BUNNY "Yvoorg Nam"

We've presented several teen humor stories from Jetta and Tippy Teen...

...but this one has to be the wildest of all!

WTF?

If you're shaking your head in confusion, consider two things...

1) It was 1968 and "psychedelic" was IN!

2) This story, illustrated by Ernie Colon (though who wrote the tale is unknown), is from Bunny #4, Harvey Comics' 1960s attempt to expand their fanbase from pre-teens to 'tweens and teens...which has a fascinating back-story of it's own...

To most people today, the 'tween / teen comics scene begins and ends with the Archie Comics line.
Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, and the rest seem to be the only non-super powered teenagers in the four-color world!
But it wasn't always that way...
In the 1960s, when many comics companies flourished in the era of Pop Art and "Camp", every company had teen-age characters side-by-side with superheroes and spies!
Harvey Comics, had a teen line headed by a female lead, rather than a male.
She was a doll...literally!

In 1966, a toy company wanted to launch a line of Barbie-type dolls, with the added kick of a comic book tie-in to boost public awareness!
In the same way the 1980s GI Joe series was co-conceived by Hasbro and Marvel, Harvey's writers and artists worked with the toy company's staff on character development and storylines for the comic and toys.

Like most Harvey characters, Bunny had an ongoing obsession--in this case with teen fads and trends...clothing, dances, hairstyles, etc!
Presumably, this was to encourage doll buyers to pick up the newest clothing and accessories the manufacturer could produce...after seeing them in the comic!

However, before a single doll could roll out of the factory, the toy company collapsed!
The Harveys (three brothers who owned and ran the comic company), not wanting to let the already-prepared pages go to waste, decided to publish the comic anyway.
It sold well enough to keep going for several years and produce a spin-off title, Rock Happening, which serves as the basis for our own line of Bunny-themed goodies!

Next week:

It's October, and we haven't decided yet which Gothic tale it'll be, but we can guarantee that...

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

And now a word from out sponsor...

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OUR LOVE STORY "My Heart Broke in Hollywood"

It's the end of an era this week as All My Children broadcasts their final episode Friday...

...so I wanted to present a show business-themed tale to cushion the blow.

This tale from 1970's Our Love Story #5 was written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Jim Steranko.

With less than 100 comic stories to his credit, Steranko was still one of the most influential comic illustrators of the 1960s-70s, bringing a deliberately-cinematic storytelling style to the page.
UPDATE: The kool blog Sequential Crush  (which also covers romance comics) has a new entry called "My Chat With Jim Steranko on His Only Romance Comic Book Story - 'My Heart Broke in Hollywood!'" 
Guess what it's about?
Great minds DO think alike!

I'll be watching (and crying) Friday with the rest of you as we bid farewell to Pine Valley.

But, at least Angie Hubbard's getting her sight back! Yay!

(And truth be told, I've always had a serious crush on Debbi Morgan!)

Next week:

We haven't decided yet what it'll be, but we can guarantee that...

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

(And we mentioned that October will be loaded with Gothic/spooky romance tales.
So here's two words that'll get your pulse racing...
Dark Shadows!)

And now a word from out sponsor...

Check out the

True Love Comics Tales™

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"Masher!"

Riding the NYC subway can be an adventure...

...like this atypical tale of lechery, love, and the law!

This tale of female empowerment from 1954 is from the short-lived Police Trap #1, illustrated (and probably written) by Bill Draut, who also did a lot of romance comics work in the 1950s-1970s, primarily for Harvey, Toby, and DC.
He continued working until the mid-1980s, ending up (like many other comic artists) working on animated tv series, where he was one of the primary designers for the original GI Joe cartoon.
And, please remember to be observant and careful when you ride public transportation!

Next week:

We haven't decided yet what it'll be, but we can guarantee that...

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

(But, we will tell you that October will be a month of spooky Gothic and horror-themed tales, most of them multi-parters!)

And now a word from out sponsor...

Check out the

True Love Comics Tales™

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JETTA OF THE 21st CENTURY "What a Specimen"

To help ease your return to school or work after Labor Day...MORE fun with Dan DeCarlo's Jetta!

2011 ain't what they thought it would be in 1953...

"Leaping Electrodes!"
"Now we're cookin' with uranium!"
"Go atomize yourself!"
"This is simply electronic!"
Why aren't we all talking like this?

This tale from Jetta #6 (which was actually the second issue) was written and penciled by Dan DeCarlo, but it may not have been inked by him.

Next week:

We haven't decided yet what it'll be, but we can guarantee that...

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

(I know we say that every week...but it's true!)

And now a word from out sponsor...

Check out the

Jetta of the 21st Century™

Comics Collectibles Shop