Something for the girls
Something for the girls |
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Page 14 of 17  Cover, Wonder Woman (1967). Art: Anon. By this time, the heroine was more prone to sort things out with her fists, and was being referred to as 'The Amazing Amazon'. The Archie titles were joined by a host of competitors over time. The more traditional were matched by Candy (Quality, 1947), Dotty and Vicky (both Ace, 1948) and Kathy (Standard, 1949), while 'fashion model' titles included Millie the Model and Patsy Walker (both Marvel, 1945). Such comics prospered in the 1950s, but started to die out in the 1960s. Though they were joined by further additions that were more pop-literate, such as Josie (Archie Publications, 1963), Bunny (Harvey, 1966) and Tippy Teen (Tower, 1965), it was increasingly clear that their heyday had passed. Not only were bobby sox and innocent romance out of fashion, but teen-orientated television shows and movies had effectively taken over. The final sector of the American female market to be conquered was that of mature women, or at least girls over sixteen. These were catered for with a boom in romance comics from the late 1940s. An extension of the teen comics craze, they were also an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the confession-style pulp magazines. At one point in 1950, more romance comics appeared on American newsagents shelves than any other genre. The most influential title was Young Romance (Prize, 1947) written by Joe Simon and drawn by Jack Kirby, who brought the same intensity of feeling to tales of love, adultery and revenge as he would later inject into the Marvel superhero comics. The pulpy narrative also had a unique energy: 'As she fought to free herself, I tightened my hold on her arms ... Lola's face suddenly arched upward - her full red lips directly beneath my own!' This was erotic stuff indeed, and marked out new territory in romantic storytelling: within a few months, the comic was selling over a million copies.  Panel from Wonder Woman (1960). Art/script: Anon. A wonderfully curt brush-off for a suitor. |