Matt Baker Covers Teen-Age Romances #32, Up for Auction

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After a short run of painted covers from Ziff-Davis inventory, Matt Baker returned to St. John’s Teen-Age Romances with a sizzling cover run.

Even among the seemingly countless stand-out Matt Baker romance covers that the legendary artist drew for the St. John Publishing Company, collectors have their favorites.  Covers like Cinderella Love #25 and Giant Comics Editions #12 have become legendary and highly sought-after.  The sizzling summer beach scene on the cover of  Teen-Age Romances #32 has become another favorite of Baker collectors in recent years, and it’s easy to see why.  This one has all of the elements that Baker and romance collectors love, and there’s a CGC 5.5 copy up for auction in the 2024 July 18 The Matt Baker Comics Showcase Auction #40267 at Heritage Auctions.

Teen-Age Romances was one of St. John’s most popular titles.  Running for 45 issues 1949-1955, only Paul Terry’s Mighty Mouse Comics ran for more issues at the publisher.  Matt Baker produced 35 covers for this title, which includes his first-ever romance work for Teen-Age Romances #1.  The only non-Baker covers on the series are a handful of photo-covers, plus a few painted covers which are likely to have been Ziff-Davis inventory acquired by St. John.  Overall, it can be said that Matt Baker defined the tone of this series from beginning to end.

In fact, putting this cover in the context of the series timeline, it’s easy to spot the likely reason why this cover was so good.  Issues #26-30 are painted covers, almost certainly from Ziff-Davis inventory and somewhat more conservative than the rest of the romance field due to the tendencies of that publisher. Some of the interior content here is also likely from Ziff-Davis.  Baker returned to covers for the title with issue #31 and turned in his best work of the series with an absolutely scorching run of covers from #31 to #39, almost as if he had been instructed to turn up the heat after the charming but safe painted cover run that had come before.

Baker’s Teen-Age Romances #32 cover is based on the interior story My Lesson in Love by an unknown writer and artist but perhaps from Ziff-Davis inventory.  A young woman on her way to college finds out that her steady high school boyfriend was following her there, but wasn’t sure that’s what she wanted.  After dating other boys in college, she ultimately finds that her high school sweatheart was the one for her all along.

As with most St. John comic books, Teen-Age Romances #32 is incredibly rare in high grade.  Only one copy of this issue above CGC 6.0 has been sold at public auction in the CGC era, and that was 13 years ago.  That makes this CGC 5.5 copy highly desirable for serious Baker collectors, and it’s up for auction in the 2024 July 18 The Matt Baker Comics Showcase Auction #40267 at Heritage Auctions.

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