Young Romance

In his introduction to Eclipse Comics' 1988 collection of some of the earliest Simon & Kirby romance comics, Richard Howell writes that "romance has always been a major component in entertainment, be it novels, plays, or movies, but for over ten years after the first appearance of comic books, romance only had a token presence in their four-color pages".[5] This changed in 1947 with the return from war of one of comics' earliest and best-known creative partnerships, that of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, who had already created Captain America, the Boy Commandos and the Newsboy Legion.[5]

Working for Hillman Periodicals, the two created a "teen-humor comic book called My Date", cover-dated March 1947, which contained within its pages "ground-breaking" stories concerned with "comparatively faithful depictions of teen-age life, centering especially on romantic experiences and aspirations".[5] Arguably itself the first "romance comic", positive reaction to My Date allowed Simon to negotiate a deal with Crestwood publishers Teddy Epstein and Paul Blyer (or "Bleier") "before the four-issue run of My Date had run more than half its course",[5] and to receive an unheard of 50% share of profits in return for producing their follow-up for that company.[3]

Launched with a September 1947 cover date, the Prize Comics title Young Romance signaled its distinction from traditional superhero and genre comics with a cover banner stating the series was "designed for the more adult readers of comics". Told from a first person perspective, underlining its claim to be recounting "true" stories, the title was an instant success, "bec[oming] Jack and Joe's biggest hit in years" and selling "millions of copies"[6] and a staggering 92% of its print run.[5] Crestwood increased the print run by the third issue to triple the initial numbers, and well as upgrade the title from bimonthly to monthly through issues #13-72 (Sept. 1949 - Aug. 1954).[5][6][7]

Young Romance #15 (Nov. 1949), with photographic cover.

Within a year and a half, Simon & Kirby were launching companion titles for Crestwood to capitalize on the success of this new genre. The first issue of Young Love (Feb. 1949) also sold well with "indistinguishable"[5] content from its parent-title.[3][4] Further spin-off titles Young Brides (married couples' stories) and In Love ("book-length" stories) also followed from Crestwood/Prize, and were produced by the Simon & Kirby stable of artists and writers.[5] Other companies, including Quality Comics, Fawcett Publications, Fox Features Syndicate, and Timely Comics, capitalized on the romance boom.[3][4] Despite the glut of titles, the Simon and Kirby romance titles "continued to sell five million" a month, allowing the pair "to earn more than enough to buy their own homes".[3]

The slew of imitators caused Crestwood to adopt the "Prize Group" seal on the covers of the Simon & Kirby produced titles as "the easiest means for readers to tell the S&K-produced love comics from the legions of imitators".[5]

Covers

Young Romance #67 (March 1954), featuring the "Prize Group" seal; cover art by Jack Kirby and John Prentice.

As with most contemporary romance comics, and the pulps before them, the covers of Young Romance (and all the Simon & Kirby romance output) varied between photographic covers (see above) and regular artwork (typically produced by Simon & Kirby themselves). The photographic covers often depicted film starlets; Young Love Vol. 1, issue #4 for example, featured a cover picture of "then MGM starlet Joy Lansing", which was then reused as the cover for Eclipse Comics' 1988 "Real Love" collection, which reprinted in black and white a number of the Simon & Kirby romance stories, including early work by Leonard Starr, who went on to create the newspaper strip feature Mary Perkins, On Stage.[5]

Launched in September 1947, Young Romance ran for 124 issues, until June 1967.[7] Initially bimonthly, strong sales and demand inspired an increased production schedule, and from issue #13 (Sept. 1949) the title became monthly. Continuing to be released monthly for the next five years, the title reverted to bimonthly with status issue #73 (Oct. 1954), and continuing on this schedule for 17 years, missing only one month (August 1963) – when the title switched publishers from Crestwood/Prize to DC Comics, alongside sister publication Young Love.[7] With issue #172 (Aug. 1971), the title returned to monthly release for 20 issues, and between issue #192 (March 1973) and the final issue, #208 (Dec. 1975), the title was again bimonthly.[7]

DC Comics

Young Romance #125 (Aug. 1963), DC Comics' first issue; cover artist(s) uncredited.

Following Crestwood/Prize's Young Romance #124 (June 1963), the Arleigh Publishing division of National Periodical Publications, commonly known as DC Comics, obtained the Crestwood/Prize romance titles Young Love and Young Romance in 1963, upon Crestwood Publications "leav[ing] the comic book business".[8] Larry Nadle succeeded Phyllis Reed as editor.[8] Premiering with Young Romance #125 (Aug. 1963), the pair of titles became "part of a reasonably popular romance line aimed at young girls" for a further 12 years.[4] By DC's 15th issue of Young Romance, the published circulation statement listed sales of 204,613; this gradually dwindled throughout the early 1970s to a published circulation figure of 119,583 by issue #196 (Nov. 1973).[7] Creators who worked on the DC incarnation included writer Steve Englehart.[7] Issues #197 (Jan.-Feb. 1974) to #204 (March–April 1975) of the series were in the 100 Page Super Spectacular format.[9] The series ran through 1975's issue #208 (Nov.-Dec. 1975).[10][11] In 2013, DC also published a Valentine's Day special Young Romance: The New 52 Valentine's Day Special #1.[12]

• Young Romance at Cover Browser
• Young Romance at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
• "Jack Kirby: A by-the-month Chronology" compiled by Ray Owens and TwoMorrows