DARLING ROMANCE "I Stole My Sister's Man"

Did a woman write this tale...

...a story about a sleazy, sordid, and slutty sibling trying to steal her sister's guy!

(and it's from Archie Comics, no less!)?
Read it, and tell us what you think!

The success of Simon & Kirby's Young Romance unleashed a horde of romance comic imitators  including this decidedly non-Archie title from Archie Comics.

These pre-Comics Code series featured stories that rivaled the true confessions-style magazines for naughtiness and radio soap operas for ridiculous plot twists, as this tale from Darling Romance #1 (1949) demonstrates.

The unknown writer (who must've believed they were being paid by the word) went under the pen-name "Mary Woods"!
But does it "read" like a man or woman wrote it?
What's your opinion???
OTOH, the art of Bill Fix (who did only romance stories during his short career in comics) is very distinctive...and he conveniently signed it!

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The Golden Age of Romance Comics

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TENDER LOVE STORIES "Spark of My Heart!"

What Does a Girl Whom Nobody Thinks of as a Girl Do...

...when the guy she's interested in doesn't even know she's alive?

That's what this never-reprinted tale about a guy, a girl, and gearshifts asks!

Written by May Sterling, penciled by Kurt Schaffenberger, and inked by John Celardo, this tale from Skywald's Tender Love Stories #4 (1971) was the final original story from the short-lived company's longest-running title!

While Schaffenberger and Celardo were both long-time pros who began their careers back in the Golden Age of comics, this is May Sterling's only writing credit!

Schaffenberger, in the 1950s and 60s, was DC's "go to" artist for female characters with long stints on Lois Lane, Supergirl, and Mary Marvel as well as occasional assignments on Wonder Woman and Mighty Isis!

Oddly, he had very few actual romance comic assignments over his long career...

Is "May Sterling" a pseudonym, or was she a comics neophyte who went on to other things after this one script?

Sadly, we'll never know...

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The Golden Age of Romance Comics
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TEEN CONFESSIONS "Wild Side"

Though the Book has "Teen" in the Title...

...these people are obviously not teenagers!

Young adults, yes!

But not teenagers!

One other note: the same art was used for both the cover and the splash page.
If the art director had left the "Wild Side" lettering in place on the lower right of the splash page (the way it is on the cover), there would've been room for the caption to go across the top of the page without it crashing into the bearded artist's model's head, throwing off the composition of the art!

Argentinian artist Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez began his American comics career at Charlton in 1967, doing a lot of romance comics work!
This never-reprinted tale from Charlton's Teen Confessions #61 (1970) is from the end of his romance genre work as Charlton's editors finally gave him a chance to branch out into the horror genre, which brought him to DC Comics' attention.

Unfortunately, DC had cancelled their remaining romance titles a couple of months before they hired him!
But Garcia-Lopez barely-noticed as he was swamped with work as they used him in many different genres from horror to sci-fi to superheroes!

In the early 1980s, Jose also became their primary licensed-property artist, with work on everything from lunchboxes to t-shirts to toy packaging to food items!
His work, with updated costume modifications, is used to this day!

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Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

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Amourous Education TEEN-AGE ROMANCE "We Can't Marry Yet"

Though "Instant Gratification" is a Way of Life Today...

...it wasn't always so, as this never-reprinted story from Atlas' Teen-Age Romance #70 (1961) proves!

Edited/plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber, penciled by Dick Giordano, and inked by Vince Colletta, this well-told tale of gratification deferred benefits from an especially-good coloring job by a (sadly) unknown colorist who was obviously "feeling" the material!

Next Week:

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

But We Can Guarantee That...

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