Something for the girls
Something for the girls |
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Page 15 of 17  Pages from 'Supergirl', Action Comics (DC Comics, 19E3). Art/script: Anon. It was stressed that Superman's counterpart ('The Girl of Steel') was in fact his cousin from Krypton, in order to pre-empt any notion that they might be potential mates, and so not to interfere with his ongoing affair with Lois Lane. But she never really caught on, and stories could sometimes become word-heavy soap-operas, like this one. Other titles followed, few of which were technically in the same class. Publishers such as Fox and Fawcett jumped in with both feet. Titles like Sweethearts (Fawcett, 1948), My Love Story (Fox, 1949), Exciting Romances (Fawcett, 1949) and My Private Life (Fox, 1950) seemed to multiply by the day. Content-wise, they ran the gamut from 'innocent' to 'steamy', and commonly tried to distance themselves from other juvenile comics by featuring photo-covers that were reminiscent of magazines. The Fawcett line never even used the word 'comics', while some titles carried special labels to warn off youngsters: even Young Romance carried one saying 'For the More ADULT Reader of Comics'. As the boom gathered pace, so there was a curious period of crossovers with other genres. For example, Cowboy Love (Fawcett, 1949) and Western Love (Prize, 1949) ('He rustled my heart!') were joined by Wartime Romances (St John, 1951) and GI Brides (Superior, 1954). There was also a slide into sleaze, as some publishers attempted to pack their comics with as much sex as they could get away with, which was not much by today's standards. The advent of the Comics Code in 1955, however, meant toning things down, and thereafter romance comics were never really the same. Most publishers cut back their lines, and although there were still nearly forty different titles on the shelves in the 1960s, they were less innovative, and less sexy, than their predecessors, and the market for women craving cheap thrills had largely shifted back to magazines.  Sheena, Queen of the Jungle (Real Adventures Publishing, 1939). Art: probably Mort Meskin. Script: W. Morgan Thomas (pen-name for Jerry Iger). The first of the 'jungle queens', Sheena's costume was pretty racy for the time. This particular strip is in black and white because it was originally intended for export to the British Empire. |