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Best remembered for its licensed comics, Dell also ventured into superheroes during the Golden Age, beginning with Phantasmo in The Funnies.
Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: harry donenfeld, Romance Comics
Addiction and Romance in Youthful Hearts #1, Up for Auction
Youthful Hearts 1 features an overlooked drug addiction story "Monkey on My Back" that precedes the better-known "The Monkey" in Shock SuspenStories 12.
Article Summary
- Youthful Hearts #1's drug addiction story "Monkey on My Back," predates EC's "The Monkey."
- Publisher Pix-Parade / Youthful Magazines had ties to DC Comics founder Harry Donenfeld.
- This issue also features popular singer-songwriter Frankie Laine feature.
- William K. Friedman is connected to several comics that tested the limits of the era.
Youthful Hearts publisher Pix-Parade and its most closely associated company Youthful Magazines were both part of a larger constellation of publishing companies with loose connections to DC Comics founder Harry Donenfeld. One principal of the company, William K. Friedman, had acted as Donenfeld's lawyer on numerous occasions, while another, Adrian Lopez, had previously co-founded a magazine publisher with Donenfeld.
We've discussed Friedman here a few times before, most recently in connection with Romantic Hearts #9, because he had made a career of helping publishers test limits. Youthful Hearts #1 can certainly be considered in that category, as the story Monkey On My Back is one of the most extreme drug use stories in comic books during this era.
The Heritage blurb here suggests that Monkey on My Back drawn by Ed Goldfarb and Bob Baer is a swipe of the more famous Shock Suspenstories #12 (December 1953) story The Monkey by Bill Gaines, Al Feldstein, and Joe Orlando. However, Youthful Hearts #1 (May 1952) was published around 18 months prior to Shock Suspenstories #12, so if anything, it's Monkey on My Back that might have influenced the EC Comics classic. However, while the stories obviously have similar themes and are both now-familiar tragedies of addiction, the details play out somewhat differently. Both stories were undoubtedly inspired by the media concerns over drug use of the era.
While Monkey on My Back is actually more of a crime than romance story, Youthful Hearts #1 has a cover story featuring popular singer-songwriter of that day Frankie Laine in a more traditional romantic comedy. But this issue is incredibly overlooked for Monkey on My Back alone, and there's a copy up for auction in the 2024 February 29 – March 1 Golden Age Romance Featuring Fox Comics & Comic Art Showcase Auction #40258.
Youthful Hearts #1 Davis Crippen ("D" Copy) Pedigree (Youthful Magazines, 1952) CGC FN 6.0 Off-white to white pages. Frankie Laine partial photo cover, story, and biography. Drug story swipe from Shock Suspenstories #12. Ed Goldfarb and Bob Baer art. Overstreet 2023 FN 6.0 value = $141. CGC census 1/24: 1 in 6.0, 3 higher.
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