Romance Comics Are All Over the Place!

A lot has been going on in
the world of romance comics lately...

Just yesterday, Erin Jameson's Lovefool column over at PLAYBACK:stl featured a critical review of the 2007 Marvel Romance Redux series. Erin does a nice job of laying out where exactly the concept went wrong and calls for the romance comics to be treated with "sincerity." I couldn't agree more.


Many of you probably already know, but this news is definitely worth repeating. In February, DC will be releasing Showcase Presents: Young Love Volume 1! Yay! It is currently available for pre-order at Amazon. Will you be picking it up?

Though the Showcase romance comics will be in black and white, the upcoming Fantagraphics book, Young Romance: The Best of Simon & Kirby's 1940s-50s Romance Comics will be in full glorious color! Head over here for a preview of the book by editor, Michel Gagne! So excited for this one!


Speaking of Kirby! Last week over at his super-educational new blog (Marvel Mysteries and Comics Minutiae), Nick Caputo discussed covers that he believes Kirby both penciled and inked. Nick's in-depth analysis includes a romance cover!!!

I hope you are having a fantastic week!

The Changing Logos of Young Romance

Part of what makes romance comics so dynamic and fun to collect are the colorful logos that grace their covers. Throughout the run of any given series, the logos usually changed in design, color, and size -- giving each comic a distinct look. Young Romance was no exception, and its logo changed throughout its run at DC.*

Logo One
Issue #125 (August/September 1963) through
issue #130 (June/July 1964)

Logo Two
Issue #131 (August/September 1964) through
issue #153 (April/May 1968)


Though technically not a different logo, the iconic checkerboard
that appeared on so many DC titles during this time period,
made its way onto the romance books as well.
Issue #141 (April/May 1966) through issue #148 (June/July 1967)


Logo Three
Issue #154 (June/July 1968) through
issue #167 (August/September 1970)


Logo Four
Issue #168 (October/November 1970) through
issue #195 (September/October 1973)


Logo Five
Issue #196 (November/December 1973) through the last issue,
#208 (November/December 1975)

Within these five major logo designs, there were slight variations in size, coloring, and positioning. I myself prefer logo three as it seems the most iconic. I also like the way the letters seem to wrap around one another.

What do you think? Which Young Romance logo is your favorite?

*Young Romance, known as the first romance comic book, was originally created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for Crestwood's Prize imprint. While at Prize, the series ran for 124 issues from September/October 1947 to June/July 1963. The logos of the series while published by Prize, more or less stayed the same throughout the run -- changing little in its first six years.