Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Dell Publishing, Romance Comics, roy lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein & the Mystery of Dell's Private Secretary, at Auction

Dell's Private Secretary is not based on the 1950s sitcom. It's more akin to a 1950s paperback romance and seems to have caught Roy Lichtenstein's attention.

Dell Publishing is American comic book history's most important publisher of comic books licensed from television, film, and other media.  In partnership with Western Printing & Lithography and on their own, the company published an enormous volume of licensed material ranging from Disney comic books to comics based on comic strips, movies and television shows.  Private Secretary from 1962-1963 is widely considered one of these, ostensibly based on the five-season CBS television series of the same name — except it isn't.  The series seems to be something much more interesting than that, and has no apparent connection to the prior TV series.

CBS's Private Secretary starred Ann Sothern as Susie McNamara, the private secretary to a theatrical talent agent played by actor Don Porter.  The light-hearted office hijinx sitcom featured sort of an inverse-I Love Lucy scenario.  Instead of Lucy creating chaos that has to be resolved by the end of the episode, it's Sothern's character Susie who has to resolve the silly dramas that the rest of the cast of characters create. The series lasted five seasons from 1953 to 1957.

The Dell comic book series bears no resemblance to the television show beyond starring a private secretary.  It features completely different characters in a very serious and rather hard-edged romantic drama.  The only thing in Private Secretary #1 that even slightly resembles comedy is the fact that someone slipped an "I hope the carpet matches the drapes" line in the dialog.  The debut issue has the character Kim Garland shrewdly manipulating the emotions of a series of corporate executives to get what she wants.

While the artwork is not at all explicit, the mature themes in play here make me wonder if this story would have gotten past the Comics Code.  Of course, Dell did not submit its comics for Code approval.  As it is, Private Secretary #1 feels much closer to a tawdry 1950s/1960s exploitation/romance paperback than it does to a lighthearted 1950s sitcom that ended five years prior.  Glancing at Dell's TV comics from this time frame, it further appears that there is no other such series being published by the company for a television show that was not in current production at the time.  And unlike all Dell TV comics, there is no production studio copyright information in the indicia along with Dell's own info.

While Private Secretary #1 stands as something fairly unique among 1960s mainstream romance comics, the next and final issue falls back to earth as a fairly ordinary 1960s comic book romance.  Private Secretary #2 features Kim Garland once again, apparently none the worse for wear after the events of #1 ended in tears, and also seemingly somewhat removed from those events.  She sidesteps her private secretary role entirely here, deciding to withdraw all of her money from the bank to go on a cruise.

Although issue #2 doesn't quite have the dramatic edge that makes the first issue so good, it does once again feature beautifully rendered artwork by the versatile Hy Eisman.  In fact, Eisman's artwork caught the eye of the famous artist Roy Lichtenstein, who swiped a panel from this story featuring Kim Garland for his painting Girl in Window later that year.  Discussing this matter in the documentary WHAAM! BLAM! Roy Lichtenstein and the Art of Appropriation, Eisman says, "I worked like a dog on this stupid page and the guy has twenty million dollars to show for it. If it wasn't so tragic… It would be nice to be recognized."  Eisman further noted that he had been paid $10 for the page in question.

Despite seemingly having no connection to the television series beyond a pretty commonly-used title, and despite the controversy that a Lichtenstein connection always brings, Private Secretary is a surprisingly sophisticated romance comic book that stands out among the romance titles of the 1960s.  There's a copy of both issues of the series up for auction in the 2024 February 29 – March 1 Golden Age Romance Featuring Fox Comics & Comic Art Showcase Auction #40258.

Private Secretary #1 (Dell, 1962) Condition: VF. Painted cover. Hy Eisman and Vince Colletta art. Just the second copy we've ever seen. Overstreet 2023 VF 8.0 value = $31.

Private Secretary #2 (Dell, 1963) Condition: VF. The first copy we've ever offered. Painted cover. Hy Eisman and Vince Colletta art. Overstreet 2023 VF 8.0 value = $23.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!