Time lapse: Tale of two teens

US girls' magazines

Back in the Fifties, simply kissing too much got a girl a bad name - and to be caught kissing someone else's man, in public, and wearing a tight red sweater, was a step along the road to damnation, as can be seen from this October 1953 issue of Hi-School Romance. As the cover sell says, "There's no word wicked enough for what she did ... Read: Call Me Scandalous!" In those early, booming days of girls' comics, readers knew that happiness could only come with the love of a true man.

Fast-forward to a 1994 edition of Hothead Paisan. By now "girl" has mutated to third-generation feminist "grrrl", and what the genre has lost in popularity it has made up for in politics - angry politics. In the cover story, Hothead and Daphne are sat on a park bench, when a huge man sits down next to them, spreading out his legs and invading their space. At first Hothead gives him a chance. She stares at the leg and says, "Uh, pardon me ..." The guy mutters, recklessly, "Whatcher problem?" Then, with a demonic grin, Hothead produces a hatchet, chops off the offending leg, and hands it to him. "This!" she announces, "Does this belong to you? Because I found it way over here in MY space!" Superman, eat your heart out - and watch where you flap that cape. n

`From Girls to Grrrlz', by Trina Robbins, is published by Chronicle Books, pounds 11.99

colours

Red

Macau meat market

Not the costumes from a piece of Grand Guignol, but the very practical uniforms of butchers in this tiny, bustling Portuguese territory 40 miles west of Hong Kong. Beyond the confines of the market, there is another bloody story to be told: the battle among triad rivals for gangland control before Macau returns to Chinese rule at the end of the year.

numbers

21, 17, 75

Time out from the Superbowl

Three fans of American football, photographed in the men's room of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. European fans of the game will be tuning into the World Bowl Championship in Dusseldorf tomorrow when the Barcelona Dragons take on Frankfurt Galaxy.