Ruth Atkinson

Ruth Atkinson (June 2, 1918 – June 1, 1997) was an American cartoonist and one of the earliest women to write and draw comic books. Born in Ontario, Canada, she began her career in the 1940s, working for Timely Comics, the precursor to Marvel. She is best known for creating the long-running character Millie the Model, a fashion-model protagonist whose humorous adventures ran for decades. Atkinson also co-created Patsy Walker, another popular teen-girl character who later became the superhero Hellcat. Her clean, expressive linework and lively page layouts defined the look of Timely’s romance and humor titles. She collaborated frequently with writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Al Jaffee. Over her career, she was credited as artist, inker, or writer on more than twenty issues, including work on *Jungle Comics*, *Miss America Magazine*, and *Lovers' Lane*. After leaving comics in the 1950s, she raised a family and largely stepped away from the industry. Her contributions were recognized posthumously; she was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame in 2021. Atkinson’s pioneering work helped establish the template for female-led humor comics, and her characters remain part of Marvel’s publishing history.