ROMEO & JULIET Part 1

With the recent return of All My Children and One Life to Live...

...what else could I do except present the greatest love story of all time?
Plus, if any of you need a crash course in Shakespeare's classic for finals...here it is!

Don't you just hate when that happens?

This it not the Classics Illustrated version, but part of the Famous Authors Illustrated series that competed with CI for the "comic book adaptation of classics" market for several years.

The Famous Authors line was doing pretty well, so Classics did what any business would do when faced by a successful competitor...they eliminated the competiton by buying the company!

This particular edition, from Famous Authors Illustrated #10 (1950), was adapted by St John romance comics scribe Dana Dutch and illustrated by longtime CI contributor H C Kiefer!

Next week:

The Story of Fiction's Greatest Star-Crossed Lovers Continues...

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

(Please don't give away the ending!)

And now a word from out sponsor...

Visit our

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Poster Shop

LOVE MYSTERY "Death Take All" Conclusion

A funny thing happened between the first and second parts of this story...

...we lost track of Part 2 and ran a story prepped and scheduled months in advance to coincide with Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day!

(You can do that on Blogger.)

Sometimes it's a lifesaver, especially when you're writing and producing numerous blogs as we do.

Not this time...

Now, back to the story...

When Last We Left Our Couple...

Sports reporter Don Black becomes romantically-involved with Norma Brisbey, whose father owns Buckeye, the odds-on favorite to win in the $100,000 Gold Cup Horse Race.

But threats to both the owner and Spider, the horse's jockey, and an attempt on Mr Brisbey's life convince Black there's a conspiracy to rig the race.

Returning home from visiting her father in the hospital, Norma sees someone lurking outside the house, and Don goes to investigate...

This tale of love and legal matters from Fawcett's Love Mystery #3 (1950) was illustrated by Bob Powell, an ideal choice since he was expert at both romance and crime tales!

The scripter is unknown.

Fawcett tried things no one else would attempt including this title and Negro Romance, hoping to find untapped markets.

Unfortunately, in both cases, the audience never materialized, and both books were cancelled after only three issues.

WARTIME ROMANCES "My Secret Guilt"

With Armed Forces Day this Saturday, and Memorial Day a week away...

...I thought we'd present a tale where both spouses are in uniform, at least when the story begins!

The writer of this tearjerker from St John's WarTime Romances #18 (1953) is Dana Dutch, whose speciality was morally-ambiguous tales.
The illustrator is legendary good-girl artist Matt Baker.

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...

Visit our

WarTime Love

Comics Store!

LOVE MYSTERY "Death Take All" Part 1

Romance has been combined with many genres in comics...

...like westerns, war...even horror and the supernatural!

But only once did comics combine romance with mystery, in the appropriately-named Love Mystery!

Who's lurking outside?

Be here next week for the thrilling conclusion!

This tale of love and legal matters from Fawcett's Love Mystery #3 (1950) was illustrated by Bob Powell, an ideal choice since he was expert at both romance and crime tales!

The scripter is unknown.

Fawcett tried things no one else would attempt including this title and Negro Romance, hoping to find untapped markets.

Unfortunately, in both cases, the audience never materialized, and both books were cancelled after only three issues.

HOMER HOOPER "Twelve-Dollar Conundrum"

How close can you come to doing an Archie "imitator" without being sued?

Atlas Comics gave it a shot with this series!

This typical tale from Homer Hooper #3 (1953) was scripted by Stan Lee and illustrated by Hy Rosen.

Besides the blonde (who was well-off but not rich), the red-headed lead and the nasty frenemy, the series also featured a brunette, Homer's skinny best friend with a big nose, an athlete, brainy nerd, annoyed teachers and principal, etc.

Hy Rosen, who did a credible job as a Dan DeCarlo clone was one of the few artists working in the style who didn't end up at Archie Comics.

In the mid-1940s he added newspaper editorial cartooning to his already-busy schedule.

When comics almost died in the mid-1950s, Hy took on advertising storyboard work to take up the slack, creating the "White Tornado" ad campaign for Ajax Cleanser!

Hy's last work was for Harvey Comics in the early 1990s...on New Kids on the Block and Saved by the Bell comics!

Interestingly, his eulogy at his "home" newspaper, The Albany Times-Union, makes no mention of his comic book work!

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?)