On December 1st, 1952 the New York Daily News ran the front page story “Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty”. The former GI had been known as George William Jorgensen, Jr and took the name Christine while going through the process of sexual reassignment in Denmark, allowing herself to be used basically as a test subject by renowned endocrinologist Dr. Christian Hamburger. Much of the media wanted to turn her life into a salicious affair, Jorgensen was able to turn her experiences into a career as an entertainer and performer. Whether news of Jorgensen’s life tricked down to small town and rural America is something I can’t answer now, but certainly people living in large metropolitan areas would have known and talked about it. Perhaps her story served as inspiration for this short story titled “Transformation” in Space Adventures #7 published by Charlton Comics with a cover date July, 1953. Thanks to François Peneaud for tracking down the date. The Grand Comics Database doesn’t have a writer credit, and lists Dick Giordano as artist. What I find amazing is this story was published before the Senate hearings which led to the establishment of the Comics Code Authority.
