Teen humor comics

Teen humor comics
Last issue of Fox Feature Syndicate's Junior, July 1948
This topic covers comics that fall under the teen humor genre.
Publishers	MLJ Comics/Archie Comics Quality Comics American Comics Group DC Comics Timely
Publications	Pep Comics Hi-Jinx Buzzy Gay Comics Patsy Walker

Teen humor comics is a genre of comics that humorously depicts contemporary American teenagers. When teen culture and buying power emerged in the early 1940s, comics publishers were quick to glut the newsstands with light-hearted, innocuous comic books about funny teens, cars, dating, high school, and parents. Teen humor comics appealed especially to young teen girls and tweens of both sexes because the books gave them a glimpse of what awaited them in high school.

The genre's formulaic plots anticipated the radio and television suburban family sitcoms such as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and though many titles ceased publication as adult audiences turned to comics tinged with extreme violence and sex in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Archie, Buzzy, Patsy Walker and other titles had relatively long publication lives.

It was in the 1920s that American teens were first viewed as a distinct social group, aided and abetted by the black-and-white illustrations of flappers and their boyfriends produced by John Held, Jr.. By the early 1940s, teens had become a significant consumer group with money of their own, and adult, rather than juvenile, tastes. The group was ripe for exploitation. The commercial and popular success of teen-oriented films such as MGM's Andy Hardy series of the late 1930s starring Mickey Rooney and the Henry Aldrich films of the early 1940s with Jimmy Lydon, gave comic book publishers the incentive to create and develop the teen humor genre.

In 1941, MLJ Comics (later Archie Comics) introduced Archie Andrews and his Riverdale High pals into their superhero and crime buster comic book, Pep Comics. MLJ would become the principal exponent of teen humor comics. The Riverdale teens were popular, and, by the fall of 1942, Archie had his own comic book series with stories focusing on the benign aspects of teen life – cars, dating, school, and parents. While the stories explored contemporary teen culture, they always affirmed conformity and respect for authority.