Today in Comics History, September 15: Happy birthday, Fay Wray!

Born on this day in 1907: actress Fay Wray, star of a whole bunch of films and TV (The Most Dangerous Game, The Richest Girl in the World, The Countess of Monte Cristo and more), but perhaps best known for monkeyin' around.



from King Kong one-shot (Western/Gold Key, September 1968), painted cover by George Wilson



Not merely a star of the silver screen, Fay appeared in early comic books in fun "believe it or don't" style tidbits!




from (top) "Screen Oddities" in Famous Funnies #41 (Eastern Color, December 1937), script by Roscoe Fawcett, pencils and inks by Bruno Thompson;
(middle) "Stars on Parade" in Jumbo Comics #1 (Fiction House, September 1938), script by Toni Blum, pencils and inks by Bill Bossert (?) (as Lora Lane);
(bottom) "Screen Scoops" in Movie Comics #3 (DC, June 1939); script, pencils, and inks by Walter Galli
DC's Movie Comics also featured an adaptation of her 1939 espionage film Navy Secrets, a movie so obscure it barely gets a paragraph on Wikipedia!


from Movie Comics #3 (DC/Picture Publications, June 1939), from the screenplay by Harry Gates, film stills airbrushed and retouched by Jack Adler and Emery Gondor
But of course, we all know her best as the star (well, second billing to Kong, at least) in 1933's greatest ape movie KING KONG. (Any actual visual likeness to Ms. Wray in this comic is purely coincidental.)


from King Kong one-shot; script by Gary Poole, pencils by Giovanni Ticci, inks by Alberto Giolitti, colorist unknown, letters by Ben Oda
Hey, Gwen Stacy? What're you doin' in this movie?

I didn't list the colorist because hey, look, it's Babe, the Blue Ape!


Comics: where, even when you don't have to, you can preserve Ann Darrow looking like a stop motion figurine.


A little known fact about the career of Fay Wray: she was also a pre-Flashpoint Batgirl. Or, as we like to call her, Dominoed Daredoll IV.


from Batgirl (2010 series) #6 (March 2010), script by Bryan Q. Miller, pencils by Lee Garbett, inks by Trevor Scott, colors by Guy Major, letters by John J. Hill
But never forget this: FAY WRAY WAS A MURDERER.


A good front cover deserves a back cover pin-up!


Happy birthday, Fay Wray!