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...

Next Week:

We don't know yet what we'll present, but we can guarantee...

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
And now a word from our sponsor...
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Agonizing Love

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!

Next Week:

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

But...

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

And now a word from our sponsor..

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Modern Masters Volume Five
Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

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Do You Love O Henry's Yuletide Classic "Gift of the Magi" as Much as We Do?

...we've presented three of them, each with its' own particular charms!

by John Fago & Anton Caravanna

and

by Gary Gianni

and

by P. Craig Russell

O Henry's classic Christmas story of True Love has been adapted into every media format imaginable, sometimes as a period piece, sometimes updated to the present, and, in a couple of cases, projected into the future!

 Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year!

We'll be back on January 8, 2025

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

Halloween HeartBreak WITCHING HOUR "ComputERRR!"

As this story from DC's The Witching Hour #8 (1970) proves...

...Artificial Intelligence doesn't provide all the answers...or even knows the questions!

Scripted and illustrated by comics and animation legend Alex Toth, it's a classic example of "never judge a book by its' cover!"

Next Week

Another Tale of Love That Transcends Time and Space!

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

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor!

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Showcase Presents

Witching Hour

Volume 1

(Only reprint of this story...in Black & White)

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And Check Out Our Fellow
Countdown to Halloween 2024 Posters
HERE!

Lost Love FALLING IN LOVE "I Found My Love at the WoodStock Festival!"

When We Ran Last Week's Never-Reprinted Lost Love Story Set at Woodstock...

...we had no idea there was a second, also never-reprinted tale...from DC, of all places!

(And this story came out months before the Marvel one!)

Penciled by Werner Roth, inked by Murphy Anderson, and scripted by...well, we don't know who wrote this rather saccharine story...it's nowhere near as "gritty" or realistic (if you can call any comic book tale "realistic") as the My Love piece we ran last week.
To offer a comparison...
The My Love creatives, Gary Friedrich and Gray Morrow were 28 and 38, respectively.
The Falling in Love creatives, Werner Roth and Murphy Anderson, were 50 and 46 at the time.
So we're looking at a differing generational point of view of those events between the two tales...and it really shows!

Next Week:

Our Annual Month-Long Halloween Heartbreak Blogathon Begins!

It's Heart-Stopping in More Ways Than One!

And, Yes...

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

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Heart Throbs

Best of DC Romance Comics

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Lost Love MY LOVE "It Happened at Woodstock!"

Who Would've Believed that the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival...

...would result in never-reprinted, cover-featured romance comics stories, from both Marvel and DC???

First up, Marvel's entry, from My Love #14 (1971), which was actually the later entry~

Written by Gary Friedrich and illustrated by Gray Morrow, it's the steamiest Comics Code-approved story I've ever read!

Next Week:

DC's Never-Reprinted Woodstock Story!

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

And now a word from out sponsor..

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Visit Amazon and Buy...

Marvel Romance: the Trade Paperback!

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