Christmas Comics COOKIE "Do Your Xmas Shopping Early"

How do you make some extra cash for Christmas?

If you're a teenager named "Cookie", it's usually the hard way...

Oddly enough, I couldn't find a Christmas-specific story in over 400 romance comics!

So I went with this teen humor strip from Cookie #10 (1947), written and illustrated by Dan Gordon, who was a writer-animator-director for the Fleischer Studios (Superman, Popeye), then went into comics, finally returning to animation at Hanna-Barbera where he co-created (among others) The Flintstones!

We're taking a week off and will be back after New Year's Day.

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year

ADVENTURES IN ROMANCE "Black Lily"

Let's journey back to the 1700s, when men were dashing, women were demure...

...and court intrigue was common!

This page was the inside back cover of the comic, so it's b/w rather than color.

This torrid tale from Adventures in Romance #1 (1949) was illustrated by Leonard Starr, who did over 400 comic stories in the late 1940s-mid 1950s, went on to create the long-running (1957-79) newspaper soap-opera strip Mary Perkins on Stage and then took over the writing and illustrating chores on Annie (adapting his realistic style to match original artist Harold Gray's looser, "cartoonier" style) finally ending up as the primary designer and story editor on the original ThunderCats animated tv series!

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!

(You will! Really!)

And now a word from our sponsor...
Support Small Business this Christmas!

You can own a kool komic collectible
(t-shirt, mug, tote bag, etc.)

 embellished with the cover art from the comic that featured this week's torrid tale...

 ...by clicking HERE!

OUR LOVE STORY "The Hurt & the Heartbreak!"

Some romance comic book titles just say it all...

...like this one from Marvel's Our Love Story #3 (1970)!

Don't you just love those late-1960s/early-1970s fashions?

Story by Stan Lee, art by Don Heck and Frank Giacoia, all of whom have extensive romance comics credits going back to the 1950s, and forward to the mid-1970s!

Special Bonus:

The wonderfully-overwrought cover from this issue!

Art by John Buscema & Frank Giacoia

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...
Support Small Business this Christmas!

Visit the

True Love Comics Tales™

Comics Collectibles Shop

PERSONAL LOVE "A Love of My Own"

Here's a military-themed tale of True Love...

...that spans not only military ranks, but generations as well!

This touching tale from Personal Love #24 (1953) was illustrated by an up-and-coming Frank Frazetta, who would go on to become one of the foremost sf/fantasy artists of all time, doing the definitive book covers of Tarzan, Conan the Barbarian, John Carter of Mars, and other classic characters as well as posters for movies and tv series including the original BattleStar Galactica.

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...
Support Small Business

Visit the

True Love Comics Tales™

Comics Collectibles Shop

DARING LOVE "Paper Romance"

This week we're presenting a tale from Daring Love (1953), a one-shot comic featuring a one-time combination of two of the most famous artists in comic book history!

The artists are:
1) Matt Baker, whom we've shown here several times, doing layouts.
2) And, in his very first published story, Steve Ditko, who would later co-create Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, on finished pencils and inks.

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...

Visit the

True Love Comics Tales™

Comics Collectibles Shop

TEEN LOVE STORIES "I'll Be Yours, My Love"

A 1960s romance comic story, but not from a romance comic...

 ...but from a teen romance magazine, published in 1967!

Jim Warren, who built up a publishing business in the early 1960s with titles like Famous Monsters of Filmland, Screen Thrills, Help!, and Monster World, got into comics publishing with a diverse line of b/w magazines (to avoid the restrictions of the Comics Code that controlled editorial content of color comics) including Creepy, Eerie, Blazing Combat, and Teen Love Stories.

To maximize the potential audience for the romance title, it was designed to appear similar to teen mags of the era like Tiger Beat and 16, which it was racked with...

...and, besides comic strips, it included text features, quizzes...

...and even anti-smoking ads!

(illustrated by the legendary Frank Frazetta, no less!)

Of all the Warren Publishing comic magazines, Teen Love Stories was the shortest-lived at only three issues, all of which are very hard-to-find!

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...

Check out the

True Love Comics Tales™

Comics Collectibles Shop