InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "You finally grew a heart."

strannik01 (strannik01) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-09-15 13:52:00

Entry tags:

era: golden age, genre: romance, publisher: archie, status: public domain

Archie Comics' other romances
After Joe Simon and Jack Kirby pioneered romance comics in the late 1940s, every other publisher quickly jumped on the bandwagon. Archie Comics was no exception. Ultimately, it didn't catch on and Archie Comics decided to stick to publishing adventures Archie Andrews, his supporting cast and the variety of "teen-age" imitators that tried to replicate the formula that made the original so successful.

Now, when it comes to finding romance comics with objectionable undertones, you really can't go wrong. At best, you'll find something mildly cringe-inducing. At worst, you'll find something like "Cottage of Love." It's hardly the most cringe-inducing romance comic ever published, but good God...

The story originally appeared in Darling Love #8. Writer and artist unknown.

And, as a bonus, an advice column and a celebrity gossip column from the same issue.

For the few readers who still have dial-up (or are reading this from a wireless hot stop), here is a link.

(Post a new comment)

	greenmask 2009-09-15 07:34 pm UTC (link)
	Whatever happened with Helen T.'s secretly married boyfriend?? I must know! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	kamino_neko 2009-09-15 08:05 pm UTC (link)
	His secret wife and he killed themselves. It was the greatest romance ever. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	strannik01 2009-09-15 11:09 pm UTC (link)
	He wound up in some romance comic is either a protagonist who learns the error of his ways and comes back to his secret wife or as an antagonist who goes away so that Helen T may fall into the arms of her stalkerish male friend. In fact, I could have sworn I read something like that in one of Charlton Comics' romance titles. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	sailorlibra 2009-09-15 07:50 pm UTC (link)
	Doing the dishes is love, apparently. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	queenanthai 2009-09-15 08:13 pm UTC (link)
	It is. Oh God, it is. Trust me. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	queenanthai 2009-09-15 08:13 pm UTC (link)
	HE OFFERED TO DO THE DISHES OF HIS OWN VOLITION. WOMAN, LET HIM DO THE FUCKING DISHES. You know not what you have given up! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	bluefall 2009-09-16 04:32 am UTC (link)
	Seriously! She's so unwilling to argue with his generosity about how much time she spends with him that their whole damn marriage falls apart, but she won't let him do the dishes? Woman is cracked. (Reply to this) (Parent)

blaketiger
2009-09-15 08:34 pm UTC (link)

A... fairly sensible advice column. The guy who's getting married behind your back is maybe not someone you want to date. And girls don't need to look like movie stars, as long as they're friendly and not slobs. Both fairly reasonable.

My entire knowledge of romance comics is shaken!

*reads comic again*... Oh, right. Supporting your wife's career will lead to her becoming cold and distant, and other women will promptly get you drunk and try and take advantage of you. All right. All is back to normal.

Though now I'm wondering what Contract Beardington's Romance Advice colum would look like.

(Reply to this)

	neuhallidae 2009-09-15 09:29 pm UTC (link)
	You know, for awhile, I was almost ready to accept this story. The wife was clearly doing nothing wrong, the husband was forced to acknowledge he'd been a dick to get all whiny after he'd been the one to push for her career in the first place... then bam, stay in the kitchen aesop at the end. Dammit, story. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	blaketiger 2009-09-15 09:46 pm UTC (link)
	If you were feeling exceptionally kind, you could gloss over what the wife wanted to do, and just focus on 'don't pressure your loved ones to be something they're not.' (Reply to this) (Parent)

	kenn_el 2009-09-15 11:04 pm UTC (link)
	Borland needed to go to Devie's apartment to offer her a movie? I'm not buying it. Devie is obviously short for "Devil", and she'll poison him as soon as she has the chance (if pushing him to smoke doesn't do the trick). (Reply to this) (Thread)

	ashtoreth 2009-09-16 03:50 am UTC (link)
	I can totally see her 20-year plan to poison him with cancer showing up in a Creepy magazine. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	queenanthai 2009-09-16 04:46 am UTC (link)
	And then there was fanfic. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	superfan1 2009-09-16 11:03 pm UTC (link)
	Then afterwards a made for tv movie. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	gypsydavy 2009-09-16 12:36 am UTC (link)
	"Now I know why you didn't want me around and I won't be. Goodbye, Al!" Then she went on to have an amazing, successful and respected career in several different branches of the entertainment industry and never went back to that goddamn cottage. This is what I will pretend happened. (Reply to this)

	dustbunny105 2009-09-16 08:05 pm UTC (link)
	Ignoring everything else because... just because, am I the only one left wondering why she never took him out with her if it was such a big deal? Surely at least some of these events must have allowed attendees to bring dates. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	superfan1 2009-09-16 11:02 pm UTC (link)
	Was wondering about that myself also. Either he wasn't much of a socialite to begin with and be idmtimated with people out of his social circle. Or the other possibility could be that her agent thought it be bad publicity for her and he agree to not go out to ruin her career. (Reply to this) (Parent)

psychop_rex
2009-09-17 07:02 am UTC (link)

I'm torn about this. On the one hand, here's the male protagonist of a romance comic who, for once, actually treats his significant other with care and respect - on the other hand, the comic seems to be implying that he's a milquetoast for doing so. 'Supportin' your wife's career when she could be home cookin' dinner for you?! You're WHIPPED, boy! This will lead to no good! You march right out there and take her by the ear and lead her right back to that stove! She'll thank you for it later, I tell ya - why, a woman just plain ain't HAPPY unless she's in a kitchen! She might LOOK like she's happy - she might ACT like she's happy - hell, she may even THINK and FEEL like she's happy - but I'm tellin' you, a woman ain't REALLY happy unless she's cookin' up a potroast for her lovin' man! Now, go git 'er! MARCH, boy! Your manliness depends on it!'

(Reply to this)