Playboy Playmate as a "former" Playmate because "Once a Playmate, always a Playmate". Marilyn Monroe, who was featured in the first issue, was the only one to appear as "Sweetheart of the Month." The first model called a Playmate of the Month was Margie Harrison, Miss January 1954, in the second issue of "Playboy". Generally a woman may appear only once as a Playmate, but in the early years of the magazine, some models were featured multiple times. Marilyn Waltz (February 1954, April 1954, April 1955 her first appearance was as Margaret Scott) and Janet Pilgrim (July 1955, December 1955, and October
The Playboy a "landmark look at an artist's growth", referring to the pace with which Brown's work matured over the course of the three issues of its serialization. Brown stated that several women took offense at the book, saying it glorified pornography. Hugh Hefner sent Brown a letter after "The Playboy"s publication, showing concern that someone who grew up during the sexual revolution could still suffer such confusion and anxiety. Darcy Sullivan compared the pornography-obsessed autobiographical work of Joe Matt in "Peepshow" unfavourably to "The Playboy" in an issue of "The Comics Journal", to which Brown responded with a defence of Matt's