Teen humor comics
Encyclopedia
Teen humor comics is a genre of comics
that humorously depicts contemporary American teenagers. When teen culture and buying power emerged in the early 1940s, comics publishers were quick to glut the newsstands with light-hearted, innocuous comic books about funny teens, cars, dating, high school, and parents. Teen humor comics appealed especially to young teen girls and tweens of both sexes because the books gave them a glimpse of what awaited them in high school.
The genre's formulaic plots anticipated the radio and television suburban family sitcoms such as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
, and though many titles ceased publication as adult audiences turned to comics tinged with extreme violence and sex in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Archie, Buzzy, Patsy Walker and other titles had relatively long publication lives.
. By the early 1940s, teens had become a significant consumer group with money of their own, and adult, rather than juvenile, tastes. The group was ripe for exploitation. The commercial and popular success of teen-oriented films such as MGM's Andy Hardy
series of the late 1930s starring Mickey Rooney
and the Henry Aldrich films of the early 1940s with Jimmy Lydon
, gave comic book publishers the incentive to create and develop the teen humor genre.
) introduced Archie Andrews
and his Riverdale High pals into their superhero and crime buster comic book, Pep Comics
. MLJ would become the principal exponent of teen humor comics. The Riverdale teens were popular, and, by the fall of 1942, Archie had his own comic book series with stories focusing on the benign aspects of teen life – cars, dating, school, and parents. While the stories explored contemporary teen culture, they always affirmed conformity and respect for authority.
The series tapped into the neglected pre-teen female audience as well as youngsters of both sexes who would soon enter their teens to experience high school life. The nostalgic, idealized, blissful view of suburban high school life (that predicted the soon to be realized sit-com formula) assured their success. Parental approval was granted for their non-smoking, non-drinking hero who never used teen slang, fought, or disobeyed his parents and whose libido only faintly glimmered. Archie and his pals offered youngsters a safe glimpse of high school teens who observed the rules of adult society.
Following the war, MLJ dropped all its superhero titles and focused on its teen humor line with Archie and Archie spinoffs such as Betty and Veronica leading the way. Archie has remained in publication for years, and, in the 1990s, the title's simple, satisfying formulaic stories of middle class teens displayed little change from the stories of its first issues.
, DC Comics
introduced trumpet-tooting, platter-playing Buzzy in All Funny, and granted him his own book in 1944
. Written and drawn by George Storm, Buzzy Brown was a scrawny, jalopy-driving, suit and tie-wearing kid suggesting Harold Teen
of the 1920s. His girlfriend Susie loved his trumpet-playing but her father hated it and tried to keep Buzzy out of the house. Buzzy remained in publication until 1958
.
Late in 1944, Quality Comics Group
introduced sexy, chestnut-haired Candy in Police Comics
, and gave the character her own book in 1947
. The creation of Harry Sahle
, Candy was sweet and wholesome but liberated; she used slang, adored boys, and collected jitterbug platters – much to the annoyance of her parents. Timely published Tessie the Typist in 1944, Millie the Model
in 1945, and ten similar career girl titles by 1947. Radio shows Meet Corlis Archer and A Date with Judy
were both translated to comics.
In 1945
, American Comics Group
(ACG) introduced former cartoon animator Dan Gordon's Cookie, a wide-eyed, diminutive kid, in Topsy-Turvy Comics. He had his own bimonthly book in 1946
. Cast members included Cookie's irascible businessman father, his understanding mother, his beautiful blonde girlfriend Angelpuss, his slang-spouting pal Jitterbuck, and his rival Zoot. Cookie tales were full of slapstick, violent pratfalls, low-brow jokes, and gags involving unusual props. The book has been compared to the wildness of cartoon director Tex Avery
or the wackiness of the Warner Bros.
Looney Tunes
.
ACG's Hi-Jinx was touted as "a brand-new idea in comics" and debuted in 1947. The title was an unsuccessful combination of the teen humor and funny animal genres. Despite an invitation to "meet some real hepcats" and the work of Dan Gordon and Milt Gross
, the title folded after seven issues. Dozens of teen humor heroes and heroines peopled the comics of the period and included Binky, Ozzie, Junior, Jeanie, Ginger, Kathy, Mitzi, and Patsy Walker.
genre. The light-hearted teen dating situations found in Archie and other teen titles would be reworked with a darker tone for mature female comics readers in the many romance comics
that were launched in 1947
with Joe Simon
and Jack Kirby
's flagship production, Young Romance
.
With the return of GIs from overseas at the end of World War II
and the increase in adult comics readership during the war years, teen humor comics would be challenged in the late 1940s and early to middle 1950s by horror comics
, romance comics
, and other comics genres tinged with extreme violence and titillating sexual images and situations.
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
that humorously depicts contemporary American teenagers. When teen culture and buying power emerged in the early 1940s, comics publishers were quick to glut the newsstands with light-hearted, innocuous comic books about funny teens, cars, dating, high school, and parents. Teen humor comics appealed especially to young teen girls and tweens of both sexes because the books gave them a glimpse of what awaited them in high school.
The genre's formulaic plots anticipated the radio and television suburban family sitcoms such as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 to September 3, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television where it continued its success, running on both radio and TV for a couple of years...
, and though many titles ceased publication as adult audiences turned to comics tinged with extreme violence and sex in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Archie, Buzzy, Patsy Walker and other titles had relatively long publication lives.
Background
It was in the 1920s that American teens were first viewed as a distinct social group, aided and abetted by the black-and-white illustrations of flappers and their boyfriends produced by John Held, Jr.John Held, Jr.
John Held Jr. was an American cartoonist and illustrator. One of the best known magazine illustrators of the 1920s, Held created cheerful art showing his characters dancing, motoring and engaging in fun-filled activities...
. By the early 1940s, teens had become a significant consumer group with money of their own, and adult, rather than juvenile, tastes. The group was ripe for exploitation. The commercial and popular success of teen-oriented films such as MGM's Andy Hardy
Andy Hardy
Andy Hardy was a fictional character played by Mickey Rooney in an MGM film series from 1937 to 1958. Spanning over 20 years, the 16 movies were based on characters in the play Skidding by Aurania Rouverol....
series of the late 1930s starring Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
and the Henry Aldrich films of the early 1940s with Jimmy Lydon
Jimmy Lydon
Jimmy Lydon is an American movie actor and television producer, whose career in the entertainment industry began as a teenage actor in the 1930s....
, gave comic book publishers the incentive to create and develop the teen humor genre.
Archie Comics
In 1941, MLJ Comics (later Archie ComicsArchie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
) introduced Archie Andrews
Archie Andrews (comics)
Archie Andrews, created in 1941 by Vic Bloom and Bob Montana, is a fictional character in an American comic book series published by Archie Comics, as well as the long-running Archie Andrews radio series, a syndicated comic strip, The Archie Show, and Archie's Weird Mysteries.-Character and...
and his Riverdale High pals into their superhero and crime buster comic book, Pep Comics
Pep Comics
Pep Comics is the name of an American comic book anthology series published by the Archie Comics predecessor MLJ Magazines Inc. during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books...
. MLJ would become the principal exponent of teen humor comics. The Riverdale teens were popular, and, by the fall of 1942, Archie had his own comic book series with stories focusing on the benign aspects of teen life – cars, dating, school, and parents. While the stories explored contemporary teen culture, they always affirmed conformity and respect for authority.
The series tapped into the neglected pre-teen female audience as well as youngsters of both sexes who would soon enter their teens to experience high school life. The nostalgic, idealized, blissful view of suburban high school life (that predicted the soon to be realized sit-com formula) assured their success. Parental approval was granted for their non-smoking, non-drinking hero who never used teen slang, fought, or disobeyed his parents and whose libido only faintly glimmered. Archie and his pals offered youngsters a safe glimpse of high school teens who observed the rules of adult society.
Following the war, MLJ dropped all its superhero titles and focused on its teen humor line with Archie and Archie spinoffs such as Betty and Veronica leading the way. Archie has remained in publication for years, and, in the 1990s, the title's simple, satisfying formulaic stories of middle class teens displayed little change from the stories of its first issues.
Other titles
Late in 19431943 in comics
-January:* All-Winners Comics #7 - Timely Comics* Captain America Comics #22 - Timely Comics* Human Torch #10 - Timely Comics* Marvel Mystery Comics #39 - Timely Comics-February:...
, DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
introduced trumpet-tooting, platter-playing Buzzy in All Funny, and granted him his own book in 1944
1944 in comics
-January:* All-Winners Comics #11 - Timely Comics* Captain America Comics #34 - Timely Comics* Human Torch #14 - Timely Comics* Marvel Mystery Comics #51 - Timely Comics...
. Written and drawn by George Storm, Buzzy Brown was a scrawny, jalopy-driving, suit and tie-wearing kid suggesting Harold Teen
Harold Teen
Harold Teen was a popular, long-running comic strip written and drawn by Carl Ed . Publisher Joseph Medill Patterson may have suggested, and certainly approved, the strip's concept, loosely based on Booth Tarkington's successful novel Seventeen. Asked in the late 1930s why he had started the strip,...
of the 1920s. His girlfriend Susie loved his trumpet-playing but her father hated it and tried to keep Buzzy out of the house. Buzzy remained in publication until 1958
1958 in comics
See also:1957 in comics,other events of 1958,1959 in comics,1950s in comics and thelist of years in comics-June:* Action Comics #241 — "The Super-Key to Fort Superman", first appearance of Superman's Fortress of Solitude...
.
Late in 1944, Quality Comics Group
Quality Comics
Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books....
introduced sexy, chestnut-haired Candy in Police Comics
Police Comics
Police Comics was a comic book anthology title published by Quality Comics from 1941 until 1953. It featured short stories in the superhero, crime and humor genres....
, and gave the character her own book in 1947
1947 in comics
-January:* All-Winners Comics #21 - Timely Comics* Captain America Comics #60 - Timely Comics* Marvel Mystery Comics #80 - Timely Comics-March:* Captain America Comics #61 - Timely Comics...
. The creation of Harry Sahle
Harry Sahle
Harry Frank Sahle was an American comic book artist who drew for such publishers as Archie Comics, Quality Comics and the Marvel Comics precursor company Timely Comics during the 1930s-1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books.In 1940, with writer George Kapitan, Sahle...
, Candy was sweet and wholesome but liberated; she used slang, adored boys, and collected jitterbug platters – much to the annoyance of her parents. Timely published Tessie the Typist in 1944, Millie the Model
Millie the Model
Millie the Model was Marvel Comics' longest-running humor title, first published by the company's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and continuing through its 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics, to 1970s Marvel.-Publication history:...
in 1945, and ten similar career girl titles by 1947. Radio shows Meet Corlis Archer and A Date with Judy
A Date with Judy
A Date with Judy was a comedy radio series aimed at a teenage audience which had a long run from 1941 to 1950.The show began as a summer replacement for Bob Hope's show, sponsored by Pepsodent and airing on NBC from June 24 to September 16, 1941, with 14-year-old Ann Gillis in the title role...
were both translated to comics.
In 1945
1945 in comics
-European publications:* March 30: first appearance of Suske en Wiske by Willy Vandersteen, in De Nieuwe Standaard, mistitled Rikki en Wiske.-January:* All-Winners Comics #14 - Timely Comics...
, American Comics Group
American Comics Group
American Comics Group was a New York City-based comic book publisher which operated during the Golden and Silver Age of comic books. ACG published one of the first horror comics titles, Adventures into the Unknown. Another of ACG's claims to fame was the character of Herbie Popnecker, who starred...
(ACG) introduced former cartoon animator Dan Gordon's Cookie, a wide-eyed, diminutive kid, in Topsy-Turvy Comics. He had his own bimonthly book in 1946
1946 in comics
-European publications:* September 26: first issue of Le Journal de Tintin, featuring debut of the series Blake et Mortimer by Edgar P. Jacobs, and the Tintin story Le temple du soleil by Hergé....
. Cast members included Cookie's irascible businessman father, his understanding mother, his beautiful blonde girlfriend Angelpuss, his slang-spouting pal Jitterbuck, and his rival Zoot. Cookie tales were full of slapstick, violent pratfalls, low-brow jokes, and gags involving unusual props. The book has been compared to the wildness of cartoon director Tex Avery
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
or the wackiness of the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
.
ACG's Hi-Jinx was touted as "a brand-new idea in comics" and debuted in 1947. The title was an unsuccessful combination of the teen humor and funny animal genres. Despite an invitation to "meet some real hepcats" and the work of Dan Gordon and Milt Gross
Milt Gross
Milt Gross , was an American comic strip and comic book writer, illustrator and animator. He wrote his comics in a Yiddish-inflected English. He originated the non-sequitur "Banana Oil!" as a phrase deflating pomposity and posing. His character Count Screwloose's admonition, "Iggy, keep an eye on...
, the title folded after seven issues. Dozens of teen humor heroes and heroines peopled the comics of the period and included Binky, Ozzie, Junior, Jeanie, Ginger, Kathy, Mitzi, and Patsy Walker.
Aftermath
The popularity of teen humor comics contributed to the temporary demise of the superheroSuperhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
genre. The light-hearted teen dating situations found in Archie and other teen titles would be reworked with a darker tone for mature female comics readers in the many romance comics
Romance comics
Romance comics is a comics genre depicting romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published through the first three decades of the Cold War...
that were launched in 1947
1947 in comics
-January:* All-Winners Comics #21 - Timely Comics* Captain America Comics #60 - Timely Comics* Marvel Mystery Comics #80 - Timely Comics-March:* Captain America Comics #61 - Timely Comics...
with Joe Simon
Joe Simon
Joseph Henry "Joe" Simon is an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.With his...
and Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
's flagship production, Young Romance
Young Romance
Young Romance is a comic book series created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for the Crestwood Publications imprint Prize Comics in 1947. Generally considered the first romance comic, the series ran for 124 consecutive issues under Prize imprint, and a further 84 published by DC Comics after Crestwood...
.
With the return of GIs from overseas at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the increase in adult comics readership during the war years, teen humor comics would be challenged in the late 1940s and early to middle 1950s by horror comics
Horror comics
Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. Horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the imposition of the self-censorship Comics Code Authority contributed to...
, romance comics
Romance comics
Romance comics is a comics genre depicting romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published through the first three decades of the Cold War...
, and other comics genres tinged with extreme violence and titillating sexual images and situations.