Millie the Model

Origin

Millie is first shown as a model for the Hanover Agency where her boyfriend was photographer Flicker (also known as Clicker in later years.) Her best friend was Toni Turner and her arch rival was Chili Storm.

Creation

Her first appearance was in Millie the Model #1 in 1945.

Character Evolution

The character’s first appeared under the Timely Comics banner but this was later changed into Marvel Comics (in fact the first time the banner of Marvel was used was on one of her issues.) She was one of Marvel’s working class female characters of the era, such as Tessie the Typist, Sherry the Showgirl and Nellie the Nurse. Among these Millie had the best lasting power, appearing in her own comic for 27 years, and as superhero characters lost popularity in the late 1950s she was featured in other ongoing series which were used to bolster sales (these titles included A Date with Millie, Life with Millie, Mad about Millie and Modeling with Millie.)

Millie’s depiction is interesting as her artistic style progressed with the year in which she was associated with, first from 1940s style pin-up girl to the De Carlo style in the 1960s. By the late 1960s with the resurgence of superhero comics, other styles came to influence her both artistically and thematically, as she was drawn more in line with superhero comics, and as her stories lost the comedic element and focused on more serious stories.

With the cancelation of the character’s series in 1972, it was decided that she would be incorporated into mainstream Marvel continuity (she later appeared at the wedding of Reed Richard and Sue Storm). Marvel is notably the only company to incorporate in characters from their romance/comedy titles into their mainstream.

Although she was shown in the early 1980s as an older character that had progressed to running a modeling agency, she was later featured in the miniseries Models Inc. as a young model.

Major Story Arcs

As her early appearances were in a serialized format, many of her early stories had little continuity nor any real story arcs (especially so as they used a romance/comedy format). After the cancelation of the series in which she was featured, she was reduced to a background character at Marvel. Eventually she would star in the miniseries Models Inc. where Millie is charged with murder during fashion week.

Powers and Abilities

As a model her primary characteristic which she depends on is her attractiveness, of which she is generally depicted as an extremely attractive woman. However, Millie demonstrates in Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #45 that she is not just another dumb blonde. When Susan Storm uses her force field to attack Madame Masque, Millie joins in the fight and smacks the evil Madam Masque across the back of her head.

Awards and Honours

Millie was ranked 90th in Comics Buyer’s Guide Presents: 100 Sexiest Women in Comics.

Other Versions

A robot version of Millie, called Mill-E the Model Citizen, appeared in Secret Wars Journal as a propaganda bot for Doom. She was particularly incompetent at her function, and was eventually sent to propagandize beyond the Shield to the zombie horde as punishment for her failures.