Amorous Education JETTA OF THE 21st CENTURY "Act Your Age!"

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

...as this tale of 21st Century teen-agers from 1953 proves!

I'm positive writer/penciler Dan DeCarlo re-used this concept for an Archie story using Dilton Dooley as the creator of the aging/de-aging device!

I know I've seen a story with younger versions of Principal Weatherbee and Miss Grundy almost becoming a couple, before reverting to their present-day older selves.

Anybody know what my failing memory vaguely recalls?

It's a shame this was from the final issue of Standard's Jetta of the 21st Century (#7 in 1953).

(Despite that issue number, there were only three issues, #s 5 to 7!)

Guess the concept was too "far out" for early 1950s readers!

BTW, we'd like to extend our thanks to the amazing Kracalactaka, heroic and voluminous contributor to both the Digital Comic Museum and ComicBookPlus, for these Jetta scans!
It's people like him who assure that comic book art will be appreciated for generations to come!
Next week:
We haven't decided yet what it'll be, but we can guarantee that...
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Dan DeCarlo's Jetta

Amorous Education WARTIME ROMANCE "I Tried to Burn the Candle at Both Ends!"

Though it appeared in Wartime Romances...

...this story has nothing to do with anything even vaguely-military related!

Written by Dana Dutch and illustrated by Matt Baker, this story from St John's Wartime Romances #1 (1951), like all the tales in the issue, was a reprint (but all were retitled from their original publication)!
In fact, this one was originally called "I Should Have Played Hard-to-Get!" when it ran in St John's Blue Ribbon Comics: Teen-Age Diary Secrets #4 (1949)...where it was the cover feature!

With the Korean War under way, the editors thought a romance title based on how war affects male-female relationships might be a hot seller!

But they could only find two military-themed stories in their inventory, so they lead with those tales and used other, non military-related tales to fill out the issue!
With #2, they started running new material commissioned specifically for the book, which ran 18 issues through 1953, outlasting the war!

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Matt Baker
Art of Glamour

Amourous Education GINGER "Smellbound"

We presented two later versions of this tale HERE and HERE...

...Now here's the story that started it all!

(Note: all three tales are by the same writer!)

The biggest difference is that the teacher isn't a science instructor, but a history teacher, but many of the elements (including the perfume store, and of course, the punchline) are the same!

Freelance writers like Mendelsohn were dependent on producing volumes of work to pay the bills, since comics (and pulp magazines) weren't high-paying gigs back then.
It was strictly "work for hire", a one-time payment only!
They didn't get reprint fees, nor payment (not even a credit/acknowledgement) if their stories were re-used on radio/tv/movie versions of the characters, which they ofter were!
So it's not that unusual for writers to reuse storylines for stories for different publishers!
(We presented a kool example of this during our last year's annual Halloween blogathon starting with THIS TALE, and continuing through the links...)
Illustrated by George Frese, Mendelson's story from Archie's Ginger #1 (1951) was a continuation of the character's strip which premiered in Zip Comics in 1943, continued in the back of Suzie Comics, and finally got it's own title in 1951!

Ironically, the mid-1950s "Seduction of the Innocent" scandal involving horror and crime comics that caused numerous publishers to close and the surviving companies to reduce their output, doomed the wholesome character's book to end at #10 in 1954 when Archie cut back their line!
She disappeared until the early 2000s, when Archie began reprinting her stories in their numerous digest-sized titles, introducing her to a new audience who weren't even alive when she first appeared!

Happy April Fool's Day!

Be Back Next Wednesday for More Amorous Education!

Amorous Education CANDY "Chemical Formula"

The Amorous Education story we presented last week...

...was the final version of a plot used three times by writer Jack Mendelsohn.

This is the second version of the tale!

This never-reprinted story from Quality's Candy #42 (1953) has some differences from the later Tippy Teen tale, but the similarities are unmistakable.

Be here on April Fool's Day, when we present the original version of the story!

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

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

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Amorous Education CAMPUS LOVES "They Said I was Fast"

Is this how the repressed readers of 1950s comics saw college sex...

...as if school was a modern Sodom?

Quality Comics' Campus Loves #2 (1950) presented this "naughty" tale, which couldn't be reprinted after the Comics Code came into effect, even with numerous alterations like similar tales we showed HERE and HERE!

The art is by Bill Ward, who later became noted for risque "good girl" work like this cover art...

 I'm not ashamed to admit it's in my personal library.

It's a Price Guide!

I use it as reference!

Really...

Next Week...

We're Not Sure What We'll Present!
But We Can Guarantee that...

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

And now a word from our sponsor...

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Agonizing Love

The Golden Age of Romance Comics

Amorous Education SEARCH FOR LOVE "Atomic Amour!"

With all the current talk about Russkie deceit and deception...

...we forget they were masters of such things during the Cold War!

Since the story begins in high school, we thought we could list it under the subhead "Amorous Education".
As hard as it is to believe, this tale appeared in a romance comic, specifically, ACG's Search for Love #2 (1950).

Similar tales had appeared in crime/espionage titles, but their audience was radically-different from romance series' readers!

Regrettably, both the writer and illustrator(s) are unknown, so we can't blame anybody in particular for their stereotyped attitudes towards intelligent women.

Next Week:

We Don't Yet Know What We'll Present, But We Can Guarantee...

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

And now a word from our sponsor...

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Weird Love

Vol 1