Romance Comics: Back From The Dead?

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According to Rob Salkowitz from Forbes, there’s a renewed interest among scholars and comic book enthusiasts in examining the romantic genre within comics.

Jack Kirby, famous for Captain America and the Marvel universe as a whole, along with his partner Joe Simon, pioneered the romance comics genre. They had an intuitive understanding of what fans craved from this medium, sensing an untapped market among women who enjoyed “true confession” and romantic tales with a pulpy flair. Their assumption proved correct. The debut issue of Young Romance comics in 1947 was such a success that it sparked numerous imitators almost instantly, transforming the romance comics genre into a multimillion-dollar industry.

During the 1940s and 50s, a variety of women, regardless of their age, were avid readers of romance comics, as stated by Sydney Heifler, a PhD candidate at Ohio State University who is part of a growing group of scholars investigating the relationship between comics, American society, and gender. These comics followed a strict moral code, yet they also portrayed women pushing boundaries and challenging societal norms. After the mid-50s, when concerns about censorship emerged, romance comics lost their edge and became more sanitized. However, in the late 60s, it was amusing to see the middle-aged male writers struggling to keep up with the feminist movement.

Despite this, it’s somewhat unexpected that self-proclaimed liberals would express disapproval towards certain forms of feminism, given their historical support for this movement. However, it seems that their perspective shifted significantly when transgender issues gained prominence, and feminism appeared less important in their eyes. It’s also worth noting that contemporary literature, particularly aimed at young adults, emphasizes LGBT themes heavily, often to the point where one might question the necessity of writing these books given the prevalence of politically correct storytelling over the past decade, even in comics.

Now, how did romance comics slowly make a comeback years later?

As a passionate moviegoer and admirer of comic strips, let me share my appreciation for John Lustig, a visionary who recognized the untapped potential within the romance genre. Back in 1996, he kick-started a strip titled “Last Kiss,” which took classic vintage romance comics and infused them with modern captions and dialogue. This transformation breathed new life into these timeless panels, often giving the female characters a sense of agency and desire that was never previously considered in their original forms. In his own words, he explains, “There’s something truly captivating about the artwork in those old strips, and they are the only genre that truly delved into women’s stories. I found myself drawn to explore what these women might be thinking on a deeper level.” The images from these comics had become so familiar, yet they carried an air of drama that was safe and predictable. Lustig sought to challenge this stereotype by reimagining the characters in unexpected ways.

It’s evident that the idea resonates strongly, given that Lustig has kept Last Kiss available in various formats such as digital, merchandise, and occasionally in print for close to three decades.

Today, we find ourselves in an era where a generation of authors, nurtured by intricately designed josei manga (comics for adult women) and refined romance literature, have redefined the genre to cater to its predominantly female readership who prefer consuming comics on mobile devices. The rise of platforms like Webtoon and Tapas in North America has provided creators with a direct line to readers craving romance-focused content, contrasting traditional publishers who primarily target the male-dominated genres of superheroes and action.

In summary, it seems they should reconsider their approach as Marvel/DC have attempted to tailor their comics towards a female audience in recent years, but these efforts have fallen flat due to the excessive prioritization of poorly executed drama over action, which lacked appeal for many readers. Additionally, these attempts were marred by an overabundance of politically correct content that turned off some fans. If they truly aimed to broaden their audience, they could’ve produced standalone romance stories unrelated to their superhero universes and avoided the controversial directions they pursued. An example of this misguided effort was the miniseries “Trouble,” written by Mark Millar, which centered on teen pregnancy and implied it was about the Parker family, leading to criticism for its sensationalistic nature. The series was overseen by Joe Quesada and Bill Jemas and failed due to valid reasons. One unfortunate consequence of this miniseries was that the artwork of Terry and Rachel Dodson, a talented duo, was wasted on this poorly executed project. Clearly, if the story wasn’t self-contained, it significantly hurt its success.

In recent years, it’s beneficial that new romance comics and other genres have been created. For instance, Top Cow/Image has produced some in the past decade, and if North American creators chose to do so, they could also develop dramas about subjects like food, sports, and fishing, similar to the Japanese. Even comics within comics are possible, as seen in anime productions where manga is referenced in the scripts, which I find amusing and self-referential. The main idea is that creators have the opportunity to produce much of this content without interfering with established corporate franchises, thereby creating crowd-pleasers authentically. This should be the direction moving forward. However, I wouldn’t suggest buying comics from creators who were involved in damaging what made Marvel/DC great in the past, as they haven’t apologized for contributing to the destruction of Kirby/Lee’s masterpieces. If they don’t acknowledge their role in this, there’s no reason to support them when they create their own work. Instead, I believe only those who develop original stories without participating in destructive paths are worth purchasing from.

In essence, I’d recommend seeking out comic creators who tend to avoid the narrative styles similar to Garth Ennis, as they are less likely to disregard romance and drama genres while also acknowledging the legitimacy of adventure and sci-fi fandoms. This choice could potentially lead to better quality work in the future.

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2025-02-26 17:30