Chicago Spanking Review

Daring Love #17

---> Comics Gallery 2


cover of daring love #17

Daring Love #17 (April 1953). Published by Pix Parade. Cover art by Joseph Szokoli. This was the final issue - and not the only time a romance comic last issue featured a spanking. Posted by the Web-Ed on 02/14/2014 (click to double-size).

It's easier to search through digital scans (when they are available) than actual printed comic books, but even so it's a daunting task. Over a period of several weeks last year, we had searched through thousands of digitally-scanned pages of romance comics without success, and then we chanced upon Daring Love #17 (April 1953). This was not a title we knew much about, being published by one of the smaller outfits, Pix Parade. It was in fact a continuation of Youthful Romances (#5-14), and the reason for the title change with issue #15 is not known to us, although it may have something to do with making the book more like Youthful Magazines Inc.'s Daring Confessions - perhaps the two publishers were somehow related. In any case, it's another romance comic spanking discovered by us and available exclusively here on CSR!

Our story is called "Love is Blind" and is set during the Korean War. It should be mentioned that war comics, of which this is not an example, made a strong comeback during the Korean War. In fact, this story although of the romance genre is noticeably similar to Combat Casey #7 in that it follows the adventures of a female correspondent at the front. The unknown scripter could not possibly have seen Combat Casey #7 (cover-dated only one month earlier) before writing this unless he had written it himself, which is unlikely for a number of reasons. It seems to be a strange coincidence, perhaps the result of hundreds of romance comic stories being churned out every month at this time. The artist is Stephen Kirkel.

Our story gets off to a good start (no way it could be better) with the spanking right on the splash page! When the spankee (Nancy) cries "I'll report you to the commanding General!" Captain Bill Gray responds, "Don't forget to do an article on it (the spanking) too!" Since this isn't the beginning of the story, we know we'll get a second spanking panel later. The last two panels simply show how Bill and Nancy met in Tokyo.

love is blind splash page

After returning to the front in Korea, Bill is surprised to see Nancy, who has been assigned to tour the front. Nancy reveals she's used to getting her own way: "When I ask for something, I get it!" That turns out to be true before long, although probably not the way she meant it.
love is blind splash page

Nancy makes some unreasonable complaints, then loses it when an exhausted soldier falls asleep on her shoulder. Bill does his manly duty: "Nancy needed a sound spanking, and I gave it to her...!" The spanking apparently continues for some time, and it must have been a good hard one, because after Nancy runs out, an admiring soldier tells Bill, "You sure pack a wallop!"
love is blind splash page

love is blind splash page

But everything turns out fine in the end, with a contrite Nancy realizing she deserved to be spanked, although she doesn't say so. Bill and Nancy wind up happily married. Another case where spanking saved the day - hooray!

daring love #17 first spanking panel

A close-up of the first spanking panel. Not the best OTK positioning, but the spanking looks vigorous. Art by Stephen Kirkel.

daring love #17 second spanking panel

A close-up of the second spanking panel. The OTK positioning is better here, although the head-on camera angle makes it difficult to appreciate.


next page button NEXT ENTRY - Modern Love #3
previous page button PREVIOUS ENTRY - My Own Romance #24
return to comics page button COMICS PAGE 2 - Return to Comics Page 2
return to home page button HOME - Return to Home Page