Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Dana Dash, Matt Baker

Experimenting with Love in Teen-Age Romances #12, up for Auction

Legendary artist Matt Baker and writer Dana Dash combine romance and science in this wild story for St. John's Teen-Age Romances #12.

Matt Baker and writer Dana Dutch might be the best creative team doing romance comics at the peak of the form during the Pre-Code era.  As quoted in the book Romance Without Tears, St. John editor Irwin Stein told historian  John Benson that "they used other writers only because Dutch could not supply enough scripts."  Baker and Dutch created characters and stories with more nuance and complexity than most romance comics, and the wonderful Wild Desires Made Me Love-Blind in Teen-Age Romances #12 is a textbook example of the unique style this creative team developed. There's a Teen-Age Romances #12 (St. John, 1950) Condition: VG- up for auction in the 2023 August 17 The Matt Baker Comics & Comic Art Showcase Auction #40233 at Heritage Auctions.

Like most Matt Baker romance comics, Teen-Age Romances #12 has a cover that draws you into the interior story.  What's going on in that chemistry lab?  The title page caption explains from the point of view of the lead character Helene. "My shameful mistake came about by thinking I could experiment with love. Chemistry had been my favorite subject in high school. After graduation, I got a job as lab assistant in the State Agricultural Bureau and fell in love with junior chemist Don Lenan. But while Don was ardently courting me, I caught the eye of our young chief and couldn't resist his attentions. Amid this confusion of hearts, I devised and carried out a deceitful scheme that left me with heartbreak and disgrace."

It only gets better from there.  As Helene began secretly dating her boss Kevin while still seeing Don, both men tempted her with the wonders of science.  The plot begins to turn on a chemistry breakthrough that Don was working on.  As he told an excited Helene during one date, "I worked till midnight, sweet. Just a few more tests and I'll have the formula for destroying the corn borers in the larvae stage."

At this point in this Teen-Age Romances tale, things take a bad turn.  Helene presents Don's work to their boss Kevin in order to solidify her relationship with Kevin.  To make matters worse, she then tells Don that she did so because she was about to lose her job at the lab due to budget cuts, and by taking credit for this breakthrough, she could remain near him.  This situation inevitably blows up, with Helene forced to admit her deception in order to save Don's job.  Fortunately, it all works out for Don and Helne in the end.

Dana Erskin Dutch (Nov. 12, 1912 – April 15, 1959) was born in Newton, Massachusetts, and wanted to be a journalist since high school.  He attended Columbia University. By the early 1940s and perhaps earlier, he was writing and editing for comics, working for the Iger Shop, Harry Chesler, and then St. John, where he did a significant number of romance stories.

In addition to the cover story, Baker and Dutch also created the story I was Fooled by First Love which appears in this issue. A classic Baker/Dutch romance comic book, there's a Teen-Age Romances #12 (St. John, 1950) Condition: VG- up for auction in the 2023 August 17 The Matt Baker Comics & Comic Art Showcase Auction #40233 at Heritage Auctions.

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