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sistermagpie 2009-10-07 06:20 pm UTC (link)

This story makes for some annoying reading. First, why do they always have to introduce some other woman who's too forward and so gets judged unworthy by the man just so he can reward the other girl with his gift of marriage instead of college? Bob seems like a real jerk to me, being that judgmental about Betty wanting to get close to a movie star. Especially given the fact that he winds up with Candy mostly because she's made him into a movie star in her mind before she met him. Oh, and also the ridiculously contrived fire where Betty gets judged for following proper fire safety instead of these two idiots who think it's important to inhale as much smoke as possible. In my personal question, the two of them die in a fire on their honeymoon, the end. (Reply to this) (Thread)

dr_hermes 2009-10-07 09:11 pm UTC (link)

"His gift of marriage instead of college....?" Where are you seeing that? Candy doesn't mention college at all, and she certainly doesn't imply she was going to go to college but now is getting married instead. The point isn't that Candy found the idealized perfect knight of her dreams but she met someone quite different and tumbled for him instead. She fell for Bob in spite of the fact that he's not like "the movie star in her mind" (which he doesn't know about anyway). (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sistermagpie 2009-10-08 12:42 am UTC (link)

I didn't mean Candy was considering college, just that he was giving her marriage as a teenager, which to me means she's pretty much set now at her age. I'm comparing her to what I would want, not what she wants--not to say that she must want what I want, just explaining why I'm not particularly satisfied by this love story. And I don't buy that she tumbled for him even though he wasn't the movie star in her mind. That after being obsessed with him for weeks already she adjusted her focus more to the real guy the same night she met him does not read to me like the lesson they're obviously presenting him as. She was still primed to be in love with him and then continued to be in love with him. He doesn't know about the movie star in her mind, he just sees how she treats him. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-08 12:51 am UTC

(no subject) - sistermagpie, 2009-10-08 01:20 am UTC

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-08 02:00 am UTC

(no subject) - sistermagpie, 2009-10-08 02:21 am UTC

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-08 02:39 am UTC

(no subject) - ashtoreth, 2009-10-08 06:02 am UTC

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-08 06:17 am UTC

(no subject) - ashtoreth, 2009-10-08 06:22 am UTC

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-08 06:42 am UTC

(no subject) - ashtoreth, 2009-10-08 06:47 am UTC

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-08 07:47 am UTC

(no subject) - sistermagpie, 2009-10-08 02:33 pm UTC

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-09 02:06 am UTC

(no subject) - strannik01, 2009-10-08 02:52 am UTC

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-08 03:31 am UTC

	queenrikki 2009-10-07 06:28 pm UTC (link)
	Well, those two ladies in the last frame look fairly horrified. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	ashtoreth 2009-10-08 05:55 am UTC (link)
	Public affection was unseemly in those days. Also, they really do come off as man and his underage prostitute. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-10-08 06:20 am UTC (link)
	Not to mention that clinch is so energetic that her books and papers go flying. That would get a startled look from anyone. I dunno, if I saw a student come out of a high school and happily hug an older guy, my first thought would not be that she's a prostitute. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

(no subject) - ashtoreth, 2009-10-08 06:21 am UTC

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-08 07:09 am UTC

(no subject) - sistermagpie, 2009-10-08 02:25 pm UTC

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-09 01:58 am UTC

I think you're missing the point, dear doctor - strannik01, 2009-10-09 02:11 am UTC

(no subject) - sistermagpie, 2009-10-09 02:57 am UTC

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-09 03:45 am UTC

(no subject) - strannik01, 2009-10-09 03:46 am UTC

(no subject) - sistermagpie, 2009-10-09 03:55 am UTC

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-09 04:18 am UTC

	darkblade 2009-10-07 06:45 pm UTC (link)
	Twlight's gone nothing on this. (Reply to this)

	thokstar 2009-10-07 06:48 pm UTC (link)
	Apparently this was published in the 40's. Which is weird to me because Bob seems to be modeled after Clark Kent, and the one shot of Bob carrying Candy looks like it's supposed to invoke Crisis on Infinite Earth's 7. (Apparently it's just early Pieta Plagarism.) (Reply to this)

	goobalicious 2009-10-07 10:04 pm UTC (link)
	1) I love romance comics. I get such a kick out of gorgeous art paired with crack. 2) I have friends who have this age difference (16/21) and are dating. I can say with some confidence that their relationship is very PG, but I'm pretty sure I vomited when I first found out they were 'in a relationship'. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	sinisterlink 2009-10-07 10:44 pm UTC (link)
	I had a friend in high school that was 16 and the guy she was dating was 32. All of my friends and I were basically like, "Urrrgh..." whenever the subject came up, usually followed by one of us being like, "He does realize he could go to jail, yes?" *shudders* The worst part was that I met him once and I swear us 16 year old were much more mature than him. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-10-07 11:52 pm UTC (link)
	I knew a couple like that. He was in his mid-twenties, she was an emancipated minor at 16. They're still happily married today and their daughter has started college. You never know. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

(no subject) - janegray, 2009-10-08 04:18 pm UTC

lang_ea 2009-10-07 10:54 pm UTC (link)

I totally adore the old-fashioned art on the whole thing. Totally reminds me of the disney work done in the 1930s. To be fair though, this comic had potential when it came to 'romance'. It shows how it's better to be yourself (sorta). I mean, the lesson here with actually being social rather than dressing to kill and showing yourself off (though Candy is still being the standoffish, awkward teenager expecting to being swept off her feet throughout). It's a shame about Bob though. He wants a woman, and intentionally or not, he's putting the poor lass the pressure to be a woman. Sure, alot of kids can be mature beyond their years, but some guys, especially in this 1940s background, would simply look for someone who's housewife material, but have the crass to pick the youngest as possible first. Seriously, I know from experience when my aunt married at 14. All I can say is, the husband was 10 years older than her, and as she didn't live up to taking care of him and everything else, he hit anything with his fists and screamed at her about it. It was such a normal reaction at the time and at the place, sometimes the neighbours actively tattled to him whenever he was on his way home believing the little girl deserved it for being a slob. I don't think that Bob is a wifebeater, but dudes with an attitude like that could have expectations about it, but choose to use a kid instead of someone who's used to it and actively volunteered for it. It happens alot and so it puts a pessimistic air to the comic, but at least Candy has a supportive and close-knit family shown in this issue. (Reply to this) (Thread)

dr_hermes 2009-10-07 11:49 pm UTC (link)

Bob isn't putting any pressure on her to be a woman. He's only vaguely polite to her until circumstances get them talking. His immediate question is, "How old are you?" (That is, you look kinda young, are you a minor?) And she promptly lies that she's nineteen when she's fifteen. He hasn't shown any romantic interest in her at all, this is her decision to start off their relationship on a false premise. And it's his fault? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	strannik01 2009-10-08 03:07 am UTC (link)
	Personally, I am much more disturbed by just how readily Bob dumped Beth and the how ready he was to marry a girl who was a jailbait a few days ago (or, depending on the state where this was supposed to take place, may still be a jailbait) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-10-08 03:34 am UTC (link)
	Bob was never particularly interested in Beth. He introduces her as an old friend and treats her more like a childhood pal (which she was) than a romance. It was Beth pursuing Bob. Sixteen-year-olds can still get married today in many states, providing they have the consent of their parents or guardians. (Reply to this) (Parent)

sinisterlink 2009-10-07 11:15 pm UTC (link)

"The firemen had removed all their equipment to make way for the dance..." WHAT. So you're telling me that the firemen moved all the stuff out of the firehouse to make room for a dance, thus creating a major hazard in case of fire. WHAT. I like that the actor guy wants to get away from the fire because he's worried about his clothes being ruined instead of being, you know, afraid of getting burned alive. And that image of Bob carrying Candy out of the building totally looks like he's checking out her rack. I love the ladies' expressions in the last panel. They're both like, "My goodness! A pedophile is attacking that young girl!" (Reply to this)

goodfellow_puck 2009-10-08 12:54 am UTC (link)

Oooh man, the "World of MAN" we live in. Please, let some men come along and write an "ADVICE" romance comic just for me? I wouldn't know how to score my own judgmental dad-look-alike nerd on my onesies. My grandmother was only 15 when she met my then-25 grandfather at their church (in his Navy uniform, of course). They married a year later. Scary times. It should probably be noted that my grandfather looked about 12, though. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-10-08 01:22 am UTC (link)
	Not like today, with the pregnant fifteen-year-olds who aren't sure who the father is and aren't going to get married in any case. Maybe these are the scary times. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	mari_redstar 2009-10-08 02:07 am UTC (link)
	Aren't teen pregnancies on the decline these days? (Disclaimer: statistic pulled from the files of Something I Read In The Paper One Time, cite unavailable.) They're certainly nothing new. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

(Deleted post)

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-08 02:44 am UTC

(no subject) - strannik01, 2009-10-08 02:46 am UTC

(no subject) - strannik01, 2009-10-08 02:47 am UTC

	strannik01 2009-10-08 03:00 am UTC (link)
	I don't know. I prefer to live in the world where women have more options and there are fairly reliable paternity tests. (Obligatory disclaimer: I was raised by a single mother, so I am probably a bit biased) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-08 03:26 am UTC

	goodfellow_puck 2009-10-08 11:57 am UTC (link)
	I realize there was perhaps more of a taboo on it in the past, but you think such situations did not exist in those times...or any? :/ I also didn't mean to imply that now was less "scary times" than then, though I understand that's how it could get taken. 15 yr olds should be spending time being kids, not playing house, whatever the case. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	psychop_rex 2009-10-08 06:38 am UTC (link)
	Is this before the whole 'legally rape if it's with a minor' thing came on the books? I ask this because nobody seems to be considering that as a factor here. (I know, I know, they wouldn't out-and-out say it in a comic like this, but you'd think they'd at least acknowledge it in some way.) (Reply to this) (Thread)

strannik01 2009-10-08 06:51 am UTC (link)

Is this before the whole 'legally rape if it's with a minor' thing came on the books? No. In United States, the concept has been on the books in one way or another since the 19th century. In fact, the term "jailbait" dates back to the 1930s. As I mentioned in the intro, in the time the story was written, a man could get around it by marrying a girl he wanted to bone. These days, the minimum age of marriage has been synchronized with age of consent in most states, affectively neutralizing this loophole. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

(no subject) - psychop_rex, 2009-10-08 07:15 am UTC

(no subject) - dr_hermes, 2009-10-08 08:04 am UTC

	timgueguen 2009-10-08 07:24 am UTC (link)
	Joe? Come on, that guy is very obviously Jimmy Olsen. No doubt he's pretending to be this Joe person as part of some plan to find out Superman's secret identity, (Reply to this) (Thread)

	strannik01 2009-10-08 06:56 pm UTC (link)
	Well, for all we known, he very well could be Jim Olsen of Earth-Harvey. After all, the story never mentions his surname. (Reply to this) (Parent)