History Of How Girls Saved Comics
How Girls Saved Comics A history comics targeted towards girls from the late 1940’s through the 50’s
Even before the end of World War II, superhero comics were falling out of favor with the American audience. The single issue stories were becoming stale- there are only so many ways Superman can punch the bad guy without boring his fans. More than that, the war was taking its toll on the minds of non-military Americans. After years of international violence shaking up their lives, "people were sick of fighting, even in fantasy." Children struck by this dissatisfaction with superheroes moved on to kids’ humor comics. By the war’s end, comic book sales had collapsed to 30%. Immune to this drop, however, was Pep Comics. What protected Pep from what would be the biggest flop the comics industry had felt so far? Girls. Women and girls have always been a huge chunk of comics’ readers (citation.) Despite this, comics had been targeted towards boys and men. It was the stories of men being celebrated in comics, with women cast as damsels and eye candy. When Pep’s Archie hit the scene in 1941 with Betty then Veronica, girls discovered a narrative they could see themselves in. Archie and its copycats didn’t offer stellar female representation with their boy-crazy, gender conforming …show more content…
Romance novels set to target women, rather than girls. These books were set with more realism than the humor teen books, oft with protags closer to the age of the target audience. These comics often shared similar themes as shown in teen comics like love triangles and jealousy, but portrayed in a more mature way. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby began producing Young Romance during the war in order to break into the previously untapped market of comics targeted towards adults- men and women alike. Romance comics met their end in the late 1950’s when the comic industry’s biggest obstacle reared its ugly
Even before the end of World War II, superhero comics were falling out of favor with the American audience. The single issue stories were becoming stale- there are only so many ways Superman can punch the bad guy without boring his fans. More than that, the war was taking its toll on the minds of non-military Americans. After years of international violence shaking up their lives, "people were sick of fighting, even in fantasy." Children struck by this dissatisfaction with superheroes moved on to kids’ humor comics. By the war’s end, comic book sales had collapsed to 30%. Immune to this drop, however, was Pep Comics. What protected Pep from what would be the biggest flop the comics industry had felt so far? Girls. Women and girls have always been a huge chunk of comics’ readers (citation.) Despite this, comics had been targeted towards boys and men. It was the stories of men being celebrated in comics, with women cast as damsels and eye candy. When Pep’s Archie hit the scene in 1941 with Betty then Veronica, girls discovered a narrative they could see themselves in. Archie and its copycats didn’t offer stellar female representation with their boy-crazy, gender conforming …show more content…
Romance novels set to target women, rather than girls. These books were set with more realism than the humor teen books, oft with protags closer to the age of the target audience. These comics often shared similar themes as shown in teen comics like love triangles and jealousy, but portrayed in a more mature way. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby began producing Young Romance during the war in order to break into the previously untapped market of comics targeted towards adults- men and women alike. Romance comics met their end in the late 1950’s when the comic industry’s biggest obstacle reared its ugly