Reading old Code-approved humour comics frequently raises the question “was that intended to mean what we now think it means?” So, here’s a question, in lieu of actual content: do you think the innuendo in these comics panels is a) intended by the writer or b) not?
1. From Marvel/Timely/Atlas’s Millie the Model # 92 (more about this title later, hopefully), drawn by Dan DeCarlo and written by Stan Lee, Millie is offered a sham engagement to a Hollywood hunk named “Tab Hudson,” and I always wondered if there was a definite meaning to his line in the second panel, or if I’m just being sophomoric. Of course the two aren’t mutually exclusive.
2. From She’s Josie # 15 (another title that probably deserves more comment) drawn by Dan DeCarlo and written by Frank Doyle, Pepper (who is awesome) asks for help:
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I vote intentional.
Now let’s see some of that Pepper/Melody ‘shipping!
Is there really another way to take Pepper/Melody? What else could Melody mean?
Also, I’ve gotta agree with PaulW.
A bold move on Pepper’s part, but at least Melody let her down easy.
Number 1 – I’m not sure. On the one hand, the joke works without the subtext – Tab is self-important and doesn’t care what Millie thinks about things. Hilarity ensues. On the other hand, the fact that his name is composed of pieces from both Tab Hunter and Rock Hudson does raise some doubts.
But number 2? I can’t figure out how to read the joke in that panel unless the writer meant it to mean exactly how it reads…
the first one is probably intentional since rock hudson (who i imagine is the inspiration) was a gay movie star who pretended to be straight.
the coincidence would be a little much.
Nah, I don’t think they’re intentional.
I think the first one is a bit of a stretch, but the second… Ok, it’s a misunderstanding and Melody is saying she prefers boys, but she’s not saying she’s straight – clearly she’s thought about it, and isn’t closed to the possibility if the right girl comes along.
The second one certainly seems intentional. I can’t say that deCarlo definitely wanted Melody to be bi, but it does sound like he wanted readers to consider the idea, at least for joke purposes.
Have to admit that I don’t get what the innuendo in the first example is.
The second is definitely intentional.
How widely known was Hudson’s sexuality at the time?
As far as a glance at that Wikipedia article seems to say, Millie #92 would have been around 1959.
My understanding is that while a lot of his friends and colleagues within the film business knew, Hudson’s closet door was still pretty secure as far as the general public went. I think people are just going by how widespread the knowledge is nowadays, decades after the fact.
Melody’s eventual portrayal by Tara Reid now makes much more sense!
I don’t think the first is a play on Rock Hudson at all… I think it’s more of “quit complaining about it– I don’t want to hear about your problems” than anything else.
The second one, I’d need context from the other panels. I doubt that joke is truly in there. -shrug-
@Lamar- I didn’t get the first one either.
The second one is definitely intentional. The only non-innuendo reading I can get is…(hm…) Melody has a short attention span and is vapid, and therefore brings up the subject of boys with no relation to the conversation?
I meant to say Doyle, not DeCarlo. Sorry. Although I think DeCarlo was largely in charge of Josie even when it was written by others, wasn’t he?
I can’t help but notice the hand gesture Tab is making in the second panel. No way is that intentional.
As someone else said, Hudson’s sexuality was a close secret at the time, so I doubt it’s a reference (though it’s funny in retrospect).
Not getting what innuendo you’re driving at in the first one..
The second one does seem intentional, but girls kissing and being in love with one another was once just innocent practice before girls matured enough to fall in love with a boy.
First one I don’t think it was intentional, as noted Hudson’s sexuality was a well-kept secret at the time.
Second one, it’s just a dumb blone joke on the two meanings of appeal. Anything implying bisexuality there? No someone can be appealing to you without it being sexual.
It’s an amusing coincidence that both of Tab Hudson’s namegivers turned out to be gay — but at the time, both were the kind of romantic lead that Tab Hudson was meant to evoke, and both were deep in the closet. So it’s coincidence.
Melody is just a bubblehead — non sequiturs are her goods in trade.
I dunno, according to Wikipedia Tab Hunter was outed in 1955 in a deal with the tabloid ‘Confidential’ to stop the printing story about Hudson.
Hudson’s arranged marriage would have just ended in 1958, right before this comic, so it sounds like rumours could definitely have been around by then.
Second one, it’s just a dumb blone joke on the two meanings of appeal. Anything implying bisexuality there? No someone can be appealing to you without it being sexual.
Aha, now I get the non-innuendo meaning. OK, in context – something like, she’s trying to ask Melody for help but Melody’s more interested in talking about boys? – maybe it wouldn’t stick out as much. But just that one panel…yeah.
(Sorry, linguistics major here)
I’m reminded of a bit from one of J.B. Handelsman’s “Freaky Fables” cartoons…I forget the exact details, but some nobleman or knight has demanded to marry a beautiful maiden, and she refused. He says he’s going to take the matter to a higher authority:
“I shall appeal to the king!”
“Possibly. You don’t appeal to ME!”
The second one’s joke is intentional, like Kid Kyoto said,…the bi-sexual connotation is our modern reading of it.
It’s like if in a 50’s strip, Archie and Jughead said they were having a gay ol’ time, it just meant they were having fun. Or Moose and Dalton said they were off to pack fudge…it just meant they were hitting the candy store.