Anything BUT Archie / Wedding Bliss WENDY PARKER "Getting Married!"

For over the past half-century, when you think "teen/young adult humor" in comics...you think Archie!

But, before the early 1960s, there was a lot more to the genre, as we'll show you, beginning with this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Wendy Parker #1 (1953)!

Wendy Parker first appeared in Atlas' Miss America #53 (1953), which already featured Patsy Walker and Hedy Wolfe (who had their own comics as well).

Wendy was a rational, logical, young woman, unlike the ditzes who tended to populate the genre.

As you've seen in this tale, it was literally everybody else in the strip who were...well...ditzes!
Wendy was immediately given her own book, which lasted only eight issues, but she continued to appear as a backup feature in other titles for another year, before finally disappearing.
And I do mean "disappearing"!
None of her stories has ever been reprinted!

Next Week:

Another Example of Humor That Doesn't Look Like Archie!

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

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Archie's Rivals in Teen Comics

1940s-1970s

An Illustrated History

Advice d'Amour MR ANTHONY'S LOVE CLINIC "That's Why I Cry--"

We've met "Mr Anthony" before...

...when he offered advice on his top-rated radio talk show!

Now, he even offers advice while wandering through the park!

Illustrated by John Prentice, this never-reprinted story from Hillman's Mr Anthony's Love Clinic #5 (1950) is something of a moralistic downer.

It's definitely not the typical upbeat happy ending we're used to seeing!

Next Week...

Our Final Busybody Who Believes He/She Knows What's Best for Our Love Lives!

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

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Agonizing Love

The Golden Age of Romance Comics

Advice d'Amour DR ANTHONY KING: HOLLYWOOD LOVE DOCTOR "Too Fat for Love!"

 Remember "John Anthony", the radio talk show host who dispensed advice about romance?

Well, when he received his own comic, it inspired at least one publisher to put out an imitator!

Note that, though the cover reads "Hollywood Love Doctor", the feature itself is called "Hollywood Psychiatrist"!
(Perhaps the publisher thought putting "psychiatrist" on the cover would scare away readers!)

This never-reprinted tale of body-shaming from Toby's Dr Anthony King: Hollywood Love Doctor #1 (1952) was illustrated by Myron Fass.

The writer's name is lost to the mists of time.

As you might have guessed, this month's theme is "comics about busybodies who offer advice to those in romantic distress"...whether they are qualified to do so or not!

The participants range from medical personnel to quacks to newspaper columnists to the little old lady who lives next door!
Though almost every romance comic had such a feature, we're dealing specifically with those characters who actually had their own comics (and there were more of them than you think)!

Next Week:

Another Story Hosted by Someone Who Believes He/She is Qualified to Solve Other People's Problems!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

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Love on the Racks

A History of American Romance Comics

Romance on the Range COWBOY LOVE "Outlaw Girl"

Yes, there were both CowBOY and CowGIRL romance comics!

Perhaps the publishers hoped to capture both the female and male reading audiences!

This tale from Fawcett's Cowboy Love #2 (1949) plays up the "justice in the Old West" plotline, making the romance aspect decidedly-secondary, which might be just as well, since Amy's falling for a guy she's known for such a short period is totally-unrealistic!

Next Week:

Another "Romance on the Range"!

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

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Cowgirl Bride

Romance on the Range WESTERN HEARTS "I Loved an Outlaw"

Welcome to "Western Romance Month" at our blog!

Intro from Standard's Western Hearts #1 (1949).

In the late 1940s-early 50s, a flood of romance comics hit newsstands as the industry looked for the next "hot" genre after superheroes faded out!
Interestingly, a number of Western-themed tales appeared in these anthologies...and received very good reader response.
With Westerns already one of the major genres in comics from Day One, publishers decided to try a mix of the genres, and "Western Romance" comics were born!
Every publisher had at least one, and a couple had several running simultaneously!

Here's a never-reprinted tale, also from Standard's Western Hearts (#4 in 1950) which seems to validate the trope that girls love "bad boys"...

Illustrated by penciler John Severin and inked by Will Elder, this story seems to be set in both the present (Coke and coffee machines in the restaurant, then-current suits and dresses throughout the story in indoor scenes), and the past (no autos/jeeps, telephones, aircraft...which would've been used in a search for the kidnapped girl!).
There was a sub-genre within Western romances of "dude ranch" tales featuring then-contemporary urban dwellers who find True Love while moving to (or just vacationing in) rural environments.
Is that the case here, or did the artists just inadvertently draw the tale that way?

We'll never know!

Next Week:

Another "Romance on the Range"!

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

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Love on the Racks

A History of American Romance Comics

HEART THROBS & BRIDES ROMANCES "I Hated Men!"

Sometimes, the disdain by a female for males is warranted...

...but can still be overcome when she meets a better quality he!

This story from Quality's Heart Throbs #9 (1952) had a couple of modifications when it was reprinted in Quality's Brides Romances #12 (1955) after the implementation of the Comics Code...

...but only on the first two pages!

The Code apparently had no problem with the near-sexual assault on Pages 6-7...which remained unaltered in the reprint!

"Boys will be boys!", I suppose...

Penciled by Reed Crandall, but the scripter and inker are unknown.

Next Week:

A New Theme as We Enter a New Month!

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

And now a word from out sponsor..

Please Support True Love Comics Tales!

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Love on the Racks

A History of American Romance Comics