Young Romanceis a romanticcomic bookseries created byJoe SimonandJack Kirbyfor theCrestwood PublicationsimprintPrize Comics[1][2]in1947.Generally considered the firstromance comic,[3][4]the series ran for 124 consecutive issues under Prize imprint, and a further 84 (issues #125-208) published byDC Comicsafter Crestwood stopped producing comics.
| Young Romance | |
|---|---|
 Young Romance#1 (Sept. 1947), art byJoe Simon&Jack Kirby. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Crestwood/Prize DC Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly/Bimonthly |
| Publication date | (vol. 1):1947–1963 (vol. 2)(DC):1963–1975 |
| No.of issues | (vol. 1):124(#1–124) (vol. 2)(DC):84(#125–208) |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Joe Simon & Jack Kirby |
| Written by | various, includingJoe Simon |
| Artist(s) | various, including Joe Simon,Jack Kirby,Jerry Robinson,Mort Meskin,Bruno Premiani,Bill Draut,Ann Brewster,John PrenticeandLeonard Starr |
Background
editIn his introduction toEclipse Comics'1988collection of some of the earliestSimon&Kirbyromance comics,Richard Howellwrites that "romance has always been a major component in entertainment, be it novels, plays, or movies, but for over ten years after the first appearance of comic books, romance only had a token presence in their four-color pages".[5]This changed in1947with the return fromwarof one of comics' earliest and best-known creative partnerships, that of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, who had already createdCaptain America,theBoy Commandosand theNewsboy Legion.[5]
Working forHillman Periodicals,the two created a "teen-humor comic book calledMy Date",cover-dated March 1947, which contained within its pages" ground-breaking "stories concerned with" comparatively faithful depictions of teenage life, centering especially on romantic experiences and aspirations ".[5]Arguably itself the first "romance comic", positive reaction toMy Dateallowed Simon to negotiate a deal with Crestwood publishersTeddy Epsteinand Paul Blyer (or "Bleier" ) "before the four-issue run ofMy Datehad run more than half its course ",[5]and to receive an unheard of 50% share of profits in return for producing their follow-up for that company.[3]
History
editLaunched with a September1947cover date, thePrize ComicstitleYoung Romancesignaled its distinction from traditional superhero and genre comics with a cover banner stating the series was "designed for the more adult readers of comics". Told from afirst personperspective, underlining its claim to be recounting "true" stories, the title was an instant success, "bec[oming] Jack and Joe's biggest hit in years" and selling "millions of copies",[6]and a staggering 92% of its print run.[5]Crestwood increased the print run by the third issue to triple the initial numbers, and well as upgrade the title from bimonthly to monthly through issues #13-72 (Sept. 1949 - Aug. 1954).[5][6][7]
Within a year and a half, Simon & Kirby were launching companion titles for Crestwood to capitalize on the success of this new genre. The first issue ofYoung Love(Feb. 1949) also sold well with "indistinguishable"[5]content from its parent-title.[3][4]Further spin-off titlesYoung Brides(married couples' stories) andIn Love( "book-length" stories) also followed from Crestwood/Prize, and were produced by the Simon & Kirby stable of artists and writers.[5]Other companies, includingQuality Comics,Fawcett Publications,Fox Features Syndicate,andTimely Comics,capitalized on the romance boom.[3][4]Despite the glut of titles, the Simon and Kirby romance titles "continued to sell five million" a month, allowing the pair "to earn more than enough to buy their own homes".[3]
The slew of imitators caused Crestwood to adopt the "Prize Group" seal on the covers of the Simon & Kirby produced titles as "the easiest means for readers to tell the S&K-produced love comics from the legions of imitators".[5]
Creators
edit"For the first five years", Simon and Kirby produced "at least one story (usually a lengthy lead feature) per issue", but the increased output of the Crestwood/Prize romance titles meant that in many cases they merely oversaw production.[5]They remained "involved with every story", despite not writing or drawing them all, and "maintained a high standard of quality" by employing artists including "Jerry Robinson,Mort Meskin,Bruno Premiani,Bill Draut,Ann Brewster,John Prentice,andLeonard Starr"to work on the title(s).[5]Many of the other artists' output, according to Howell "show the distinctive S&K layout style, and it was not uncommon for a newer artist's work to show signs of S&K retouching".[5]
Lettering duties were initially handled almost entirely by Howard Fergeson, while Bill Draut occasionally lettered his own work. After the death of Fergeson,Ben Odatook on "the same herculean task".[5]
Covers
edit
As with most contemporary romance comics, and thepulpsbefore them, the covers ofYoung Romance(and all the Simon & Kirby romance output) varied between photographic covers(see above)and regular artwork (typically produced by Simon & Kirby themselves). The photographic covers often depicted film starlets;Young LoveVol. 1, issue #4 for example, featured a cover picture of "thenMGMstarletJoy Lansing",which was then reused as the cover forEclipse Comics' 1988"Real Love"collection, which reprinted in black and white a number of the Simon & Kirby romance stories, including early work by Leonard Starr, who went on to create thenewspaper stripfeatureMary Perkins, On Stage.[5]
Publication history
editLaunched in September1947,Young Romanceran for 124 issues, until June1967.[7]Initially bimonthly, strong sales and demand inspired an increased production schedule, and from issue #13 (Sept. 1949) the title became monthly. Continuing to be released monthly for the next five years, the title reverted to bimonthly with status issue #73 (Oct. 1954), and continuing on this schedule for 17 years, missing only one month (August 1963) – when the title switched publishers from Crestwood/Prize toDC Comics,alongside sister publicationYoung Love.[7]With issue #172 (Aug. 1971), the title returned to monthly release for 20 issues, and between issue #192 (March 1973) and the final issue, #208 (Dec. 1975), the title was again bimonthly.[7]
DC Comics
edit
Following Crestwood/Prize'sYoung Romance#124 (June 1963), the Arleigh Publishing division ofNational Periodical Publications,commonly known asDC Comics,obtained the Crestwood/Prize romance titlesYoung LoveandYoung Romancein 1963, upon Crestwood Publications "leav[ing] the comic book business".[8]Larry Nadlesucceeded Phyllis Reed as editor.[8]Premiering withYoung Romance#125 (Aug. 1963), the pair of titles became "part of a reasonably popular romance line aimed at young girls" for a further 12 years.[4]By DC's 15th issue ofYoung Romance,the published circulation statement listed sales of 204,613; this gradually dwindled throughout the early 1970s to a published circulation figure of 119,583 by issue #196 (Nov. 1973).[7]Creators who worked on the DC incarnation included writerSteve Englehart.[7]Issues #197 (Jan.-Feb. 1974) to #204 (March–April 1975) of the series were in the100 Page Super Spectacularformat.[9]The series ran through 1975's issue #208 (Nov.-Dec. 1975).[10][11] In 2013, DC also published aValentine's DayspecialYoung Romance: The New 52 Valentine's Day Special#1.[12]
Reprints
editSome Simon & Kirby romance-comics stories, predominantly fromYoung Romancewere reprinted in 1988 byEclipse Booksunder the titleReal Love(edited, and with an introduction by Richard Howell).
Kirby biographerGreg Theakstonhas also reprinted some Simon & Kirby romance comics and pages in a number of books on Jack Kirby, while John Morrow'sTwoMorrows Publishinghas also featured occasional artwork from romance titles in issues ofThe Jack Kirby Collector.
In2000,as part of itsMillennium Editionreprints of key DC comics,DC Comicsreprinted the first issue ofYoung Romance,even though it (as well as the first issue ofMADmagazine) was not originally published by DC.[13]
Fantagraphics BooksreleasedYoung Romance: The Best of Simon & Kirby's Romance Comicsin 2012, andYoung Romance 2: The Early Simon & Kirby Romance Comicsin 2014.
Notes
edit- ^Grand Comics Database:Young Romance
- ^Grand Comics Database:Young Romance#1 (Sept. 1947)
- ^abcdeRo, Ronin.Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution(Bloomsbury, 2004)
- ^abcdYoung Romance,atDon Markstein's Toonopedia.Accessed May 27, 2008
- ^abcdefghijklmnHowell, Richard,"Introduction" toReal Love - The Best of the Simon and Kirby Romance Comics "1940s-1950s(Eclipse Books,1988)
- ^abRo, p. 46
- ^abcdefMiller, J. J.,Thompson, Maggie,Bickford, Peter &Frankenhoff, Brent,The Comic Buyer's Guide Standard Catalog of Comic Books,4th Edition (KP Books, 2005) - "Young Romance", pp. 1599-1601
- ^abSuperman Artists: Hughes, Bob. "DC Timeline 1960-1965"
- ^Eury, Michael(July 2015). "A Look at DC's Super Specs".Back Issue!(81).TwoMorrows Publishing:31.
- ^"Young Romance".Mike's Amazing World of Comics.Archivedfrom the original on January 18, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 18,2016.
- ^Grand Comics Database:Young Romance(1963 series)
- ^Grey, Melissa (February 6, 2013)."Looking for love in almost all the wrong places".uk.ign.RetrievedMay 1,2015.
- ^Grand Comics Database:Millennium Edition: Young Romance Comics#1 (2000 series)
References
edit- Young Romanceat theBig Comic Book DataBase
- Young Romance(Crestwood)at theGrand Comics Database
- Young Romance(Crestwood)at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
- Young Romance(DC)at theGrand Comics Database
- Young Romance(DC)at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
External links
edit- Young Romanceat Cover Browser
- Young Romanceat Don Markstein's Toonopedia
- "Jack Kirby: A by-the-month Chronology" compiled by Ray Owens and TwoMorrows