Halloween HeartBreak SPEED CARTER "KIss of Death"

We originally intended to run this story around Valentine's Day...

...but after carefully re-reading it, you'll understand why we decided against it and ran it the day after Halloween!

This story of futuristic male/female relations from Atlas' Speed Carter: SpaceMan #6 (1954) was scripted (as were all Speed Carter tales throughout the series' run) by Hank Chapman, and illustrated (as were all Speed Carter tales in this issue) by Bob Forgione.

Next week:

We Don't Know What We'll Run...Yet!

But We Do Know...

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

(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

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Halloween HeartBreak MISTER MYSTERY "All or Nothing at All!"

Mister Mystery was the host of his own self-titled horror anthology.

Though he looked like a jovial stage magician in a mask, his stories easily matched those of the Crypt Keeper and other ghoulish comics hosts..as you shall see!

For such an innocent-looking guy, Mister Mystery tells a nasty story, aided by illustrator Tom Feelings and an unknown author in this story from Stanley Morse's Mister Mystery #14, (1953)!

Next Week:

We Don't Yet Know What We'll Present, But We Can Guarantee...

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

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Weird Love

Volume 1

Halloween HeartBreak ASTONISHING "Unknown Ones!"

The story's title has a double meaning to graphic literature aficionados...

...since it also covers the fact this story hasn't been seen in color since 1957!

It was reprinted (in b/w) in Dark Horse's Al Williamson: Hidden Lands TPB (2004), but that now-OOP tome had a very limited print run.

Written by Carl Wessler, this Williamson-penciled and Roy Krenkel-inked tale from Atlas' Astonishing #57 (1957) was done after the horror comics purge of the mid-1950s reduced EC Comics to just MAD Magazine, and the majority of their now-unemployed artists were scrambling around for work.

Besides Atlas, Williamson freelanced for ACG and Harvey, doing full pencils and inks, inking others like Jack Kirby and Matt Baker, or, as in this case, penciling for others (usually fellow Fleagle Gang members*) to ink.

*The "Fleagles" were a group of artists including Williamson, Roy Krenkel, Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood, Angelo Torres, and George Woodbridge who would help each other on tight deadlines by doing a "jam" with individuals penciling and inking different pages...even different panels on a single page...producing some absolutely amazing visuals...and always meeting the deadline!

Next week:

Another Tale of ♥True Love♥...with a Halloween Twist!

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

(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

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Halloween HeartBreak WEIRD ADVENTURES "Seeker from Beyond"

Sometimes, a casual reader would think all comic book sci-fi is space opera...

Art by Phil Marini

...but it can also be a combination of dimensional travel, romance, and, yes, just a tiny bit of space opera...

See, just a little space opera..one panel!

Note: on the cover, Zada, the alien queen is brunette, while John's girlfriend Jane is blonde!
But in the story, Zada is blonde and Jane is brunette!

Both the writer and artist of this cover-featured tale from Ziff-Davis' Weird Adventures #10 (1951) are unknown!
Even the amazingly-extensive Comic Book DataBase can't identify them!

Cover artist Phil Marini did numerous pulp and paperback covers in every genre from Western to sci-fi to romance, but this is his only comic book work.

Next Week:

Another Surreal Story of...

HAUNTED HEARTBREAK

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

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Love is a Prison A MOON, A GIRL...ROMANCE "Prison Widow"

Our previous story dealt with a "good girl" who loved a "bad boy" and paid the price!

Now witness a tale where things, hopefully, might end differently!

Written and illustrated by Al Feldstein, this rarely-reprinted story from EC's A Moon, a Girl...Romance #12 (1950) ends with potential happiness for Florence....but was the original version meant to show her losing both men?

BTW, even though it was the cover-featured story for this issue, the cover was just so dull and boring...

...not to mention inaccurate (since Flo didn't know her incarcerated hubby was heading home after being paroled), that we went with the far more exciting splash page!

Next Week...

Another Story About How

Love is a Prison...with Two Twists!

One of Them is That Both of the Lovers are Incarcerated!

(And We Aren't Telling You What the Other One Is!)

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

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EC Archives

Confessions Illustrated

(No Copies of the Out-of-Print Complete Reprint of the A Moon, a Girl...Romance Hardcover are Currently Available on Amazon)

Love is a Prison ALL TRUE ROMANCE "Love Blind"

There's a cliche about how "girls love bad boys"...

...and Sally Jones is about to discover how "bad" a boy Ace Miller is...and how he'll prove Love is a Prison!

The scripter for this never-reprinted story from Comic Media's All True Romance #9 (1953) is unknown, and the art is by the staff of the Iger Studio, who provided editorial and art services to small publishers who didn't have their own creatives.
So, we don't know who to credit (or blame) for this particular tale.
Note: as of the next issue, the publisher began producing their own material using a mix of established and new/upcoming writers and artists who created a unique look and tone for their entire line (not just the romance books) until the company's demise two years later due to the industry-shaking "Seduction of the Innocent" mania of the mid-1950s.

Next Week...

Another Story About How

Love is a Prison!

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

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Agonizing Love

The Golden Age of Romance Comics

Laugh at Love! TRUER THAN TRUE ROMANCE "I Hate My Hair!" / FALLING IN LOVE "Stolen Dreams!"

Over the past two weeks, we presented stories created in the early 1970s...the end of romance comics!

For the remaining two entries, we're running stories created during the 1950s-60s, the Silver Age of Comics!

Ironically, writer Jeanne Martinet would be considered "politically-incorrect" today for her characterization of androgenous appearance and the resulting gender confusion!

Hardly the sort of thing penciler Tony Abruzzo, inker Bernard Sachs, and an unknown writer had in mind when they created the story for DC's Falling In Love #4 (1956).

Interestingly, when this story was reprinted over a decade later in DC's Falling in Love #99 (1968), only the women's hairstyles were "updated", with the protaganist's hair modified to the then-trendy "page boy" style!

Neither the mens' hair nor anybody's fashions were updated!

(They usually gave the men sideburns and/or longer hair to make them look "mod"!)

But they felt they had to change her hair!

Go figure...

Next Week:

The Final Serious Romance Story Rewritten for Laughs and We Guarantee That...

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

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Truer Than True Romance