fight with the hideous swamp monster, Fungi, and later became a charter member of the Femforce, leading the fight against fascists during World War II. After the war, she continued to have adventures with the Femforce and as a solo espionage agent before eventually returning to Brazil and becoming the head of that nation’s intelligence apparatus.
Senorita Rio’s granddaughter, also named Rita Farrar, became a security officer for Brazilian intelligence and was escorting Dr. Jiminez and his Time Triangle to a research facility in the United States when their jet was sabotaged by terrorists and went down in the Amazon. Working at the behest of the senior Farrar, the Femforce recovered the Time Triangle and rescued the new Rio Rita who, while never a member of the Femforce herself, remains a trusted ally of the team to this day.
Sketch by Mike Deodato Rio Rita Convention Sketch by Mike Deodato
