Romance comics of the 60s and 70s were, in general, not what you'd call "empowering" for the young girls that were their intended audience. Most of them were written and drawn by middle-aged men, so it's not too surprising that at their best they're dated cultural oddities. At their worst... well, that's where Charlton comics come in. Marvel and DC's romance comics certainly had their share of knuckle-dragging Neanderthal moments, but Charlton, the red-headed stepchild of the comic book world in that era, seemed to specifically publish comics that were well below the standards for the time. It's not that they were necessarily more sexist than the other romance publishers, just... weirder. Let's look, shall we?
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This page is a good example of Charlton's "free association" school of storytelling: girl complains about husband ignoring her; husband compliments her; girl cries. Does girl get institionalized? No, she just dresses in hot pants and goes to visit her husband at work. Hey, that works!
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Here we see a story in which a disembodied head harangues another disembodied head (or maybe it's a blow-up doll) while a third disembodied head intervenes. That certainly is an... artistic way of framing the scene.
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He definitely looks like he'd be wasting his time if he dated women, yes.
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This is just... did the letterer screw up? The writer? The penciller? Who, in this scenario, would be saying "oh good"?
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This story is one of my favourites-- a newleywed bride decides she loathes her husband and is reviled by his touch. Oh, no! What tragedy awaits the honeymooning couple?
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Er... okay. Turns out she just really needed a nap. This is valuable insight for marriage counsellors everywhere! "So, you're fighting constantly and the sight of your spouse repulses you? Sounds like SOMEONE needs a little sleepy-bye time!"
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This is my favourite Charlton story. It has everything... pathos, single fathers, winsomely misspelled words, marriage-obssessed teachers, dwarves... the works!
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Hmmm... I wonder who Miss Buttinsky has in mind for Mr. Snarlpants?
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Step one: Invite yourself over and take on all the household chores. If he doesn't want to marry you, maybe you can pick up some extra cash as a housekeeper. By the way he's glaring at her as she and his son exchange meaningful glances, it could go either way.
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"We've replaced this man's son with a 30 year old dwarf. Let's see if he notices!"
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Nothing ruins a nice date quite like a dead dwarf in your back seat, lemme tell you. But that doesn't stop our marriage-minded teacher from making her move!
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OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH. DEEE-NIED.
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But that's okay. They ran out of paper and had to wrap up the story quickly, so for no apparent reason the dead little person's dad succumbs to Miss Eager Beaver's charms at last.
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