And here’s the original art from the late 1950s…
Time for a new dialog challenge. Take a look at the original 1959 romance art (from First Kiss #7) below and come up with a clever bit of dialog that one (or both) of the characters would say next. You can submit the dialog as a comment on my Last Kiss Facebook page. If you’re Facebook shy, submit it as a comment to this blog post. No prizes. No deadlines. No pressure!
In case you’re wondering, the context for the original panel is that Jerry has just arrived at his former girlfriend’s house and gotten a welcoming kiss from the girl in the panel. He thinks it’s his former girlfriend, but—surprise! It’s really his former girlfriend’s identical cousin.
(Yes, this was basically the plot of every episode of The Patty Duke Show—which first aired in 1963—four years after this story was published.)
Jerry and the cousin enjoy the kiss. A lot. And—as it always does when you find yourself dating someone who looks exactly like the girl who rejected you—love proves irresistible.
The interesting thing about the original art below is not what’s happening, but what isn’t. The story is about a woman who meets a guy and likes him until she finds out that:
A) He’s a drug-dealing, philandering crime lord.
B) He’s an ink-slinging, low-paid cartoonist.
C) He’s a truck driver.
D) He smokes.
E) He’s a communist spy, but he votes Republican.
Pick one. Then see the answer below the comic.
The answer? C. He’s a truck driver. (She’d hoped he was a doctor or lawyer.)
What gets me—besides the snobbery—is that she sees him smoking here and it absolutely isn’t a problem. These days it would really turn off a lot of potential lovers. But back in the 1960s—it was better to be a three-pack-a-day doctor than be a healthy truck driver.
By the way, eventually she decides to overlook his profession. And guess what? Everything is going to be okay because he’s going to college nights. So he must have some ambition after all!
Extra credit assignment: Don’t get pregnant!
“I drink to forget. Unless I forget to drink.”
—Slurpswell Von Tramp
