n Michael C Weisenburg
America’s post-war fling with romance comics The real pleasure of reading these books came from the mildly scandalous behaviour of their characters and the untoward plots that the narratives were ostensibly warning against
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ast year, comic book enthusiast Gary Watson donated his massive personal collection to the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of South Carolina. As the reference and instruction librarian, I’m tasked with getting to know the collection so I can exhibit parts of it and use the materials for teaching. One of the great pleasures of assessing and cataloguing Watson’s collection has been learning about how comic books have changed over time. Sifting through Watson’s vast collection of 140,000-plus comics, I’m able to see the genre’s entire trajectory. Before World War II, superheroes were all the rage. Reflecting anxieties over the Great Depression, the rise of fascism and the march to war, readers yearned for mythical figures who would defend the disenfranchised and uphold liberal democratic ideals.
All images from the Gary Lee Watson Comic Book Collection, Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of South Carolina Libraries, Author provided
14 ColdType | March 2020 | www.coldtype.net
of technological advancement and trepidation about where it might lead us. But there was also a brief period when the medium was dominated by the romance genre. Grounded in artistic and narrative realism, romance comics were remarkably different from their superhero and sci-fi peers. While the post-war popularity of romance comics only lasted a few years, these love stories ended up actually having a strong influence on other genres.
The first issue of Young Romance, which launched the romance genre in 1947.
Once the war ended, the content of comic books started to change. Superheroes gradually fell out of fashion and a proliferation of genres emerged. Some, such as westerns, offered readers a nostalgic fantasy of a pre-industrial America. Others, like true crime and horror, hooked readers with their lurid tales, while science fiction comics appealed to the wonders
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hough today they are most famous for creating Captain America, the creative duo of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby launched the romance comic book genre in 1947with the publication of a series called Young Romance. Teen comedy series like Archie had been around for a few years and occasionally had romantic story lines and subplots. Romance pulps and true confession magazines had been around for decades. But a comic dedicated to telling romantic stories hadn’t been
