When I was small (late 60s-early 70s), I got hold of an old comic or two and saw male & female characters that looked like burlesque performers. I was frustrated by the fact that new funny books were never so sophisticated. (No, not even Dan DeCarlo or Harry Lucey's ARCHIE comics.) This was a window on grownup stuff to me. Which is, I think, what kids REALLY want. By that, I mean kids don't want to be spoken to as "kids", which the media's forgotten entirely.
It's the feeling of being let in on an adult joke, which was very gratifying. It was being given respect and the credit for having a brain. Not every kid dreams about becoming a fucking superhero!!
SUZIE by Al Fagaly for MLJ/Archie comics, late 1940s. Panel stolen from Ron Evry for sole purpose of expressing my thoughts.
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