Showing posts with label 1950s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1950s. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Romance on the Range I MET A HANDSOME COWBOY Part 1

We wind up this month with a book-length romance...

...that was originally-intended for an actual paperback book instead of a comic!














Doesn't look good for Slade, does it?
To Be Continued, Tomorrow!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
Published as Dell's Four Color Comics #324 (1951), the book-length tale was meant to be the third in Dell's experimental graphic novel Told in Pictures paperback series.
Two previous books, Twice Loved, and Four Frightened Women were published in 1950, and I Met... was advertised as the next one.
But, apparently due to poor sales, it was reformatted to comic book format instead!
The story was an adaptation of a serial from a 1943 Dell pulp magazine, Ranch Romances, called "Clouds Over the 
Chupaderos" by prolific writer Elsa Barker.
It has a more "adult", almost B-movie feel to it.
Though the serial ran four issues, it was never cover-featured, or even mentioned on the cover!
Both the writer and artist(s) of the adaptation are unknown.

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Romance on the Range COWGIRL ROMANCES "Men Died for My Kisses!"

It's been a while since we've run a Western romance comic...
...so we looked for the most sensational story title we could find!
This 1950 one-shot from Atlas Comics is either #1 (if you go by the cover numbering) or #28 (if you go by the indicia on the inside cover).
The #28 indicates it's a continuation of Jeanie Comics, a teen humor title which ended two months earlier with #27.
As for why it's a one-shot, it seems rival Fiction House released their own Cowgirl Romances simultaneously...or just before...Atlas.\d
Fiction House's title continued for 11 more issues while Atlas' book disappeared after this one appearance.
Penciled by Pierce Rice and inked by Christopher Rule.
The scripter is unknown!
Fun fact: Atlas released six different Western romance titles in 1949-50, more than any other comics company...
Cowgirl Romances (1 issue)
Cowboy Romances (3 issues)
Love Trails (1 issue)
Rangeland Love (2 issues)
Romances of the West (3 issues)
Western Life Romances (3 issues)
You gotta give them credit.
When Atlas saw a hot trend, they jumped on it whole-heartedly!
Next week:
We haven't decided yet which Western Romance Story 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...
Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Buy...

The Cowboy
Western Romance Graphic Novel
Paid Link

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

A Month of Matt Baker TEEN-AGE ROMANCES "How Could I Fight Temptation?" / DIARY SECRETS "Temptation Was My Weakness"

Our Final Entry in A Month of Matt Baker...
...is an almost-stereotypical comic book love story, but told with finesse and style..with one weird aspect!
Can you tell what it is?
 


Published in St John's Teen-Age Romances #2 (1949), this story, written by Dana Dutch, penciled by Matt Baker and inked either by himself or by Ray Osrin hits all the classic elements of the genre.
The weird part is that the students are all drawn like college-age kids, but it's clearly set in high school!
When it was reprinted in St John's Diary Secrets #19 (1953), the title was changed...

...but nothing else in text or art was altered!

Next Week:
We Don't Yet Know What Story We'll Present, But We Guarantee that...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
And Now a Word from Our Sponsor!
Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Order...

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

A Month of Matt Baker WARTIME ROMANCES "Road to Disgrace"

Before 1973, serving in the military, whether voluntary or conscripted (the Draft)...
...used to be a part of almost every American man's life.
So, it seemed logical that there would be romance comics based around something that affected almost all young (18-25), eligible males, and the women who loved them!
The penciler of this never-reprinted story from St John's WarTime Romances #4 (1952) is legendary good-girl artist Matt Baker, aided by long-time inker Ray Osrin, but the writer is unknown.
Next Week:
We Don't Yet Know Which Matt Baker Story We'll Present, But We Guarantee that...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
And Now a Word from Our Sponsor!
Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Order...

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

A Month of Matt Baker TEEN-AGE ROMANCES "They Called Me a Wayward Girl"

Sometimes a "Bad Girl" is Just a Mis-directed "Good Girl"...

...who just needs a chance!







Scripted by Dana Dutch and illustrated by Matt Baker, fresh off his tenure at Fox Comics where he illustrated scantly-clad heroines like Phantom Lady and Rulah, the two teamed-up in this premiere issue of St John's Teen-Age Romances (1949), beginning a run that matched Simon & Kirby's genre ground-breaking romance books for Prize Comics in storytelling and sales!

Next Week:
We Don't Yet Know Which Matt Baker Story We'll Present, But We Guarantee that...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
And Now a Word from Our Sponsor!
Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Order...

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

A Month of Matt Baker COWGIRL ROMANCES "Stars Fell on Arizona" / MOVIE COMICS "Mitzi in Hollywood Meets Sonny Sagebrush"

but this story from Fiction House's CowGirl Romances #10 (1952) doesn't do that!


OK, pretty straightforward tale of a starry-eyed girl living near a movie location, getting to appear in the movie, meeting her screen idol, and not finding true love, right?
But, that's not how it started out!
This is actually a re-use of lovely Matt Baker art for an earlier ongoing series, Mitzi in Hollywood, about a struggling actress looking for her big break in Hollywood!
This particular episode from Fiction House's Movie Comics #4 (1947) was about working as an extra on a Western movie set...and the original script was quite different...
Sadly, this was the final issue of Movie Comics, so no more Mitzi adventures ever appeared...except as heavily-modified reprints like our lead story!
Though Matt Baker is best-known as a cheesecake/glamour girl artist, he was, in fact, quite proficient in other genres, such as Westerns (as shown above), sci-fi, war, adventure, and even horror!
And yes, he did a lot of romance stories and covers, as you'll see all this month!

Next Week:
We Don't Yet Know Which Matt Baker Story 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
Visit Amazon and Order...