Dan DeCarlo's Jetta

by Dan DeCarlo

Dan DeCarlo's futuristic, curvy teenage girl, Jetta, zoomed through the future a full decade before Judy Jetson. In the 1950s, the fan-favorite artist, beloved for his portrayals of Betty and Veronica, Josie, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, delineated the madcap adventures of Jetta, "Teen-Age Sweetheart of the 21st Century," with obvious delight. The comics, collected for the first time in their entirety and in living color will be accompanied by a revealing introduction by Craig Yoe who interviewed DeCarlo about these timeless treasures. There's also a bevy of rare, unpublished, original art and photographs, plus Jetta pin-ups by top comic book artists and Hollywood animators.
As with the entire line of Yoe Books, the reproduction techniques employed strive to preserve the look and feel of expensive vintage comics. Painstakingly remastered, enjoy the closest possible recreation of reading these comics when first released.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Art, Science Fiction

104 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Daniel S. DeCarlo was an American cartoonist best known as the artist who developed the look of Archie Comics in the late 1950s and early 1960s, modernizing the characters to their contemporary appearance and establishing the publisher's house style. As well, he is the generally recognized creator of the characters Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Josie and the Pussycats (with the lead character named for his wife), and Cheryl Blossom.

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan DeCarlo's short lived comic series from the early Fifties serves up a Space Age spin on the Archie comics style. There's Neutron High School instead of Riverdale High, Joe's Blast-Inn instead of Pop's Chocklit Shoppe, etc. Jetta's boy friend is named Arky (sounds familiar!) and there's a Veronica Lodge style-vixen named Hilaria.

I thought the comics had an Archie's Mad House vibe about it because it was so weird. I could've done without the interpretations of Jetta drawn by obscure artists; I found it distracting from the book in a bad way.

[Neil Orts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed these humorous 1950s visions of future teen life (where they will still play records!) from one of the best Archie artists ever. These are not the best comics ever made, but really interesting for the historical record, especially for the development of Dan DeCarlo's style.

The added pinups were distracting if not occasionally disturbing and for my part were completely unnecessary. But I suspect the sexed up versions of the teenaged Jetta was intended for the gay male audience (me).

[ISMOTU · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun slice of comic book history drawn by noted Archie Comics artist Dan DeCarlo. Basically a teen comedy set in the far flung future of 2052 (as imagined in 1952). Fairly standard teenage hijinks punctuated with phrases like "Now you're cooking with Uranium" but all brought to life with DeCarlo's unmistakable clean lines. (I'm not sure if we'll get jet-mobiles by then though)

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to the future, Dan DeCarlo style. Great cartooning!