Wednesday, April 28, 2021

MR ANTHONY'S LOVE CLINIC "If Only You'd Grow Up"

You think today's 18-30 crowd has problems "adulting"?
It ain't a new phenomenon, as this never-reprinted tale from Hillman's Mr Anthony's Love Clinic #1 (1949) proves!
You may well ask: "Who the hell is this Dr Phil wannabe?
To start with, he wasn't actually "John J Anthony".
His name was Lester Kroll.
He wasn't a doctor,...or even a licensed therapist!
In fact, he was a high school dropout!
But he had a great voice, so he became a radio disc jockey!
He suffered clinical depression and sought out therapy...which gave him an idea.
Utilizing his sons' names (John and Anthony) he created the persona of "John J Anthony" and his show dropped the music format, creating what many historians consider the first interactive "talk radio" show!
If you're wondering why people accepted him without question as an authority on such things, he claimed he was the director of the Institute of Martial Relations on the campus of Vassar College...then a women-only university!
His top-rated radio show became the basis for a licensed romance comic from Hillman in 1949.
But the show's name (Good Will Hour, then The John J Anthony Hour, wasn't dramatic enough!
So the comic was given the catchier title Mr Anthony's Love Clinic!
The comic seems to have been based on actual situations drawn from episodes of the radio show, but since so few of them survived to the present in any form, there's really no way of knowing!
Next Week...
We Don't Yet Know What We'll Present!
But we Can Guarantee That...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!
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Wednesday, April 21, 2021

"This is Your Chance to Be a Part of Today's Romance Scene!"

In the early 1970s, after decades of success, romance comics were a dying genre...

...some publishers tried gimmicks, like this one from DC's Love Stories #151 (1973), to boost sales!
For anyone who's ever read or watched something and said "I could do better than that crud", this was, no doubt, a tempting prospect!
Just come up with a couple of lines of dialogue, complete this cover by penciler Werner Roth and inker Vince Colletta, and you'd be immortalized in comic history (and pocket a sawbuck), all for the cost of a postage stamp!
Wonder what the winning balloons said?
We'll never know, because the book was cancelled with the next issue, #152, and the winner would've appeared in #153!

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!
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True Love Comics Tales!
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Wednesday, April 14, 2021

GREAT LOVES "Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning"

Ever wonder if writers of romantic fiction were, themselves, happy...
 ...if they actually found True Love, or just wrote about it?
Well, wonder no more!
Written and illustrated by Jerry Robinson (who co-created both The Joker and Robin the Boy Wonder), this brief, never-reprinted tale from Gold Key's Dear Nancy Parker #1 (1963) was the first in a projected series about famous real-life lovers.
Unfortunately, Dear Nancy Parker was cancelled after the second issue...
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!
And now a word from out sponsor...

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

A MOON, A GIRL...ROMANCE! "I Was a Flirt!"

Before EC Comics became (in)famous for doing horror comics...
...they covered every genre in comics, including romance!
They just didn't do all of them as well as horror...
Illustrated by "Ghastly" Graham Ingels, this tawdry tale from EC's A Moon, A Girl...Romance #9 (1949) is, perhaps, the perfect example of why EC is not known for its' romance comics.
NEXT WEEK:
We're Not Yet Sure Exactly what We'll Present!
But, We Guarantee That...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!
(And now a word from our Sponsor!)
Please Support True Love Comics Tales!
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