Bob Oksner's Finest Hour: DC's Pat Boone series

Out Of This World takes a final look at DC's Pat Boone series today, with three more Larry Nadle stories drawn by Bob Oksner. The first is one of the four page short stories featuring Pat, his wife Shirley, and their four girls. "4 Little Chicks" isn't the only comic book story that provides a window into that cultural phenomenon known as the babysitter - it's a theme used all over, but this one has an unusual twist in that Pat and Shirley have had enough of going out, but they don't want to disappoint the babysitter by telling her she's not needed. I love the club president Becky's 'Swoon with Boone' badge at the end. This story is from Pat Boone 1.

Next here's the campus queen story from Pat Boone 4. Having grown up and gone to college in the UK, where such phenomena are not present, it was a huge eye-opener to eventually witness the sorority rush, tail-gate parties at football games, and all the other events that make up American campus culture. Maybe this is one that has died out now, but clearly it was an element of 1950s and early 60s campus life:

Here's a picture of the Florida State University campus queen of 1952 for comparison (image copyright Time Inc., used in accordance with stated conditions). I think it would have looked better if the float had been pulled by that gorgeous car in the gateway rather than the tractor, but I have no experience in organizing such events. Clearly this was a serious business, similar to the homecoming queen at American high schools:

 For a final farewell to Oksner's Pat Boone, here's the main story from Pat Boone 5, in which yet again Pat comes to the rescue in an awkward situation, this time for the high school drama teacher:

Next up, Out Of This World will be taking a look at some more of Oksner's work, amongst others, when we examine the inclusion of beatniks in early 60s comics.

Oh for those bygone days!
But more recently:
The Boone Girls
and The Boone Girls with Pat Boone

DC's Pat Boone Comics: Wholesome Americana

The cover of Pat Boone 4 is typical of the short run of this late 1950s DC title, in that it uses a large photo of Pat, plus in this case Johnny Mathis and Bobby Darin, about whom there are some text features with illustrations inside. The series ran from Sept/Oct 1959 through May/June 1960, and coincided with Pat's still being a hit record artist, as well as a movie and TV star. We'll start this second look at DC's Pat Boone series with one of the short 5-page stories set in Pat's family, with his wife Shirley and their four young children. The beautifully rendered art is again by Bob Oksner, who drew the entire 5-issue series, and this and the stories presented in the previous post were written by Larry Nadle.

Next here's a collection of the fashion double-page spreads from the centers of Pat Boone 1 through 5, stitched together as well as I could manage. These are very much a feature of DC romance comics of the 1960s, and you can see a wonderful selection of these on Jacque Nodell's romance comics blog, Sequential Crush. Note the "Twixt Twelve and Twenty" title to the fashion pages from Pat Boone 2 - this was the title used by Pat for one of his self-help books for teens.

Pat himself was used in ads in the comics, including this one for men's shoes from the back cover of Pat Boone 5.

Here's a couple of double page gag features drawn by Mort Drucker. "Teens Eye View" is from Pat Boone 3 and "Teen Dates" is from Pat Boone 2.

Here's one of the text features on another star of the time (and still today in this case!): Johnny Mathis from Pat Boone 4.

Each issue contained one or more pages dealing with the numerous Pat Boone Fan Clubs - fan clubs appeared to have been very important to young people at the time, a social group for individuals with a shared interest. Note the cartoon drawn by Pat Boone.

Each issue has information about Pat Boone and his life, and was in fact written by Pat Boone himself, so it's autobiographical. I like this one, from the last issue:

Finally, the letters pages that were also a regular feature. Whether or not Pat answered the letters himself, or even if the letters were genuine, is unknown, but Pat certainly seems to have got into writing those self-help books for teens in the early 60s.

So that's it for this one. As you can see, these comics contained a lot for the Pat Boone fan, more than what has been offered here on this post. These books are tough to find nowadays, but I would say they're important artistically because of the way Oksner drew the stories (different from his other work, for example, on DC's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis), and for me, this was some of his best work. The absence of speech balloons, and with minimal framing to the panels, this style must have saved on inking but it also looks really great.

Mining for Gold: DC's Pat Boone Comics

I recently read in an online forum someone describing comic books as largely 'low culture', grudgingly accepting that Art Spiegelman's Maus was justified in winning its award, but that this was the exception rather than the rule in terms of quality where comics are concerned. Of course I completely disagree with such a classist condemnation, and it inspired me to begin a regular look through the archives for some examples of why this guy was talking through his backside. Here's a series that I discovered back in the 1960s when it was already old, and although I have to say the contents didn't appeal to me at the time, designed as it is for female fans of Pat Boone back in the day, I nevertheless even then saw that this was a piece of quality production, with stories written by Larry Nadle and some outstanding artwork by Bob Oksner. 45 years later and looking at it again I see way more than the creators could have consciously put into it - but as a product of its time it inevitably incorporated many aspects of American culture that now provide a primary source for information about America's past. The books contain a multitude of different features, in addition to the expertly drawn stories, which all feature Pat Boone. The main stories have Pat sort of in the background, ending up helping someone with their problems. The second story in each book is shorter, and features Pat, his wife, and their four daughters! They married young, and had four kids before they were in their mid-twenties! What's great about the stories, especially the main feature, is that they are already describing an American cultural phenomenon, that of the movie/rock star and his/her interactions with the adoring public. Secondly, there are all the subsidiary items Oksner uses as props or background in the art, that give a detailed picture of the typical artifacts of the late 1950s American home or town. Lastly, the plots include reference to other American cultural edifices, for example, sororities, and campus queens. The comic itself is also a great piece of Americana. The books are aimed at teens, and so have teen fashion pages, teen cartoons, items about Pat's life and the careers of other stars of the day, and a letters page on which Pat answers the readers who have been writing in about their problems. The content of the stories, along with the fashion and letters pages, makes it fall into the romance genre, as well as being whatever else you might call it. Oksner's art is unusual in that there are no actual word balloons - the speech is connected to the speaker by a line only, if necessary. Along with Oksner's fabulous style, it gives the pages a very open, airy, bright sunny day feel to them. So anyway, here's a few to enjoy, starting with "A Teenager's Dilemma" from Pat Boone 1:

Next up is "An Invitation to Pledge" from Pat Boone 2:

Finally, for today, "Little Boy Lost" from Pat Boone 3. Note the gorgeous fins on that car, plus ponder the possibility that nowadays children's services would have taken the boy into care because of neglect.

Out Of This World will be providing a couple more posts on the Pat Boone comics, taking a look at some of the other material included in these books.