Rather I'm going to discuss DC Comics which employed all of these talented and highly professional artists, but used them mostly on their successful romance comics.These are some handsome comics indeed. The stories aside, the art is lush and showcases truly professional storytellers, confident artists, but not yet having been mutated by Stan Lee's demands to become more like Jack "King" Kirby. I'm far from an expert on romance comics, very far. But I do like looking at pretty dames and John Romita is expert at rendering those.
It's clear that Romita was the star artist of this series. He does almost all the covers seen below. Those he didn't do I've indicated. His artwork dominates the contents of most issues which feature the work of Heck early on and Colan a bit later. Also on hand are DC vets Mike Sekowsky and Jay Scott Pike among others.
I cannot share the lovely interiors of these comics, perhaps even more starkly beautiful in black and white. But I can share the covers. Enjoy.
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| Gene Colan and Dick Giordano |
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| Jay Scott Pike |
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| Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs |
There was nothing like this in British comics. There were comics for girls up to the age of 11 or 12 which featured illustrated comic-strip stories but teenage romance stories for older girls consisted of photo-strips. These were a series of photographs of teenage male and female models acting out a story with word balloons added. The photo-strips would normally appear in magazines for teenage girls alongside articles on fashion, pop music etc (I know all this because my sister used to buy a long-running popular publication called Jackie).
ReplyDeleteHaving a sister is what brought me into proximity to romance comics first. She lost interest and I scaped all her love comics into my collection.
DeleteI never read more than random issues from various publishers until someone collected the old Simon and Kirby stories. But I remember that late in the sixties Stan's Soapbox still tried to push the romance books to some extent. In one soapbox, some copywriter wrote something like, "Guys, don't miss out on all the groovy chicks!" In later years I did take a stab at reading some of the romance-themed horror books, like that first Madame Xanadu series, but it doesn't seem like any of those clicked with a dependable readership.
ReplyDeleteMarvel started their two romance books about the same time I started collecting. I didn't bite save for a few issues. Given the great artwork I wish I had.
DeleteAs a boy several decades ago, you couldn't have paid me to read a romance comic. But in recent years I've rediscovered them & appreciate both their gorgeous artwork & their stories, some of which are more than just formulaic work. They're dealing with emotions - desire, longing, loss, even identity - and the best of them have a dash of depth. There was an audience for them, as these comics recognized that girls & young women had to deal with those often painful emotions. Just idealistic fantasies? No more or less so than superhero stories, I think. And like superhero stories, as the comics move into the late 1960s/mid-1970s they begin to touch on social & cultural issues of the day -- women's rights, race, even the Vietnam War - which was interesting then & provides a fascinating on-the-spot time capsule of that era now. As for those that were simply romantic melodrama & nothing more ... well, they're often very enjoyable melodrama. :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent point. Modern superhero comics ARE romance comics. I never thought of that.
DeleteMatt Baker reigns supreme in the romance comics, but these guys are marvelous themselves. It's amazing how huge the romance market was back then. I can't imagine how one would go over now . . .
ReplyDeleteI always thought that John Buscema drew the sexiest girls, not as purely pretty as Romita's, but great looking with a come-hither posture.
DeleteI was surprised, when I eventually tracked down a few romance comics , to find out just how stunning some of the art was . Romita, John Buscena, Steranko and Colan in particular were all on fire. The cover to issue 52 looks very interesting .
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. I think these guys loved being able to draw the "real" world again.
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