Tales Twice-Told TIPPY TEEN / VICKI "3rd Finger, Right Hand"

She's supposedly two different girls, almost a decade apart...

...even though both of them have the same boyfriend!

When this story from Tower's Tippy Teen #3 (1966) was reprinted in Atlas/Seaboard's Vicki #1 (1975), more than just the fashions and hairstyles were altered*.

Tippi became "Vicki", though her boyfriend remained "Tommy Trippit" in both versions!
Trivia: this was one of the most-reprinted Tippi Teen stories of all!
Besides the reprint in Vicki, it had previously-been reprinted (without hair/fashion alterations) in the final issue of Tippy Teen in 1969!

Why did Seaboard change the character's name from Tippy to Vicki?

Nobody's certain.

But, since Vicki was cancelled after only four issues, the question is now moot.

*With sales falling on most non-superhero genres in the late 1960s (including Western and war as well as romance and teen humor [except for the Archie titles]), "updated reprinting" became a common practice on teen humor and romance comics until the genres all-but died out in the late 1970s.

Editors felt that:

a) the plots were relatively timeless.

b) updating the art was cheaper than totally-redrawing the story. 

c) the artists were better-utilized doing stuff that sold better (like superheroes).
d) the audience for teen humor and romance comics, unlike superhero comics, totally-changed every 5-6 years anyway, and wouldn't notice the "old" plots.

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 our sponsor..

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Archie's Rivals in Teen Comics

1940s-1970s

An Illustrated History

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It's the Season for Lovin' MY ROMANTIC ADVENTURES "Spring Meeting"

Since Spring is now in full bloom, let's look at a tale from a Spring over a Half-Century ago...

...and see a story that some would say could happen today, almost 70 year later!

"I figured right off that any check I gave you would be just a way of keeping the money in the family!"?

Now that's a lawyer!

This never-reprinted short illustrated by Al Williamson and Angelo Torres (who penciled and inked different sections as they passed the pages back and forth) appeared in ACG's My Romantic Adventures #86 (1958).

Odds are the script was by editor Richard E Hughes who wrote almost everything at ACG!

Next Week:

We don't know what we'll present..yet,
but we can guarantee that...

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

And now a word from our sponsor...
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Visit Amazon and Buy...

Agonizing Love

The Golden Age of Romance Comics
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LOVE 1971 "Reckless Losers"

55 years ago...

...romance comics were on their last legs.

But DC Comics' wasn't going down without a fight, starting with the torrid tale under this psychedelic Charlie Armentano cover!

Written/pencilled by Ric Estrada and inked by Tony DeZuniga, this cover-featured, never-reprinted story from DC's Super DC Giant #21 was the only new tale in the 64-page book.

The rest were reprints with hairstyles and clothing "updated" to the then-current styles!

Note: artist Charlie Armentano did only two comic pages that were ever published; this cover and the back cover of DC 100-Page Super-Spectacular #5 Love Stories (1971)!

The art was apparently submitted with coloring done on the original art itself, unheard-of at the time...

Armentano is still active in graphic arts!
Visit his website!

Next Week...

We Don't Know What We're Presenting...Yet!

But You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

And now a word from our sponsor!

Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Love Stories 1971 100-Page Super-Spectacular
Replica Edition
...which features Charlie Armentaro's only other comic book art on the back cover!
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Tales Twice-Told TENDER LOVE STORIES & YOUNG ROMANCE "Fashion Plate"

When is a contemporary love story not  a contemporary love story?

When it was "contemporary" a decade earlier!

You'd think a tale heavily-oriented about current fashion would have been written and drawn...well...currently!

But this story, published in Skywald's Tender Love Stories #4 (1971), wasn't scripted and illustrated in 1971!

It was created almost a decade earlier...in 1963!

Published in Prize's Young Romance #124 (1963), the original version illustrated by Bob Powell's art studio presents the male ingenue first as a leather-clad biker, then as a preppie, and finally as an average Joe.

The reworked version, re-inked by Bill Everett, presents the guy first as a leisure-suited layabout, then a double-breasted suit-clad dandy, and finally, again, as an average Joe.

You'll also note in both cases, Bob starts out with extreme hairstyles, then gets trimmed as the tale goes on!

Of course, looking back on these tales decades later, both stories seem like "period pieces"!

And, yes, we did wear clothes like you see here in both those time periods!

They were considered "cutting edge" then.
"Why did the publisher and editor take an old story and rework it?" you may ask...

With sales falling on most non-superhero genres in the late 1960s (including Western and war as well as romance), this "updated reprinting" became a common practice on romance comics until the genre all-but died out in the late 1970s.

Publishers would do a new 8-20 page lead story and use retouched reprints to fill out the book.
(Some of the books were 100-page "Super Spectaculars"!)

Editors felt that:

a) the plots were relatively timeless.

b) "updating" existing art was cheaper than totally-redrawing the story. 

c) artists were better-utilized doing stuff that sold better (like superheroes).

d) the audience for romance comics, unlike superhero comics, changed every 5-6 years anyway, and newer readers wouldn't notice the old plots!

Next Week...

We Don't Know What We're Presenting...Yet!

But You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

And now a word from our sponsor!

Support True Love Comics Tales by Visiting Amazon and Buying...

Marvel Romance
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Love IS a BattleField DARLING LOVE "I Want My Soldier Boy"

Today's story is About War...

...in several different ways!
Yet this ad, which utilized the tale's splash page, doesn't give away any of them!
Let's read on...

We've presented stories about Korean and German war brides who faced difficulties adjusting to their new lives in America after marrying servicemen, but never a case involving the husband's parents being prejudiced against the new wife!
It's not as if she's a "foreigner/alien" (non-English-speaking ethnic as many war brides were), but British, the nationality most white Americans at that point were descended from!
In fact WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) were the dominant ethnicity in business and politics from America's founding until the 1960s!

Notes:

Darling Love and it's sister, Darling Romance each ran a full-page ad promoting a story in the other's book!
AFAIK, publisher Darling Magazines was the only company to do this.
We took the ad from Darling Romance #5 (which used the tale's splash) and combined it with the rest of the story from Darling Love #5 (1950).
BTW, Darling Magazines was an imprint of MLJ Publishing, aka Archie Comics, which had been doing genre-specific imprints since the 1940s.
In the 1960s, they imitated Marvel with a Mighty Comics line featuring their various superhero character revivals, and in the 70s-80s, they had Red Circle, which published horror and super-hero material!

Next Week:

We don't know yet what we'll present, but we can guarantee...

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

Support True Love Comics Tales

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Agonizing Love

The Golden Age of Romance Comics
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