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Women in Comics: Heroines and Vixens of the 40's and 50's (Library Exhibit)

Started by tabcom,

41 posts in this topic

tabcom

tabcom

Posted
Posted

I just got the go ahead to assemble an exhibit of comic books from the 40's and 50's featuring Romance and Good Girl Art covers. I'm looking to supply the library with about 3 dozen comics. I will be posting the issues within this thread.

 

When:

October 5th through November 11, 2007

 

Where:

Allen County Public Library

Fort Wayne, IN

http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/

 

Fort Wayne has about 275,000 residents. The all New Allen County Library was opened this spring.

If anyone would like to offer suggestions in making my exhibit a WOW to the non-collector, I'd really appreciate it.

 

Here is a draft of what I may include in the display:

 

When asked what Spider-man, the Fantastic Four, and the X-men have in

common to the average person, they may say superhero action movies. They

may also acknowledge that they all had their own comic books. They all

had their origins in comics over 43 years ago. Modern comics are

dominated by the superhero. It is hard to imagine a time when Batman

(1940) and even Superman (1939) were not number one with comic book

readers.

 

What this exhibit is going to show is that after World War II and into

the early fifties, Superman's kryptonite came in the form of an

increase in the number of girls reading comics. It was during this era

that the demographics of the comic book reader changed. Women, who were

forced into the work force because of the absence of men during the war,

were ready to accept new roles in post WWII America. As a result of

their new social status, they became more interest in comic books. This

in turn, caused the medium of comic books to change. The first Romance

comic hit the newsstand in September of 1947. 'Young Romance'

written and drawn by Jack Kirby, who would introduce the Fantastic Four

and the X-men to the world 15 years later, began a new genre that gained

in popularity.

 

As this new popularity grew, so did the various genres of girls in

comics. Some of the titles on exhibit are "The Phantom Lady",

"Untamed Love", "My Past Confessions", "My Secret Life",

"Cowgirl Romance", "Jungle Comics", "Planet Comics",

along with the ever popular "Wonder Woman". These titles eventually

lost popularity in the mid-fifties -- only to be replaced by

television.

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Dr. Love

Dr. Love

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Posted

Great idea and good luck on the exhibition. Awesome posters. Below are some thoughts I've had on this subject.

 

Why read romance? More interesting themes and subtler artwork that is real rather than surreal. I remember the first time I was at a convention and saw two guys almost come to blows over who was stronger, Thor or the Hulk. And you think romance is strange?

 

Why collect romance? It’s the Holy Grail of collecting. Or like what the mystery of Atlantis is to historians – how could something that big disappear without a trace? Romance was HUGE, in its heyday dominating the market. Yet today good luck finding books at decent grade, if at all. As Heritage stated on an auction listing, “high-grade romance is usually thought of as the biggest contradiction in terms since jumbo shrimp.”

 

Many collectors know that romance was created by Simon and Kirby. But very few of you probably know that they created the genre to take advantage of a remarkable unheard of 50/50 profit sharing deal they pitched to Crestwood/Prize Comics. S & K had a whole studio of artists working for them and many were adept at approximating Kirby's pencil style or Simon's inking. They figured, and rightly so, that it was a romance title, not a superhero, mystery, horror, or war title, that would line their pockets with cash.

 

Here’s a brief history for those who are interested.

 

In 1947, Jack Kirby and his partner, Joe Simon, already one of the most highly regarded production teams in the comics industry, introduced a totally new type of comic book in an effort to increase sales that were decreasing after the end of WWII. It was a book called My Date, an Archie-like book that focused on romance humor. It only lasted four issues, but it did well enough to convince Simon and Kirby to go ahead with the more serious Young Romance

 

The groundbreaking Young Romance #1 hit the stands in September. The first issue was an enormous success, and it immediately caused waves in the industry. Martin Goodman, the publisher of Timely Comics (which would become Marvel Comics in the early '60s), dismissed Young Romance as "virtual pornography," attacking its emphasis on adult characters and situations.

 

Copying their own formula, S & K added Young Love, and combined sales exceeded 2 million copies per month, for years. Scores of imitators sprang up immediately, and within a year there were 125 separate romance titles in play. Martin Goodman too must have had a change of heart; within three years, Timely was churning out no less than 13 romance titles itself. In 1952, over 500 original romance comic titles were published in America, accounting for more than 25 percent of the entire comics market. Despite the competition, though, Young Romance ruled the sales charts, thanks in no small part to its writers and artists. Some of the industry's best honed their skills on the book's stories, which were surprisingly mature, considering the era in which they thrived.

 

The romance books' popularity, as well as their role as a breeding ground for a new generation of comic artists, cannot be forgotten. It's fair to say, in fact, that when the comic industry imploded in the early 1950s, romance books were just about the only ones standing alongside Superman and Batman to keep the industry afloat. If it weren't for their profitability, it's unlikely that comic companies would have stayed around long enough to create a second age of superheroes.

 

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selegue

selegue

Posted
Posted

Great essay on romance comics! Thanks for the information.

 

Here's one of my few romance books from that era, Young Love 31, March 1952 (do you need this one, Scrooge?) Prize with a photo cover but interestng Kirby, Meskin and Draut (and Oda lettering according to the seller) and wild stories inside. Yeah, the huge, flattened spine roll and right edge chipping are pretty bad, but I can live with them for about $8.

 

Jack

 

45227-yl31.jpg

 

Great idea and good luck on the exhibition. Awesome posters. Below are some thoughts I've had on this subject.

 

Why read romance? More interesting themes and subtler artwork that is real rather than surreal. I remember the first time I was at a convention and saw two guys almost come to blows over who was stronger, Thor or the Hulk. And you think romance is strange?

 

Why collect romance? It’s the Holy Grail of collecting. Or like what the mystery of Atlantis is to historians – how could something that big disappear without a trace? Romance was HUGE, in its heyday dominating the market. Yet today good luck finding books at decent grade, if at all. As Heritage stated on an auction listing, “high-grade romance is usually thought of as the biggest contradiction in terms since jumbo shrimp.”

 

Many collectors know that romance was created by Simon and Kirby. But very few of you probably know that they created the genre to take advantage of a remarkable unheard of 50/50 profit sharing deal they pitched to Crestwood/Prize Comics. S & K had a whole studio of artists working for them and many were adept at approximating Kirby's pencil style or Simon's inking. They figured, and rightly so, that it was a romance title, not a superhero, mystery, horror, or war title, that would line their pockets with cash.

 

Here’s a brief history for those who are interested.

 

In 1947, Jack Kirby and his partner, Joe Simon, already one of the most highly regarded production teams in the comics industry, introduced a totally new type of comic book in an effort to increase sales that were decreasing after the end of WWII. It was a book called My Date, an Archie-like book that focused on romance humor. It only lasted four issues, but it did well enough to convince Simon and Kirby to go ahead with the more serious Young Romance

 

The groundbreaking Young Romance #1 hit the stands in September. The first issue was an enormous success, and it immediately caused waves in the industry. Martin Goodman, the publisher of Timely Comics (which would become Marvel Comics in the early '60s), dismissed Young Romance as "virtual pornography," attacking its emphasis on adult characters and situations.

 

Copying their own formula, S & K added Young Love, and combined sales exceeded 2 million copies per month, for years. Scores of imitators sprang up immediately, and within a year there were 125 separate romance titles in play. Martin Goodman too must have had a change of heart; within three years, Timely was churning out no less than 13 romance titles itself. In 1952, over 500 original romance comic titles were published in America, accounting for more than 25 percent of the entire comics market. Despite the competition, though, Young Romance ruled the sales charts, thanks in no small part to its writers and artists. Some of the industry's best honed their skills on the book's stories, which were surprisingly mature, considering the era in which they thrived.

 

The romance books' popularity, as well as their role as a breeding ground for a new generation of comic artists, cannot be forgotten. It's fair to say, in fact, that when the comic industry imploded in the early 1950s, romance books were just about the only ones standing alongside Superman and Batman to keep the industry afloat. If it weren't for their profitability, it's unlikely that comic companies would have stayed around long enough to create a second age of superheroes.

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Scrooge

Scrooge

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Posted
Great essay on romance comics! Thanks for the information.

 

Here's one of my few romance books from that era, Young Love 31, March 1952 (do you need this one, Scrooge?) Prize with a photo cover but interestng Kirby, Meskin and Draut (and Oda lettering according to the seller) and wild stories inside. Yeah, the huge, flattened spine roll and right edge chipping are pretty bad, but I can live with them for about $8.

 

Jack

 

45227-yl31.jpg

 

 

Thanks for asking.I've got a copy but paid $10 for mine :sumo:

 

Here's a scan and let me showcase some of the Razzle Dazzle inside -

45229-YoungLove31s.jpg.e2ccc79419049dc32c4ae62f44db9b1a.jpg

45230-YoungLove31Story2s.jpg.616d928e373c743699e694d8515662c6.jpg

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selegue

selegue

Posted
Posted
Great essay on romance comics! Thanks for the information.

 

Here's one of my few romance books from that era, Young Love 31, March 1952 (do you need this one, Scrooge?) Prize with a photo cover but interestng Kirby, Meskin and Draut (and Oda lettering according to the seller) and wild stories inside. Yeah, the huge, flattened spine roll and right edge chipping are pretty bad, but I can live with them for about $8.

 

...

 

 

Thanks for asking.I've got a copy but paid $10 for mine :sumo:

 

Here's a scan and let me showcase some of the Razzle Dazzle inside -

 

$2 more without the horrid edge chipping? Not bad at all, and a candidate for the under $25 thread.

 

I wonder how much a copy without the massive spine roll costs.

 

That's a strange story -- the delusional heroine is having tea with her invisible friends.

 

Jack

 

45230-YoungLove31Story2s.jpg

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tabcom

tabcom

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Don't use Reform School Girl nn as the cover may be too risque for a public library.
My librarian friend who gave me the green light for the project, loves the ones I've choosen -- the risque ones!

 

It is going to be an eye opener for the general public that didn't realize what types of comics were printed in the 40s and 50s.

img215.jpg

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seank

seank

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Posted

Here's a quote you might want to use. It's lifted from the "Fiction House" entry on Wiki, but attributed to the proper source:

 

Trina Robbins, in The Great Women Superheroes (Kitchen Sink Press, 1996, ISBN 0-87816-481-2), wrote:

“ [M]ost of [Fiction House's] pulp-style action stories either starred or featured strong, beautiful, competent heroines. They were war nurses, aviatrixes, girl detectives, counterspies, and animal skin-clad jungle queens, and they were in command. Guns blazing, daggers unsheathed, sword in hand, they leaped across the pages, ready to take on any villain. And they did not need rescuing.

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adamstrange

adamstrange

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Posted
Those posters are neat. Did you have them made or did you buy them?

 

I'm in the wide format printer biz (sales\service). I made them myself.

 

Can you show close-ups of the ones you've made. Quality looks to be very good!

 

Good Luck with the exhibit!

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