Teen-Age Temptations 003 -JVJ-2x4-Darwin
a nice Baker cover
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Thanks to JVJ for letting us scan his fantastic collection and to Twobyfour for the raws, it is such a treat to read these comics! All the stories deal with the choices teen-age girls make on the cusp of adulthood, usually between two men. The first story with Mort Drucker art, "I Wanted Life Long Thrills," involves a girl going steady with a pilot who's away for long periods of time. Enter an old beau who had left town without so much as a word. They begin to fool around, cue the emotional rollercoaster. An interesting ending, perhaps opposite of a typical resolution. The second story, "The Kisses I Couldn't Forget," features some nice art from Ric Estrada and involves a crafty girl with the key to making men interested, learning their hobbies! She works with a boy she's interested in on a new machine, but he's more interested in the machine than the girl, so she turns to some darkroom fun developing into a love triangle. But the photographer's not getting played, he's the one doing the playing! Thirdly, the gem of the bunch, with story attributed to Dutch Dana by John Benson with art from Matt Baker, a somewhat scandalous ditty, I suppose, in which a girl lies about her age to marry her long-time beau who's headed for the service. They marry and spend a night together, but the girl instantly confesses to her mother and the marriage is annulled. Her new reputation as a bad girl drives our heroine to lie about her age again, this time to enlist in the armed services and escape town. A story of maturation and growth, I do have to agree that Dutch's stories really break the mold - I imagine teenage girls loved them. And lastly, "To Young To Wed," in which a conniving lass behaves badly and is forgiven by her adoring man, you have to wonder where they found all these pushovers. Great fun! Again, thanks to JVJ for sharing these fine St. John romances with us.
-Darwin |
