Parting Shot: Romance Comics and The Girl Who Thought Too Much

As we head towards Valentine's Day, ComicsAlliance is offering up a daily tribute to love, as depicted in the somewhat dubious world of Romance Comics! Today's entry: Young Romance #86's "For The Love of Ricky Wilson!"

This Stan Lee/Jack Kirby "classic" finds our heroine swooning and lovestruck, which was pretty much the default state for girls in romance comics. The only problem is that the object of her affection is more interested in his car than he is in giving her his pin or going for a phosphate or whatever the hell it was they did before sexting was invented. It only gets worse when she tries to show an interest by spending all morning polishing his chrome -- relax, Dr. Wertham, it's not a metaphor -- only to find that the more interests they seem to share, the less he likes her!

So here's your lesson, girls of 1961: Don't think too much! I mean... be yourself and don't change to suit what you think others want, unless you happen to like things that aren't traditionally feminine, in which case you will die alone.