Kathy and her closest frenemy
Kathy (subtitled The Teen-age Tornado!) is a 1959 comic book series, initially published by Atlas Comics and later by their successor Marvel Comics.
The series is a comedy aimed at female readers, starring the titular Kathy Carter. Kathy's a normal American teenager, living at home with her parents. She's interested in boys and fashion and has a deep rivalry with her friend Liz Hilton. Kathy's usual boyfriend is Rick Brown, but she's clearly interested in other guys as well.
In contrast to some of the other Atlas comedy heroines, Kathy and Liz's rivalry isn't entirely one-sided. Liz lies and cheats to help herself outdo her friend (which almost always backfires), but Kathy's well aware of it and sometimes actively plans to deal with Liz. At other times they'll work together - at least temporarily - to meet interesting boys and take a break from their usual boyfriends.
The series is an Anthology Comic, with a typical issue featuring several short comic stories about Kathy and an unrelated text story.
There are no costumes or superpowers and, unlike some of the other Atlas characters, as of 2023 Kathy hasn't been directly integrated into the shared Marvel Universe.
The first issue was published in July 1959. The final issue (#27) was published in December 1963.
Kathy contains examples of the following tropes:
- Accidental Proposal: In issue #18's "Wedding Belles", Kathy's looking at a bridal wear shop window when Rick tells her he'll have a very important question for her that evening. She immediately assumes he's about to propose and, after he leaves, starts trying on dresses and preparing. Rick actually wants Kathy's opinion on the way he's customised his car's fenders and grill.
- All Just a Dream: Issue #25 features the two-part "Kathy and Rick Elope!" story. The first and last scenes are real events, but everything else - which is mostly the couple's jinxed attempt to elope in the middle of the night - is just one of Kathy's dreams.
- Anthology Comic: A typical issue of Kathy includes several stories of varying length starring Kathy herself, plus a standalone text short story with different characters. Occasionally some of the comic stories are directly linked, or chapters in a larger tale.
- Beach Bury: In issue #13's "The Peach on the Beach", Liz sneaks up behind Kathy while she's snoozing on the beach, hoping to bury her in sand for a while so that Liz can monopolise the cute life guards. It backfires when she mistakes an older woman in the same swimsuit for Kathy.
- Bitch Alert: Kathy's friend Liz Hilton is pretty blatant about their (mostly one-sided) rivalry. She's insulting and dismissive to Kathy at various points, although she'll try more subtle tactics to undermine her as well.
- Cardiovascular Love: Kathy and other characters are shown surrounded by floating hearts when they're feeling smitten, such as when a handsome stranger gets Kathy's full attention in #13.
- Chased Off into the Sunset: Issue #13's "The Peach on the Beach" ends with Liz fleeing across the beach, pursued by the furious woman she briefly mistook for Kathy.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: In issue #18's "On With The Dance", to cheat in a dance contest, Liz doses Kathy with itching powder. Kathy wins, as the judges assume her frantic motion is a very energetic take on the twist.
- Cosmetic Horror: In issue #13's "Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall", Kathy thinks she looks fabulous, but the phone doesn't ring and she doesn't have a date. Resigning herself to a night in, she changes, puts her hair in rollers and starts her beauty routine. When Ricky turns up unexpectedly, he's shocked by the sight.Blanche Carter: Ricky dropped in to see if you'd care to go dancing!Ricky: [shocked] How about it, Kathy? [gulps] If you are Kathy?
- Fashion-Shop Fashion Show:
- In issue #13's "Kathy Stops To Shop", Kathy spots a dress sale and tries on a whole range of dresses. It's presented as a montage, with Ricky getting increasingly impatient and confused. The shop assistant assures him that this is just how it works, and that women always buy the last dress, whichever one that is. He would have been correct in this case - but Kathy saw Liz walking past in the same dress, so immediately changed her mind.
- In issue #18's "Wedding Belles", Kathy mistakenly thinks that Rick's told her he's about to propose, so spends her afternoon trying a range of possible wedding dresses.
- Know Your Vines: In issue #18's "Kathy's Vacation Elation", Kathy's constantly-changing plans mean that her family end up holidaying alone in a mountain resort, far from anyone else she knows. She finishes the story dejectedly sitting in a bush, only for her dad to point out that it's poison ivy.
- Gold Digger: In "Kathy's Country Club Capers!", Kathy and Liz mostly accept Gilbert G. Goldplate's invitation to the El Swanko club so that they can meet and court rich, attractive guys. Kathy eventually decides not to abandon Gilbert, whereas Liz leaves the club with two young men who've been flirting with her. Gilbert then tells Kathy that the two were simply working there, and aren't wealthy members. A final scene shows Liz realising that they're not wealthy and the boys, who had a similar plan, unhappily realising that Liz isn't rich either...
- Lending a Backhand: In #13, Liz overhears Ricky saying that he hates the "stringy" Brigitte Bardot hairstyles he sees girls wearing. Liz, seeing a chance for mischief, immediately tells Kathy that Ricky loves that hairstyle. Despite her wariness of Liz's schemes, Kathy thinks it's sincere advice and changes her hair to the other style. The scheme backfires as usual when Kathy meets Ricky. Not only has he now seen a new Bardot film and completely reversed his opinion, but Kathy unintentionally wins a Bardot lookalike competition.
- Legion of Lost Souls: After Liz's plan to split Ricky and Kathy backfires completely in #13, Liz considers running away to join the foreign legion.Ricky: Last time I saw her, she was rushing out, muttering something about whether they allow women to join the foreign legion.
- Meaningful Name: Gilbert G. Goldplate, disparagingly referred to as "Little Mister Moneybags", is one of the wealthiest boys in town and a member of the exclusive El Swanko Beach Club.
- Misplaced Retribution: In issue #18's "Love Thy Neighbor", the titular girls' club collapses into bitter infighting. When Ricky innocently asks Kathy, Liz and Fanny how it's going, the scene cuts to show him getting up from the ground, clutching his head and nursing a newly acquired black eye.Kathy: I never could stand wise-guys!
- Mistaken for Flirting: One of the shorter stories in #13, "Quaint Paint", sees Kathy tasked with painting a fence for her father, and hoping that a "prince on a white charger" would appear to rescue her. A polite young man wearing a suit and bow tie promptly arrives and offers to help, saying that he can't bear to see her doing such hard work. Kathy is immediately smitten, symbolised by hearts appearing around her. Then she realises that he's a salesman for a paintbrush company...
- Mistaken from Behind: In #13's "The Peach on the Beach", Liz decides to bury Kathy in sand, but accidentally creeps up behind an older woman who's wearing the same swimsuit. Liz flees as soon as she realises she's tried to tip sand over the wrong person.
- Mugging the Monster: A downplayed example. In #13's "The Peach on the Beach", Liz decides to bury Kathy in sand, but when sneaking up behind her, she mistakenly targets a muscular older woman wearing the same swimsuit, who realises what's going on after the first handful of sand lands. Liz ends up fleeing across the beach pursued by her enraged victim.
- We ARE Struggling Together: In issue #18's "Love Thy Neighbor", Kathy, Liz and Fanny form the titular club to encourage global peace and friendship. Within a couple of pages it descends into bitter feuding, as they immediately clash over who'll serve as president.
- With Friends Like These...: Liz Hilton will take almost any opportunity to sabotage, cheat or otherwise undermine Kathy. She's openly catty and dismissive, even when she's not planning something underhanded. Kathy can be pretty scathing about Liz as well. Despite this, she seems to be Kathy's closest friend and they actively choose to socialise together.
