love is in the air

So how do you get me to buy Modeling with Millie?

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Well, actually, it doesn’t take much to get me to take a look at a Millie the Model comic, but by God, if it’s filled with art by Herbie cocreator Ogden Whitney, it’s a must-buy!


Whitney had illustrated several romance books during his career, but I haven’t come across too many of them at the shop, simply because romance comics are few and far between in the collections we see. But, just this past week, we picked up a pretty good stack of ’60s and ’70s romance titles in conditions that we can charitably describe as “mostly readable.” This particular issue, Modeling with Millie #54 (June 1967), also the last of this particular iteration of Millie the Model comics, was actually one of the better-conditioned copies in the collection, topping off at a glossy Fair to Good.

And oh man, the art inside…even when Whitney was trying to play it straight, the characters usually looked like the wiring needed some work behind their eyes, there:


Or here, where you can enjoy some ’60s-style rockin’ and / or rollin’ lyrics along with a swell fashion display from Millie (click on the following image to Super-Millie-Size it):


More snappy lyrics, more splendid fashion:


The last story of the book opens with Millie getting way into Fantastic Four #63:


…which makes her wish for superpowers of her own:


…though she gets derided a bit for her choice of reading material:


That doesn’t stop Millie from dreaming herself up as a superhero:


…and performing incredible feats of strength while providing important moral messages:


“Also, don’t snap bad guys’ necks! Excelsior, friends!”

And is this Whitney’s only drawing of the Thing?

I don’t know just how much Marvel work he did, but I would have paid good money to read an Ogden Whitney-drawn Fantastic Four story.
 
 

images from Modeling with Millie #54 (June 1967) by Gary Friedrich and Ogden Whitney