Marvel Makes Hedy De Vine a 1940s Movie Star, at Auction

Actress/inventor Hedy Lamarr had become such a big star by the mid-1940s that her name inspired the names of two different Marvel comic book characters.  Hedy Wolfe was Patsy Walker’s frenemy, first appearing in Patsy’s debut in Miss America Magazine v1 #2, and eventually getting title credit in the long-running Patsy and Hedy series.  But the character Hedy De Vine was more on point with her film actress namesake, as the character was a movie star herself.  Hedy De Vine first appeared in the debut of her own series, Hedy De Vine Comics #22 in 1947, and there are several early issues of Hedy De Vine Comics up for auction in the 2023 April 20 Timeless Good Girl Art Comics Featuring Dan DeCarlo Showcase Auction #40221 at Heritage Auctions.

The Hedy De Vine Comics series was part of the complex late-1940s title “changing of the guard” that we recently mentioned in regard to Teen Comics, as the comic book industry began to transition away from superhero titles for a time. Like Teen Comics, Hedy De Vine Comics has its roots in the All Winners Comics title. After that title was changed to All Teen Comics with issue #20, All Winners Comics then actually returned for a final issue five months later, taking over the numbering of Young Allies Comics.  Finally, Hedy De Vine Comics then picked up that numbering with issue #22, essentially continuing the numbering of the classic superhero kid team-up title that had featured Captain America’s sidekick Bucky and the Human Torch’s sidekick Toro.

By the time this transition was complete in early 1947, humor characters, including the likes of Tessie the Typist, Millie the Model, and Nellie the Nurse were dominating Marvel’s output.  While Hedy and the rest of these are often lumped in with Marvel’s teen humor titles, they are actually a reflection of the growing role of women in the workforce that had started during WWII.  This space had been pioneered at Marvel on the Tessie the Typist stories, and many of them used a similar formula: the adventures of a woman trying to succeed at her job, a work rival, a demanding boss, a would-be boyfriend, and occasionally a roommate or best friend who grounds her.  In Hedy De Vine Comics, these roles were filled by movie director Cecil Trumpetski, rival movie star Sandra Stile, and her manager, agent, and romantic interest, Gabby Dunn.

As with many similar titles, the creators of the Hedy De Vine material are largely unknown.  The series ran from issues #22-35 and was then retitled Hedy of Hollywood.  Like many of the Marvel humor titles of this era, the series has surprisingly low CGC census numbers, with only one copy each of issues #27 and #28, for example.  But there are copies of those issues and several other Hedy De Vine Comics up for auction in the 2023 April 20 Timeless Good Girl Art Comics Featuring Dan DeCarlo Showcase Auction #40221 at Heritage Auctions.

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