True Love Comics Tales: July 2021

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

MY LOVE "Must I Live Without Love?"

We saw last week how wonderfully legendary artist John Buscema portrayed women in swimsuits...

...so here's a cover that takes a scene occurring (in the story) during the chilly Autumn and turns it into a hot Summer pic...

When this story by writer Stan Lee, penciler John Buscema, and inker Sal Buscema (yes, John's little brother, who's an equally-gifted penciler) initially-appeared in Marvel's My Love V2N1 (1969), it wasn't the cover-featured tale.

But, when it was reprinted in Marvel's My Love Special #1 (1971), a new cover, based on the last panel of Page 6, was commissioned.

Guess they felt a bare-chested guy and bikini-clad girl would sell better than the sweater-clad couple in the story...

Next week:

Be here Monday as we begin our annual Beach Read blogathon featuring a book-length, multi-chapter Gothic romance!

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

And now a word from out sponsor..

Please Visit Amazon and Order...

Marvel Romance: the Trade Paperback!

Marvel's picked some of the best love comics from the 60s and 70s!

"It Happened at Woodstock," "My Heart Broke in Hollywood," "Love on the Rebound!"

Collects Love Romance #89 and #101-104; My Love #2, #14, #16 and #18-20; Teen-Age Romance #77 and #84, Our Love Story #5; and Patsy Walker #119.

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

LOVE DIARY "Not the Right Type!"

It's the middle of summer, so let's hit the beach...

...where studly lifeguards and beautiful babes mix and mingle in a hot, passionate broth under the sun!

(I gotta work on my imagery...)

Remember...always be yourself!

If the art style looks familiar, that's because this was an early assignment for John Buscema, one of the primary artists at Marvel Comics from the late 1960s until his untimely passing in 2002!

Incredibly-versatile, there was nothing John couldn't illustrate, from war to superheroes to romance to his most famous work on Conan the Barbarian!

This particular never-reprinted story from Orbit's Love Diary #36 (1953) is both penciled and inked by Buscema, a practice he almost always did during his first period in comics from 1949 to 1960.

After a brief stint in advertising, he returned to comics in 1966, quickly becoming the number two artist at Marvel behind Jack Kirby.

In order to match Kirby's legendary speed (up to five pages a day), Buscema stopped inking his work, except on very rare occasions.

When Kirby moved to DC in 1970, Buscema's style rapidly became the "house style" for the company.

(In fact, the original version of How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way features Buscema demonstrating anatomy, perspective, and storytelling with his unique flair.)

Next Week:

We're Not Sure Yet Exactly What We'll Present!

But...

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

And now a word from out sponsor..

Please Support True Love Comics Tales!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Love on the Racks

A History of American Romance Comics

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

TEEN CONFESSIONS "Perfect Date"

Remember Dating Game?

They're revived it on tv as Celebrity Dating Game...

...apparently on the premise that everyday people seeking love is no longer interesting to the audience!

Let's look a a story about what would later be called a "reality show", scripted and illustrated during the original show's heyday in the 1970s...

This never-reprinted tale from Charlton's Teen Confessions #85 (1974) was illustrated by Demetrio Sanchez Gomez with a slightly-different style (and unlike the previous story we presented, he doesn't sign every page!)

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 our