Love in the Time of Covid-19 CONFESSIONS OF THE LOVELORN "Man in My Past!"

Warning: the story under this Ken Bald-illustrated cover is about an incurable disease...

...but it's not the incurable disease you'll think it is after the first few pages!

So he's not cured, but in remission, though the doctor says the operation was a "complete success"!

Written by editor Richard E Hughes and illustrated by Howard Alexander, this never-reprinted tale from ACG's Confessions of the LoveLorn #57 (1955) tries to make Alan honorable, even noble!

But instead of being honest with his wife, he all but abandoned her and then returned years later expecting her to take him back!

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Our Final (for now) Tale of Disease, Debilitating Conditions and Desire!

You'll Cry If You Miss It!

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Love in the Time of Covid-19 TRUE LOVE PROBLEMS AND ADVICE ILLUSTRATED "Was It Love or Pity?"

You've read this basic plot before...but there's several twists you haven't seen...

Oddly, our tale, though listed second in the table of contents, appeared in the back of the book!

Dr Mathews doesn't think much of his own daughter...

This never-reprinted tale from Harvey's True Love Problems and Advice Illustrated #2 (1949) was illustrated by comics workhorse Bob Powell.

The scripter is unknown, but could have been Powell himself.

Next Week...

Another Tale of Disease, Debilitating Conditions and Desire!

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

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The Golden Age of Romance Comics

Love in the Time of Covid-19 CONFESSIONS OF THE LOVELORN "Someone of My Own!"

Here's a never-reprinted tale from ACG's Confessions of the Lovelorn #95 (1958)...

...that redefines "lovesick"!

Writer Richard Hughes and illustrator Sam Citron add a new twist to the old "steal the doctor from the rich girl whose father is financing his research" plot so common in romance comics!

Next Week
We Don't Know Yet What We'll Present,
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Love in the Time of Covid-19 CAREER GIRL ROMANCES "A Kiss is Merely a Biological Phenomenon"

This tale has only a peripheral connection to disease...

...but I felt an intense need to lighten the mood this week.
And the title is a real grabber!

Think of this as the lighthearted version of the rather serious story we recently presented HERE and HERE!

This never-reprinted tale from Charlton's Career Girl Romances #49 (1969) is a real mashup of artistic styles.

Dick Giordano seems to be the primary artist, with sections repenciled/reinked by Jim Aparo, Monte Baches, and Charles Nicholas!

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Love in the Time of Covid-19 CYNTHIA DOYLE: NURSE IN LOVE "Decision"

Wonder why the suffix "... Nurse in Love" is used for this series?

Well. when a character who's never appeared before can deduce what's going on, it's pretty damned blatant!

You have to ask, if Cynthia Doyle: Nurse in Love's feelings are that obvious to a person she's never seen before, why doesn't Doctor Benson realize how Nurse Doyle feels?

Because this is a soap opera in comic book form, that's why!

It's not meant to be even a semi-serious feature about a female medical professional, like Dr Pat!

This is, as most 1950s-1970s strips starring nurses were, a three-Kleenex romance comic!

Heck, before the book became Cynthia Doyle: Nurse in Love as of #66, it was Sweetheart Diaries, a romance anthology!

Cynthia appeared in a single story in the final issue, then the entire book was turned over to her!
Why?

As we pointed out in an entry about City Surgeon, in the early 1960s, one of the most-popular genres in pop culture was "medical drama"!

Spearheaded on TV by hunky prime-time physicians Dr Kildare and Ben Casey along with the related series The Nurses as well as daytime soap operas with hospital settings and paperback romance novels with covers featuring "studs in scrubs" with swooning nurses, comics hopped on the medical bandwagon!

Charlton , which couldn't afford the rights to comics based on any of the TV shows, launched numerous series featuring doctors and nurses including Dr Tom Brent: Young Intern, Nurse Betsy Crane, Young Interns, Sue & Sally Smith: Flying Nurses and, of course, this book!

(Oddly, there were never any cross-over stories between the various books!)

Written by Joe Gill, penciled by Dick Giordano and inked by Vince Colletta, this story from issue #69 (1963) came about halfway through the book's run.

BTW, if you're wondering why this story has a "Covid-19" classification, it's because Dr Stark is suffering from a fatal disease, and the surgery can only postpone his inevitable demise!

Note: there were never any comic series or books about male nurses!

There were several one-off tales, but the profession was considered "unmanly".

Next Week...

Another Tale of Disease, Debilitating Conditions and Desire!

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

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Nurse Nurse