Romance
Comics were a co-creation by the stellar artist team of Joe Simon and
Jack Kirby. S&K were the biggest name in the industry in the
early 1940’s and the duo had created two of the best selling comic
book strips of the entire era in Captain America and with the Boy
Commandos. Both men served their country during WW2 and when they
returned to the industry, post war, they found that costumed heroes
were fading from public favor. So they used their genius to exploit
of a variety of other types of stories. One such milieu was true
crime stories and another was humor, but they were keen on
discovering something unique. Joe took notice of how well
confessional romance magazines were selling and he sensed a fantastic
opportunity. Not only might a love comic be something distinctive,
such a story-form held the potential to tap into an underserved
audience in female readers In 1948 the pair convinced Prize Comics
to take a chance with the new format. That fall S&K produced the
first issue of ‘Young Romance’ and it was an massive, overnight
smash.
Here
is a sample of their magic, “Your Money Or Your Love!” from a
1950 issue of that seminal title.
Pat
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