Number 1224: For the boys in the band, groupies never come first

Gals, here's a cautionary tale from Teen-Age Romances #17 (1951). It's about a girl who falls for a musician. Even in the days before rock 'n' roll there were chicks falling all over guys in a band. Young Martha, who thought she was only one, found out she was one of many. Tsk, tsk.

Dana Dutch is credited with the story. John Benson's excellent book, Romance Without Tears (Fantagraphics, 2003), is a collection of stories for St. John by Dutch, which the cover blurb for Benson's book calls “’50s Love Comics — With a Twist!” And we don't mean the twist as in Chubby Checker.

This book is still available from Amazon.com, and gets my highest recommendation.

The stories I'm posting today are not included in the book.

Matt Baker did the gorgeous artwork on the cover and for “Secret Love Made Me An Exile.”

Dutch and Baker also collaborated on “I Was Hurt By Love” in the same issue. All I can say about that is, who the hell hasn't been hurt by love?

Number 807

"That ain't no way to have fun, son..."

Everybody loves Hilda's parties. This New York gal knows how to swing this small Wisconsin town "by the tail." The kids who come to Hilda's swingin' soirees soon find themselves behind in their school work...they are dancing to hot music...drinking hard liquor...smoking funny-tasting cigarettes...and worst of all, the guys expect something--heh-heh--from the girls.

Before I was a pappy, when I was just a puppy, my pappy took me aside and gave me a little pappy-son chat. "Son, stay away from wild women and wild parties. They'll just lead to trouble."

I spent the rest of my teen years looking for wild women and wild parties.

But, what the hell...here I am now and the wild parties are only memories. It's nice to read this cautionary tale from St. John's Teen-Age Romances #34, 1953, drawn by Matt Baker, if only to remind me of days gone by.