Wednesday, December 19, 2012

O Henry's "Gift of the Magi"

With the last weekend before Christmas approaching...
...let's look at how True Love and Christmas shopping can go hand-in-hand!
This straightforward adaptation of O Henry's Christmas classic appeared in Pendulm Press' Best of O Henry (1977) digest-sized comic.
Written by John Fago (whose father, longtime comic artist/editor Vince Fago packaged the series) and illustrated by Anton Caravana, it was part of a series of Classics Illustrated-type publications released like the Scholastic Book Club, directly to students and school libraries.

BTW, this is our 100th entry.
We're taking a week off and will be back after New Year's Day.
Merry Christmas
and
Happy New Year

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

REALISTIC ROMANCES "The Shame is Mine"

Why is it good girls love "bad boys"?
I guess when the endorphins are flowing, "better judgement" goes out the window, even for the most innocent of us.
This story from Avon's Realistic Romances #16 (1954) was part of a growing sub-genre known as crime romances.
Though not as popular another concepts that mixed genres (Western or military romances), it generated enough interest that one book, Fawcett's Love Mystery, was devoted only to tales that combined romance and criminal activities (usually commited by the guy in the relationship)!
Trivia:
This story was from the second run of Realistic Romances which ran #15-#17.
The first series ran from #1-#8.
A third series from another publisher ran #1, then #8-#9!
So if you're looking to collect this title, there's no #10-#14, but there are two #1s and #8s!

Next week:
We haven't decided yet what it'll be, but we can guarantee that...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)
And now a word from out sponsor...
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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

YOUNG LOVE "Dating Game"

Though it's not based on the popular TV game show...
...this decidedly non-feminist tale from DC's Young Love #104 (1973) featured title lettering inspired by the tv show's distinctive logo!
I'm pretty sure this violates the university's code of ethics, especially before the end of the semester...

Note: this was the same period that DC's Wonder Woman was featured on the cover of the first issue of Ms. Magazine as a Woman's Lib icon!
Art by Murphy Anderson
Ironically, both Wonder Woman and DC's romance titles were edited by the same person, Dorothy Woolfolk!
Both the writer and penciler are unknown, but the inker is clearly Vince Colletta, the go-to inker for romance titles in the 1960s-70s.
Next week:
We haven't decided yet what it'll be, but we can guarantee that...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

And now a word from out sponsor...