Nurse Betsy Crane

    (Charlton, 1961-1964)
™ and ©1961 Charlton Publications, Inc.

Considering how much play the medical soap opera theme gets elsewhere in popular culture, it is interesting that comic books have not mined this vein with much conviction. Nurse Betsy Crane, a product of Charlton comics, is one of the few examples. Betsy Crane is (surprise!) a kind-hearted nurse with a knack for picking really cute, really troubled patients. The medical setting allows for an element of Gothic atmosphere and mystery in addition to the usual romance comics histrionics. Also, since Nurse Crane is the titular heroine of the strip, her presence provides continuity, if not genuine character development, that other romance books lack by virtue of the usual anthology format. Dick Giordano, who subsequently went on to better things as an artist and editor at DC, applied his eye-pleasing style to the covers and stories of this book.
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