Short Lived Comic Series #14 - Private Secretary (Dell Comics)

At a comic convention several years ago, while pouring through the back issue boxes of a comic dealer, I came across issue two of a Dell Comic from the early 1960s titled Private Secretary. Having been a secretary for a number of years (prior to getting my paralegal degree), the title intrigued me - as did the tagline on the cover: "Kim is forced to make a desperate choice!" The price was right, so I picked it up. Now, since this was issue two, obviously I was not going to read it until I found the previous issue, as well as any other issues that may have been published in the series. A quick search on the internet revealed that Dell only published two issues of the series - so that meant I was already halfway to completing the series!  I combed through tons of back issue bins at every convention I went to, and I constantly watched eBay (where I found a number of first issues, but all at prices I was unwilling to pay!). Finally, not so long ago, I was able to get the first issue in the series at a more than reasonable price. That meant, it was time to sit down and read this short lived series...

Private Secretary tells the story of Kim Garland, a small-town girl from Wichita, Kansas who has moved to New York City with dreams of making it big as a private secretary to a big-named, rich executive.  Kim in not some naive midwesterner who comes to the big city with eyes wide open in shock. Oh, no! As readers quickly discover in the first issue, Kim Garland is a woman who knows what she wants, and she will do just about anything to get it. As early as the second page, readers see Kim's drive and determination - she refuses to settle for a simple stenographer job.  "I intend to become a private secretary," she tells the personnel director for Brown & Little," and soon!"

The first issue follows Kim as she advances through the ranks to get that dream job. I admit that while I loved seeing an independent woman represented in comics like this, I was a bit disappointed at how easily she tossed aside her new-found friends, Joann and Rosemary - and not only them, but she dated men in high-ranking positions, leading them on simply to get that coveted position of a private secretary! As she easily moves up the latter, moving from boss to boss, Kim proves that she has what it takes to be a private secretary - but along the way, she loses the few friends she has, and she alienates the men who truly care about her. Interestingly enough, though, Kim learns her lesson by the end of this first issue, and the one man who had been after her for her skills, who she repeatedly turned down, ends up being the one man she can turn to when everything else crumbles down around her!

Something I found rather unique about this first issue (and the second as well!) is that there are no ads whatsoever in the book.  The front inside cover, the back inside cover, and even the back cover all have short little vignettes of working women in the first issue and information about bull fighting and water skiing in the second issue (although the second issue does feature an ad on the back cover).

Now, the second issue does not pick up immediately after the first issue - apparently time has passed

(as has time between issues, since there was a three month gap between the issues). Kim now works for an advertising firm, but she is yearning for the glamor and adventure of a European tour. On impulse, she quits her job, with no guarantee it will be waiting for her when she returns, pulls all of her money out of the bank, and sets off an a European trip of a lifetime!  The travel agency warns her to make sure she sets back enough money to get a return ticket home, to which Kim replies with a laugh, "Not me. I know what I'm doing. I won't lose my head."  Yeah, right, famous last words...

This issue follows Kim's adventures on board the cruise to Europe and her travels from one country to another. On board the ship, she has romance with the second officer, but must fight for his attention against a well-to-do snob who has her own eyes set on the young officer. Of course, she leaves him behind once she arrives in England and begins her adventure, visiting London, then off to Scotland and Ireland, before heading on to Paris, where she meets not one, but two men!  Then, it's off to Madrid to watch the bull fights, where she meets yet another young man with whom she has a whirlwind romance. But all of the festivities come to an end, and Kim discovers that she did not save enough money to get home - she is trapped in Europe! As fate would have it, though, she meets a producer who could use an assistant, so he pays her way back to America where she will work for him. Of course, the story does not end there, as she finds herself embroiled with yet one more man, this one wanting to use her to get ahead in his career (a bit of role reversal for poor Kim, eh?). Only, this time, Kim decides to take the high ground, and rather than use her position to gain favors for the actor, she quits her job - which turns out to be her best decision ever, as it results in her finding the job of her dreams at last! An international company is looking to hire a private secretary for its executive vice president - a position that will have her traveling the world with her boss!

Both issues are jam-packed with story, and the pacing is pretty swift in order to fit in as much romance, story, and action as possible. What is interesting about this series is that the author of the stories is completely uncredited. It is known that Hy Eisman did the pencils and Vince Colletta did the inks, with Jon D'Agostino providing the letters on the stories; but the name of the person who did the actual writing remains a mystery. Which is a shame, since these two issues are actually well-written, particularly for the time in which they were published (1962-63).

When I was younger, I never really paid much attention to Dell Comics, as I never saw their books as being very interesting (I was pretty much all DC and Marvel as a kid). As an adult, however, I'm finding that Dell, as well as some of the other "independent" companies of that era, put out some really great stories, even if they did not have ongoing series that lasted very long.  Private Secretary is one I definitely enjoyed, and it's a shame it only had the two-issue run.

RATING:  9  award-winning Captain Ladies out of 10 for promoting a strong, independent female title character who was far from perfect but capable of learning from her mistakes!