Ruth Roche

Long before Kamala Khan and Simon Baz, there was another Muslim superhero. The first, in fact. His name was Kismet, Man of Fate, and he appeared in Bomber Comics in 1944. His creator was quite a powerhouse in her own right – her name was Ruth Ann Roche. Roche had been working at Eisner-Iger studio since 1940, and it was around this time that Eisner left. The studio was reorganized to become the Roche-Iger studio. She remained on as writer and editor until it dissolved in 1961.

Roche had always been interested in the publishing business. So much so that, at the age of 23, she moved to Queens to live with her aunt just to be closer to the action. She found work as a writer at the Eisner-Iger studio and started work on newspaper comic strips that included Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, Branda Starr, Ellery Queen, and Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. Other credits include Señorita Rio, Phantom Lady, and Camilla. Another popular strip was Flamingo, which Roche created herself and wrote for, with artistic duties carried out by Matt Baker.

In the 1950s, when comic books were declared subversive and fell under federal scrutiny, Roche set comic books aside for a while to work as a writer and editor for television cartoons, a blooming industry itself.

Ruth Ann Roche (18 February 1917 – 4 May 1983)