Today in pulp: a quick look back at the rise and fall of romance comics!

"You'll share every kiss, every tear..." #WednesdayThoughts Image
Romance comics grew out of the 'true confession' magazines of the 30s and 40s, but were targeted at a post-war teen market. The comics industry was looking to diversify and love stories looked like an untapped market. ImageImage
Romance comics told first-person stories of the agony and the ecstasy of teenage love, even if their early protagonists looked anything but teen-age! Having older characters helped them tell more mature stories however. ImageImage
Jack Kirby and Joe Simon pioneered the genre with the release of their Young Romance comic in 1947. It was quite a departure from their early Captain America work, but it soon became immensely popular - and lucrative! ImageImage
Early stories could be anything but inmocent: romance comics mined classic pulp themes such as betrayal, crime, madness and extortion. It wasn't long before a mini moral panic started about them. ImageImage
The 1954 Comics Code led to publishers censoring their own content, and romance comics settled into a groove of jilted lovers and tortured tales of emotional confusion. Image
Romance comics were serious business and attracted some of the best comic artists: both Frank Frazetta and Wally Wood worked on romance titles. ImageImage
By its 1960s peak there were over 100 romance comic titles in circulation, looking at every aspect of romance no matter how unlikely. ImageImageImageImage
Roy Lichtenstein immortalised the world of the romance comics in his 1963 painting In The Car: based on a panel from the September 1961 edition of Girls' Romances. ImageImage
As the 1960s progressed the romance titles tried to get with the times: pop stars, swinging parties, groovy guys and free love... ImageImage
... but they also tried to reflect more modern aspirations: careers and Women's Lib jostled with marriage and fidelity in the romance stories - sometimes quite awkwardly. ImageImage
But the audience were outgrowing the content. By 1975 almost all of the romance comics had closed: the more generalist (and often more mature) teen magazines ruled the roost. ImageImage
Will romance comics ever make a comeback? That's a tough call: the audience has changed and so has the nature of comic books. I think this is a romance that may have run its course. ImageImage
If you want to learn more about romance comics then do follow @jacquenodell or check out her excellent site Sequential Crush:  sequentialcrush.com  You won't be disappointed!

More pulp genres another time... Image

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More from @PulpLibrarian

1 Dec
Today in pulp let's look back at a landmark #RPG that let you jump from star to star across the Imperium, trading and battling with various sophonts along the way.

It's a game of the far future that's lasted over 40 years: Traveller!
Traveller is a science fiction role-playing game, first published in 1977 by Game Designers' Workshop. Launched a year before TSRs rival Gamma World it's probably* the superior SF RPG - its certainly stood the test of time.

(*Don't @ me!)
Traveller features various descendants of humanity with different skills and abilities. Your ship can jump faster than light to reach other planets but you can't communicate FTL, so you have to deal with whatever world you jump to before moving somewhere else.
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30 Nov
He is X-RAY-3, the best agent in the Psychoanalytic Special Department. He battles supernatural crime and mad scientists. His books have sold over 20 million copies in the German-speaking world.

For today's #MondayMotivation let me introduce you to Larry Brent... Image
Larry Brent and the other agents of the Psychoanalytic Special Department lead the worldwide fight against crimes of supernatural or unusual origin. Their base is under the Tavern On The Green pub in New York's Central Park, if you're ever in the area. Image
And Larry Brent is quite a cool hero: he drives a Lotus Europa, uses a Smith & Wesson laser gun and has a secret communicator ring. It's all vital kit in the battle against his corrupt demonic adversaries! Image
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30 Nov
Time for a pulp countdown now, and as it's #StAndrewsDay here's my top 10 of GenX* Scottish things!

(*brought to you in association with Hipsway AND Runrig) ImageImage
At #10: Heather the Weather! "Hello there" Heather Reid predicts... rain!

Randan Discothèque even wrote a song about her: Image
At #9: the 1990 Scotland kit! Available from Roberts Stores, Trongate.

Don't forget to tuck your shirt in properly. Image
Read 12 tweets
28 Nov
Britain in the 1970s: Raleigh choppers, lumberjack jackets and Findus crispy pancakes for tea. And one magazine really summed up the spirit of '70s Britain for me...

This is the story of Look-In! #SaturdayThoughts
Children's TV reflected the British class system: the BBC was seen as worthy, educational and safe; ITV was considered brash, vulgar and rude. Some strict parents wouldn't even let their children watch the 'commercial' channel!
However by the 1970s ITV children's programmes had really started to hit their stride. And unlike the prim BBC they weren't afraid to be subversive.

Noisy, crazy and often very funny they stated to hoover up viewers...
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27 Nov
Some serious 'school photo faces' going on here...
That face your parents pull when you first bring your new girl or boyfriend home: 'so we can do homework together'...
When you don't know what Amazon Ring is and it starts talking to you...
Read 8 tweets
25 Nov
Time once again for my occasional series "Women with great hair fleeing gothic houses!"

And today It's an open thread. Ask me anything you like about this popular pastime and I'll do my best to answer it below for the next hour.

Over to you...
One frequent question I'm asked is "do I need long hair to flee a gothic house?" The answer is no; many short-haired heroines have vacated gothic domiciles in the past. However most have worn evening gloves whilst doing it.
"Am I in the UK?" Yes I am.

"Do I own all these books?" Alas no. I have about 90 or so gothic romances but I have sold many more. I used to work in the book trade and these things went like hot cakes!
Read 17 tweets

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