Teen Comics #23
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeTeen Comics #23 (Fall 1947) is the issue in which Cindy Smith — Timely's Archie-inspired teen-humor heroine — formally began her run as a regular recurring feature within the Teen Comics anthology, deepening the bench of Timely's girl-centered humor line at the precise moment publisher Martin Goodman was pivoting away from superheroes toward teen comedy and romance titles to court female readers. The issue also continued the appearances of Patsy Walker and Georgie, making it a representative snapshot of Timely's entire postwar teen-humor output under one cover. As part of the series that grew directly out of All Teen Comics (itself a rebrand of the superhero title All Winners Comics), the issue sits at a documented crossroads of Golden Age genre transition. That lineage — from superhero anthology to teen-comedy vehicle — makes it a tangible artifact of one of the most consequential editorial pivots in early Marvel history.
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Teen Comics ran from 1947 to 1950 as a direct continuation of All Teen Comics #20, which had itself evolved from the superhero title All Winners Comics — a chain of rebrands reflecting Timely's industrywide shift away from superheroes as postwar reader tastes changed. Issue #23, bearing a Fall 1947 cover date and a release date of August 11, 1947, was edited and lettered by Stan Lee, with cover and interior art credited to Mike Sekowsky (pencils) and Chris Rule (inks). Sekowsky was already one of Timely's most prolific and fastest draftsmen, having worked across the studio's adventure and humor bullpens since 1941, and the Teen Comics run gave him a venue for the lighter register he had honed alongside heavier superhero work.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published by Timely Comics (Marvel's Golden Age predecessor); cover-dated Fall 1947, with an on-sale date of August 11, 1947 (Week 33, 1947).
- The issue's lead story title is 'Dance Romance!', as documented in the Marvel Database.
- This issue marks the point at which Cindy Smith formally began as a regular feature within Teen Comics — the Marvel Database explicitly notes 'Cindy starts as a regular feature in this issue.'
- Cindy Smith, who first appeared in Junior Miss #24 in 1947, was a deliberate Archie analogue: where Archie had Riverdale High, Cindy had Oakdale High; where Archie had Veronica (inspired by actress Veronica Lake), Cindy had a rival named Sandra Lake.
- The issue also features Patsy Walker (with her supporting cast of Buzz Baxter, Hedy Wolfe, Nan Brown, and Mickey Walker) and Georgie, making it a multi-feature anthology representing Timely's full teen-humor stable.
- Cover and interior art by Mike Sekowsky (pencils) and Chris Rule (inks); Stan Lee served as both editor and letterer.
- The Teen Comics title itself was a direct continuation of All Teen Comics #20, which had evolved from the superhero title All Winners Comics — the series numbering carried over as Timely converted superhero real estate to teen-humor content.
- After Teen Comics ended its Timely run, its numbering was absorbed into Journey Into Unknown Worlds beginning with issue #36 (September 1950), connecting this teen-humor era directly to Timely/Atlas's subsequent science fiction and horror output.
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Reprints
Reprinted in From Girls to Grrrlz: A History of ♀ Comics from Teens to Zines #[nn] (1999)
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