Joe Certa First Romance 40

It seems that back in the 1950's every artist worth their salt did some work on romance comics. Kirby did, as did Meskin, Toth, Prentice, Williamson, Frazetta to name just a few. Joe Certa may well be remembered for his work on The Martian Manhunter for DC in the 1950's and 1960's. This is a splash page from his work at Harvey. Often, these stories were published before the Code went into place and reprinted afterwards and It is interesting to see how the Comics Code altered them. Basically, this story is about a woman who becomes a showgirl, and gets married to a man who is very jealous and doesn't want her to perform. He is then drafted and she decides to become a USO performer, royally ticking him off because he does not want her ogled by lonely GIs. She also meets up with her old friends.. including a musician she had considered dating... and some of the dialogue suggests she considered "straying". Racy stuff for 1956. Many altered word balloons, and even the main image of the splash has been changed to suggest she is with her husband rather than the USO musician.