Fox Universe

Foxy O'Hara (1971)

First Appearance - Fox Universe 2021

Alter Ego - Roxanne "Foxy" O'Hara aka Roxy aka Foxy Harlem

Group Affiliation - NYPD Special Undercover Unit. Later Federal Operations eXecutive police affiliate. Later FOXES Detective Agency.

THE O'HARA FAMILY

NOTE: Fox Features Comics had several text only and one strip character with the name of O'Hara. In Earth-F I have connected these together to reveal that they are from the same family.

NYPD Sgt Patrick O'Hara - First Appearance Wonderworld Comics 18, Oct 1940 (his first name is a creation of Earth-F)

NYPD Homicide Lt Brendan O'Hara - First Appearance Wonderworld Comics 24, April 1941 (first name added for Earth-F)

Army Sgt Patrick O'Hara Junior - First Appearance Mystery Men Comics 25, August 1941 (first name added for Earth-F)

LAPD Detective Tim O'Hara - First Appearance Mystery Men Comics 22, May 1941 (First name mentioned in text story, as well as the fact he has a daughter called Patricia).

Lt Burke of Naval Intelligence aka Crash O'Hara - First Appearance Wonderworld Comics 21, January 1941

The O'Hara family came over from Ireland in the 1880's, settling in Boston and then New York City. Cillian O'Hara was the first and future patriarch of the American branch of the O'Hara clan. His father, Oisin had been a constable back home, and Cillian followed in his father's footsteps, joining the Boston police in 1881 and marrying Aisling Rourke a year later. They produced several children with two sons, Padraig and Timothy following in the family tradition and joining the police force.

Padraig, known as Patrick moved to New York in 1920, while his younger brother headed to the west coast where he rose to the rank of police detective. Pat's marriage produced two sons and a daughter - Patrick Junior eventually opted for a career in the army, joining at the age of 27 in 1938. Some years earlier, his younger brother Brendan had joined the NYPD and by 1941 had rapidly advanced to the rank of Lieutenant. Their older sister, Maggie, married at a young age to a man called Thomas Burke. Pat and Brendan's cousin was called Cathal Burke, but after losing his father as a child and being reared by his uncle Patrick, sometimes adopted the nom de guerre of Crash O'Hara, an alias he used professionally when he joined Naval Intelligence.

Over on the west coast, Tim O'Hara became a detective in the LAPD, married, had one child, his daughter Patricia, and divorced by the late 1930's. By 1942 Tim and his protoge Brannigan had crossed paths on multiple occasions with the mysterious west coast science hero, The Moth.

At the start of 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had initiated Project: Mystery Men. Following the United State's entry into the war, the President realised the need to gather all of the science heroes of America into one unified force. Seen by some as an expansion of America's prominent team of heroes, the MYSTERY MEN, the new expanded force consisted of all costumed and powered heroes along with a substancial support team of non costumed adventurers, scientists, pilots, intelligence operatives and army support.

The newly christened MYSTERY MEN of AMERICA were headquartered on the top two floors of the Manhattan Biltmore Hotel, a space that severed as a work and (for some) living area for some 200 personnel. The first meeting was held on March 8th 1942, and a month later an army detachment was posted there to operate as security and also to guard paroled science villains who had been drafted to the war effort - specifically the mad scientist, Dr Randolph Mordale aka Doctor Mortal.

Newly promoted to Sgt, Pat O'Hara Junior, who had distinguished himself in combat and sustained injuries was assigned command of the guards; he brought along his pal, known as "Squirt."

Tragically Sgt O'Hara was killed in action along with several dozen soldiers, and a few science heroes in June 1942, when Mystery Men of America HQ was attacked by the extra-dimensional "heroes" of Earth-B.

Due to his courageous actions during the attack, Sgt Patrick O'Hara Junior was specially honoured by the Mystery Men, and his name and portrait included in a memorial gallery. NYPD Sgt Patrick O'Hara Senior and his younger son, Lt Brendan O'Hara attended and were introduced to many of America's top heroes.

And that could have been the end of the O'Hara family association (bar Tim and the Moth) with the science hero community, if not for an incident taking place a few years after the war.

In 1947 Brendan had married Tamara Williams, an act which attracted the ire of a group of bigots, including fellow cops. Determined to "teach a lesson" to Brendan for marrying out of his race, the young cop was lured to an ambush and jumped by eight men. He was only saved from a near fatal beating because the affray attracted the attention of the BLACK FURY.

When Black Fury heard that cops were involved, he vowed to work with Brendan to root out the "scum" - this partnership led to Brendan and the Fury becoming friends, and the hero confiding his secret identity of newspaperman, John Perry to O'Hara.

In 1950, Tamara and Brendan welcomed their daughter, Roxanne into the world, with John Perry proudly standing as godfather.

As the 1950's carried on, Brendan was promoted to Captain and the O'Hara family's ties to the hero community strengthened. After a third grouping of the Mystery Men of America was formed in 1959 (the wartime group disbanded in 1946), Captain O'Hara often acted as a police contact.

Little Roxy grew up surrounded by fantastically colourful "aunts" and "uncles" - by the time she was fifteen, she had decided to become a cop and was already a skilled fighter and athlete thanks to training from "Uncle" John and a few others. 

Roxanne joined the police academy and graduated in 1969 with honors, picking up the nickname, Foxy along the way. In 1970 she was immediately seconded to a special undercover unit and given more training in detection, observation and infiltration.

Late in that year, thanks to her appearance favoring her mother's (albeit lighter skinned), Roxanne was placed undercover uptown, under the model name "Foxy Harlem." Her mission was to ingratiate herself in the cmmunity, making contacts from Harlem to Brooklyn and out to New Jersey or wherever the drugs trade flourished. 

The New York drugs scene of the early 1970's was mired in rackets and protection, with security and distribution being facilitated by an organized collective of corrupt policemen, ranging from beat cops to high ranking officers.

Foxy's mission ... was to take them down.

Her exploits during that time will be seen in an upcoming story - in universe they were so notorious in certain circles that a ROXY HARLEM movie scheduled for release in October 1973 was produced by private interests, but supressed to maintain her cover. It eventually came out in 1979.

During the rest of the 1970's and beyond, Foxy brung the funk to crimefighting, first as an undercover cop, teaming with heroes such as the first and second Black Fury, and young archer hero, The Huntsman.

Eventually she was recruited as a police affiliate agent for the Federal Operations eXecutive. Her joining that organization was a coincidence of names, but later when she and several other "badass bad girls" formed their own detective agency, the name they called themselves - "FOXES" was not.

*

Earth-F Media often used "true live" accounts of the exploits of science heroes and prominent adventurers, from the "real story" pulps and comic books of the latter 19th and 20th centuries. Movies such as the PHANTOM RANGER series of the 20's to 60's, the whimsical GREEN MASK and DOMINO 1966', The BLACK FURY films and others, were highly popular until the millenium.

One such movie was FOXY HARLEM. Even now if you're around on Earth-F you can find the leaflets and grainy old cinema trailer blurbs ...

FOXY O'HARA IS ... FOXY HARLEM

THE HOTTEST, FUNKIEST MOVIE OF OCTOBER 1973!

IS SHE A MODEL? ACTRESS? UNDERCOVER COP or ALL THREE?

SHE'S A ONE CHICK ARMY.

HOT PANTS WEARIN', JIVE TURKEY SCARIN', KUNG FU HARIN' N TEARIN'

THE BADDEST MAMA JAMA YOU EVER DID SEE.

BUT BABY, YOU CAN CALL HER ... FOXY!