Note: RetroFix is back, and this week we have Thomas Fummo making his second solo appearance on the site with a revisionist take on the forgotten public domain heroine Zina of Koroka. She might look like a female Flash Gordon, but creator Mike Roy made her more than that in aid of Buster Crabbe, and Fummo takes the ball and runs with it. – Chris A.
Who was Zina of Koroka?
From Public Domain Superheroes Wiki entry on Zina of Zoroka:
Zina was a native of the planet Koroka and a space scout for the United Planets of the Universe. She was assigned to investigate covert operations of the reptilians from the planet Kakukik, who had set up a base in the Andes on Earth. Zina was discovered and captured by Reptilians, but with the help of the Earth man, Buster Crabbe, she was able to escape and alert the UPU of the reptilians nefarious plan to conquer the Earth.
Zina was a skilled pilot and capable of speaking fluent English, and possibly all other languages of the planet Earth. She was also handy with a disintegrator ray.
Thomas Fummo: Now see, I thought that sounded pretty interesting. An alien secret agent super-heroine with special ops training and a disintegration ray? Sounds pretty cool, right? However, if you click on the link to her page, you’ll see that her outfit certainly didn’t live up to her awesome description. The amazing Zina of Koroka, wearing what amounts to a bathing suit and a fishbowl in space. Pretty lame. But then again, this was the 50s and a time where if a female character appeared in a comic, chances were she’d be showing skin, and practicality and taste went out the window along with physics and scientific credibility.
So anyway, I decided to try my hand at giving Zina a better, more appropriate outfit.
She’s a professional space scout for an interplanetary military/government/exploration agency/consortium? Then she needs a proper armored space-suit. That was basically it with regards to this redesign. I liked her hair-do and facial features, so I left them the same, but completely overhauled her suit. I wanted it to look sturdy yet comfortable, something that can protect her from explosions and laser-fire, but also something she can jump around and kick ass in. I added a U.P.U. logo just to stress her allegiance.”
Note: Below is Fummo’s sketches, finishing with the final design he created.
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