Pictorial Confessions 001 (1949.Canadian Edition)
The first issue of the St. John romance title scanned from JVJ's collection by Twobyfour with edits from yours truly. A fun romance comic here with much Matt Baker art. The cover reminds me of my grandad's oft-repeated line - "I never laid a hand on the broad".
The comic kicks off with "I Threw Away My Reputation on a Worthless Love" which opens with the scene that inspired the cover (the cover came second right?) in which pops catches his daughter necking with the town scamp. Some of these girls always seem to fall for these bad actors, and this guy is a real jerk. An opportune moment for an art sample:
Blondie is thick-headed, though, and she takes him back again and again. Will she ever learn??
Next up is "My Double Life Caught Up with Me" wherein Jane accepts a ride from an older man in the "scandal set" after her bike blows a tire. She takes an interest in this gent who has flunked out of school and returned home to freeload off his parents but quickly notices that her friends from school are castigating her for her involvement with this rich social set. Will the wolf feast upon the lamb? An interesting resolution...
The third story is " I Talked Myself into Love Troubles". The splash:
The story opens as the protagonist Kathy is ready to get into a catfight over her new beau. She's only known the guy for a couple dates, so what's she's really upset about is the fact that, though she gets a lot of interest, every fella she sees runs off after a few dates. You pick up quick on the reason why as she mistakenly throws herself at the next boy she meets, desperately hoping to snag a man through sex appeal. She considers her reputation not until after he fails to call and worries that his gossipy sister put the word out. Can love find a way?!? I really like this one.
Last up is "Two-Timing Taught Me to Love," another one of these Dana Dutch stories of a girl ready to explore the world of older men and dancing and necking. Not to mention willing to steal such an older man from her little sister. The web of deceit grows wider as the protagonist lies to parents, more men, and her high school boyfriend who she is two and three and four timing. What will happen when the weight of this tangled web comes crashing down? Ah, the drama of young love...
The issue is available at the ftp and here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?zk7dcgzllerl12v
Twobyfour has scanned the next two issues, and I will get to the edits as I am able. Again, big thanks to
JVJ for giving us access to his comics, as I'm loving working on all of these great St. John titles.