CLAIRE MAYNARD

Real Name: Claire Maynard

Identity/Class: Unrevealed (see comments; 1950s era)

Occupation: Secretary, thief, murderer

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Frank Tupper, Lola Tupper

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "The Invisible Woman"; Claire Maynard Tupper

Base of Operations: Unidentified city, somewhere in America (possibly New York City)

First Appearance: Mystery Tales#13/1 (July, 1953)

Powers/Abilities: Claire Maynard had the ability to will herself--along with her clothing--completely invisible (see comments).

Height: Unrevealed (5'6"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (110 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Blond

History:
(Mystery Tales#13/1 (fb) - BTS) - The past and Claire Maynard and the origin of her ability to vanish from sight is unrevealed--supposedly, an English scientist gave her the power to turn invisible at will (see comments).

   Claire eventually became the secretary of married American businessman Frank Tupper, with whom she was having a romantic affair; but she was also secretly leading a double-life as the menacing Invisible Woman, who conducted a crime-wave of robbery and murder throughout the city.

(Mystery Tales#13/1) - One evening outside a crowded subway terminal, the Invisible Woman struck again; after assaulting and robbing a man, the unseen thief easily made her getaway. Frank Tupper was present at the time, and after hearing some bystanders talking about the mysterious Invisible Woman, he began to formulate a scheme for framing his wife Lola as the culprit--he would take out life-insurance policies on both Lola and himself (...so Lola wouldn't get suspicious) and arrange for her untimely death, then he could collect the insurance money and be free to marry his beautiful young secretary.

   The next day, Tupper told Claire about his plan, then began his campaign to frame Lola. At every opportunity when he went to various public locations alone, he pretended as if he were with Lola; then he would loudly react as if she had inexplicably disappeared. When his neighbors overheard Tupper claiming that his wife had suddenly vanished, they began to get the idea that Lola could be the Invisible Woman.

(Mystery Tales#13/1 - BTS) - As the Invisible Woman, Claire killed somebody in the area.

(Mystery Tales#13/1) - When Frank walked home from work that night, he encountered a crowd of his neighbors at the street corner; they informed him of the Invisible Woman's latest crime. Feigning concern for his wife, Frank claimed that Lola was supposed to meet him there, but he didn't see her anywhere--with that, the crowd became an angry club-carrying mob, determined to exact vigilante justice upon Lola, whom they believed to be the Invisible Woman.

(Mystery Tales#13/1 - BTS) - The angry mob presumably stormed the Tupper household and killed Lola.

(Mystery Tales#13/1) - The next morning, Frank hurried to his office to tell Claire the good news: he'd soon collect the insurance money and take her on a nice long honeymoon.

(Mystery Tales#13/1 - BTS) - At some point, Frank received the insurance money, then he and Claire were married.

(Mystery Tales#13/1) - A month later, Frank and Claire Tupper were spending their honeymoon at a hotel by the Grand Canyon; although Frank tried to talk her into going with him to enjoy the natural wonder, Claire insisted that she was terribly afraid of high places, so Frank went alone to take in the scenic view. But while Frank was standing with other tourists at the edge of a cliff overlooking the canyon, the invisible Claire sneaked up behind him and pushed him off, but the others believed that Frank had intentionally jumped.

   Later, witnesses of Frank's plunge took the terrible news to his widow; Claire assured them that she'd be alright--her husband left her well-provided for because he had recently taken out a life-insurance policy on himself. As she faded away, Claire thought that she was very lucky, because she'd never have to worry about money.

Comments: Created by Carl Wessler and Tony DiPreta.

In this 5-page story, Claire was completely invisible in any panels where she was using her power (i.e. she wasn't even depicted with a dashed/dotted body-outline like Sue Richards)--this was likely done to give the story a surprise ending.

My guess is that she could generate an invisibility field around the immediate area of her body, which also caused her clothes to vanish, as well as any loot she may have been carrying from her robberies.

In regards to the supposed origin of Claire's power: Frank Tupper was the story's protagonist, so next to nothing was revealed about Claire's background. That bit about the English scientist was never actually confirmed by Claire herself, but rather it was just small-talk between a police officer and another man that Tupper overheard following Claire's robbery--although the cop could have had "inside information" about the invisible criminal, it's also possible that they were just repeating false rumors...or perhaps the invisible woman they were discussing was another person entirely.

So, considering all the above, we can't be certain of Claire's nationality, or if her invisibility was the result of her being magically-empowered, a mutate, a mutant, an extraterrestrial, etc.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Claire Maynard / "The Invisible Woman" has no known connections to:

• Invisible Woman (Olga Petrov) - 1950s communist heroine--Journey into Mystery I#43/2
• Invisible Woman (Susan Storm Richards) - member of the Fantastic Four--Fantastic Four I#1
• Lara - invisible Martian seductress--Journey into Unknown Worlds#32/3
• any other characters with similar names, or any other invisible women

Frank and Lola Tupper have no known connections to:

• any other characters with similar names

Frank Tupper A middle-aged American businessman, Frank was in a loveless marriage with his wife Lola; but behind her back, he was having a romantic affair with his pretty young secretary Claire Maynard.

When he learned of the crimes of the Invisible Woman, Frank got the idea of framing Lola as the culprit. He first took out a life-insurance policy on his wife, then he began to publicly spread false rumors which got his neighbors believing that Lola had the power to disappear. After the real Invisible Woman murdered someone in the area, an angry mob killed Lola, so Frank collected the insurance money and was free to marry Claire. Frank took his new wife on a honeymoon to the Grand Canyon, but he was pushed off a cliff by the Invisible Woman. He was unaware that Claire was actually the Invisible Woman. --Mystery Tales#13/1

Lola Tupper The middle-aged wife of Frank Tupper, her husband had lost interest in her and often ignored her; she was unaware that he was having an affair with his beautiful young secretary Claire Maynard. When the mysterious Invisible Woman began a crime-wave of murder and robbery in the city, Frank came up with a scheme to frame his wife as the unseen menace; he first took out a life-insurance policy on Lola, then began to plant the idea in the minds of his neighbors that Lola could vanish at will, which directed suspicion against her. One night, after the real Invisible Woman had murdered another victim, an angry mob of their neighbors killed Lola, wrongly assuming that she was the unseen killer. With Lola dead, Frank collected the money from the insurance and was free to marry Claire. --Mystery Tales#13/1

images: (without ads)
Mystery Tales#13/1, p2, pan7 (main image - Claire Maynard)
Mystery Tales#13/1, p5, pan6 (headshot - Claire Maynard)
Mystery Tales#13/1, p3, pan1 (Frank Tupper tells Claire Maynard his plan)
Mystery Tales#13/1, p5, pan8 (Claire Maynard begins to fade away)
Mystery Tales#13/1, p5, pan9 (Claire Maynard turns completely invisible)
Mystery Tales#13/1, p2, pan1 (police officer and man discuss Invisible Woman; Frank Tupper [right])
Mystery Tales#13/1, p2, pan3 (Frank Tupper)
Mystery Tales#13/1, p2, pan6 (Frank Tupper thinks about his scheme)
Mystery Tales#13/1, p3, pan6 (Frank Tupper pretends that Lola has disappeared)
Mystery Tales#13/1, p5, pan4 (Frank Tupper falls into Grand Canyon)
Mystery Tales#13/1, p2, pan4 (Lola Tupper)
Mystery Tales#13/1, p2, pan6 (Lola Tupper)

Appearances:
Mystery Tales#13/1 (July, 1953) - Carl Wessler (writer), Tony DiPreta (pencils/inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 06/10/2025
Last updated: 06/10/2025