Girl Comics is the name of two comic-book series published by Marvel Comics and its forerunners, Timely Comics and Atlas Comics. The first, debuting in 1949, ran 35 issues, changing its title to Girl Confessions with issue #13 (March 1952). The second was a three-issue limited series published in 2010.
| Girl Comics | |
|---|---|
 Photographic cover of Girl Comics #1 (Oct. 1949). | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | (1949) Timely Comics Girl Confessions Atlas Comics (2010) Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | (1949) Bi-monthly (2010) Monthly |
| Format | (1949) Ongoing series (2010) Limited series |
| Genre | (1949) Romance comics (2010) Superhero comics |
| Publication date | (1949) October 1949 – August 1954 (2010) May 2010 — September 2010 |
| No. of issues | (1949) 35 (2010) 3 |
| Editor(s) | (1949) Stan Lee (2010) Sana Amanat Rachel Pinnelas Lauren Sankovitch Jeanine Schaefer |
Publication history
editFirst series (1949–1954)
editThe initial Marvel Comics publication entitled Girl Comics was an ongoing romance comics/girls'-adventure series edited by Stan Lee that ran 12 issues (October 1949 - January 1952), first by Marvel's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and shortly afterward by the company's 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics. It was renamed Girl Confessions with issue #13 (March 1952) and ran a total 35 issues, through cover-date August 1954.
Artist contributors to this series included John Buscema and Al Hartley in issue #1,[1] Bob Brown[2] and Bill Everett in #3,[3] Russ Heath in #5,[2] Ann Brewster, Mike Esposito, and Dick Rockwell in #8,[1][2] and Bernard Krigstein in #12.[2] Contributors to multiple issues of Girl Confessions included Hartley, Jay Scott Pike, Morris Weiss, and Golden Age Batman artist Jerry Robinson.[4][5]
Girl Comics
editThe first four issues of Girl Comics were written as typical romance comics,[6] valuing plot over character development.[7] Most narratives were recycled, not changing drastically between issues.[7] Issues #5 through #12, however, adopted a new subtitle, Mystery, Adventure, Suspense! and featured plot-lines similar to those in Nancy Drew novels.[6]
| Issue | Title | Publication date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I Couldn't Escape From Love | October 1949 |
| 2 | Blind Date | January 1950 |
| 3 | Liz Taylor | April 1950 |
| 4 | Borrowed Love | June 1950 |
| 5 | The Man Who Followed, The Haunted Terror, The Death Plunge | October 1950 |
| 6-9 | Mystery, Adventure, Suspense! | January/March/May/July 1951 |
| 10 | The Deadly Double-Cross | September 1951 |
| 11 | Love Stories | November 1951 |
| 12 | BK, The Dark Hallway | January 1952 |
Girl Confessions
edit| Issue | Title | Publication date |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Bride with a Broken Heart | March 1952[6] |
| 14 | Love or Infatuation? | May 1952 |
| 15 | Untitled | June 1952 |
| 16 | I'll Never Forget You! | July 1952 |
| 17 | The Soldier's Wife! | August 1952 |
| 18 | We Both Loved Jerry! | September 1952 |
| 19 | Wallflower | October 1952 |
| 20 | His Last Goodbye | November 1952 |
| 21 | Unwanted | December 1952 |
| 22 | Untitled | January 1953 |
| 23 | The Man Who Kissed Me | February 1953 |
| 24 | The Way You Kiss, Martha's Man, The Lonely Night, Love Note | March 1953 |
| 25 | Back Into His Arms | April 1953 |
| 26 | The Man I Must Marry | June 1953 |
| 27 | Grounds for Marriage" | August 1953 |
| 28 | Love Me or Leave Me | September 1953 |
| 29 | The Truth About Thelma Johnson | October 1953 |
| 30 | Tall, Dark and Hands Off | January 1954 |
| 31 | When the Real Thing Comes Along | February 1954 |
| 32 | Schoolgirl Crush | March 1954 |
| 33 | A Boy and a Girl | April 1954 |
| 34 | Affair of the Heart | June 1954 |
| 35 | Going Steady | August 1954 |
Second series (2010)
edit
The second Girl Comics was a three-issue limited series released as a part of Marvel's year-long Marvel Women project.[8] Girl Comics was entirely written, colored, illustrated and lettered by female authors and artists.[8] Sister titles published during this period under the Marvel Women project,[9] included the limited series and one-shots Heralds, Black Widow, Namora, Lady Deadpool, and Her-oes.[10] It ran three issues cover-dated May to September 2010.[11] The collection was originally conceived as a celebration of both the 30th anniversary of She-Hulk and the National Women's History Project.[8]
Jeanine Schaefer, one of the editors, said of the initiative's timing: "Because 2010 is the 30th anniversary of the first appearance of She-Hulk, we got together to brainstorm some ideas for a celebration of women at Marvel Comics, much like we did for the 70th anniversary...."[12] She said the publisher felt the potentially controversial word "girl" in the title could be reclaimed: "It was one of the first titles we thought of (the actual first one, I think), because it pulled double-duty: Not only was it the name of an old Marvel romance title, it has a word in it that we could take back".[12]
The 2010 series contains contributions from Devin K. Grayson, Louise Simonson, Amanda Conner, Jill Thompson, Trina Robbins, and Molly Crabapple, among others.[10][13] The 52-page first issue included stories of the male characters Nightcrawler, the Punisher, and Spider-Man in addition to stories of the superheroines She-Hulk, Venus, and Jean Grey.[14] In addition, a two-page text article spotlighted Marvel Comics' Silver Age secretary and later independent comics publisher Flo Steinberg[14]
Illustrator and cartoonist Stephanie Buscema, who penciled and inked the eight-page story featuring Venus, is a granddaughter of the major comics artist John Buscema,[15] whose work appeared in the first issue of the 1949 series.
References
edit- ^ a b Girl Comics (Marvel, Atlas [Cornell Publishing Corp.] imprint, 1949 series) at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ a b c d Girl Comics October 1949 to January 1952 at AtlasTales.com
- ^ Girl Comics #3 at AtlasTales.com
- ^ Girl Confessions at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Girl Confessions at AtlasTales.com
- ^ a b c Michelle Nolan (2008). Love on the Racks: A History of American Romance Comics. MarFarlane. p. 67. ISBN 9781476604909. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ a b Matthew Pustz (2012). Comic Books and American Cultural History: An Anthology. Bloomberg Publishing USA. p. 96. ISBN 9781441197573. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ a b c Laura Hudson (1 March 2010). "The Lady Editors of Marvel Talk 'Girl Comics' [Girl Week]". Comics Alliance. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ Women of Marvel (brand) at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ a b MacDonald, Heidi (December 15, 2009). "Exclusive: Marvel announces Girl Comics". Publishers Weekly. The Beat. Archived from the original on April 30, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
- ^ Girl Comics (Marvel, 2010 series) at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ a b Richards, Dave (February 19, 2010). "Jeanine Schaefer on "Girl Comics"". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
- ^ Truitt, Brian (March 1, 2010). "'Girl Comics' shines spotlight on female creators". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 26, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
- ^ a b Girl Comics (Marvel, 2010 Series) at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ The Art of Stephanie Buscema (official site). WebCite archive
External links
edit- Girl Comics (1949) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Girl Comics (1949) at Atlas Tales
- Girl Confessions at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Girl Confessions at Atlas Tales
- Girl Comics (2010) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Zawisza, Doug. Review: Girl Comics #1, Comic Book Resources, March 3, 2010
- McDonald, Amanda, and Jeff Marsick, "Best Shots Comic Reviews", Girl Comics #1 (two reviews), Newsarama, March 8, 2010