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MARILYN Complete Run by [The Amalgamated Press]; Fernando Fernandez; Jose Gonzales; Luis Garcia - 1965

by [The Amalgamated Press]; Fernando Fernandez; Jose Gonzales; Luis Garcia

MARILYN Complete Run by [The Amalgamated Press]; Fernando Fernandez; Jose Gonzales; Luis Garcia - 1965

MARILYN Complete Run

by [The Amalgamated Press]; Fernando Fernandez; Jose Gonzales; Luis Garcia

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • first
(London): (The Amalgamated Press, Ltd. / Fleetway), 1965. First editions. Very good plus overall. The publisher's own archive of the full run of the popular mid-century British romance weekly. Precursor to the aspirational women's magazine, the post-war British romance comic boom owed its exploding success to the newly identified and newly profitable teenage-girl market: among MARILYN's contemporary peers were ROXY, MIRABELLE, and VALENTINE. As David Roach writes, "For every boys' comic there was an equivalent (or two) for girls."

The decade-long run of MARILYN included weekly installments from insufferable advice columnist "Joan Courage," always eager to tell a lovelorn girl to be less bold, more compliant, less forward, more confident, less sexual, more attractive, and less hopeful: in short, to always say Yes to her parents and No to boys. The comics themselves, while not lacking in simple moralism, offer merciful release from the advertised world of bosom exercises and ankle-reducing diets, particularly in earlier issues; love, passion, and violence blaze on deserted islands, cliff tops, and ordinary offices. The lovesick picture-women of MARILYN make all the rash choices forbidden by the magazine's bracingly mundane good-girls-don't editorial text. When not marrying the wrong man or running from the right one, they plot murder, save crotchety in-laws from fiery infernos, perform in the circus, risk poverty and humiliation - and always fall in love. As the '60s roll in, heartthrob pinups evolve (from Rock Hudson to Richard Chamberlain!) and the editorial voice and the characters portrayed become ever more relentlessly teenage, with real-life social problems edging out the glamorous murder-widows and sinister fortune tellers of the '50s, until the Pop Idol attains total dominion over hearts and minds - with The Beatles not only pictured but (allegedly) answering fan letters in its pages.

First appearing in March 1955, MARILYN was issued by the Amalgamated Press, later Fleetway Publications; the magazine continued to run until September 1965, when it was merged with love-story behemoth VALENTINE. The uncredited artists included such greats as Fernando Fernandez, Jose Gonzales, Luis Garcia, and others affiliated with Josep Toutain's Selecciones Illustrades agency: "Of all the genres comics had to offer, romance was the one area Britain's artist seemed to show the least aptitude for...By the late '50s, Fleetway Publications like Valentine, Mirabelle, Roxy, and Marilyn were almost entirely Spanish-drawn...the Spaniards were highly prized for their undoubtedly superior drawing abilities and Fleetway's editors were well aware of what they had" (Cooke & Roach). Under editor Mike Butterworth, "the whole of Fleetway's romance line was a constant treat for the eyes," with "stylish, sophisticated art by the likes of Longaron, Badia Romero, Carlos Freixas, Garcia Pizarro or Carlos Prunes" and others. The discerning eye may find pre-echoes of their later legendary work for VAMPIRELLA, HEAVY METAL et al. in the more extravagant pages of MARILYN.

All 547 issues are preserved in this handsome uniform set bound by the publisher for internal use, a rare survival of an ephemeral publication not usually afforded such protection from physical damage and rough handling. 22 volumes. 12.25'' x 9.5''. Original red cloth. Publisher's ownership stamps or paper labels to boards. Leaves of newsprint. Moderate edgewear and soil to cloth. Newsprint interiors somewhat fragile and musty with a very few marginal tears and creases; scattered foxing throughout.
  • Bookseller Type Punch Matrix US (US)
  • Book Condition Used - Very good plus overall
  • Quantity Available 1
  • Edition First editions
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Publisher (The Amalgamated Press, Ltd. / Fleetway)
  • Place of Publication (London)
  • Date Published 1965
  • Keywords abaa-california, Romance,20th century,1950s,1960s,Post-WWII,English & British,YA,Graphic Novel / Comic,ABAA-CALIFORNIA