Advice d'Amour LOVE STORIES OF MARY WORTH "Her Selfish Love!" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

War hero Ian McLane and actress Seline Adair seemed like the ideal couple.

But Seline's teen sister Binnie lusted after Ian!

When, in a misunderstnding, Seline apparently dumped Ian, Binnie (whom Ian doesn't know is Seline's younger sibling) made her move...

So Binnie was Seline's daughter...who married Ian, who Binnie said was too old for Seline!

This actually isn't unusual for radio/tv soap operas, which have gone to far more outrageous lengths to surprise the audience!

BTW, though nosy Mary Worth never had an actual newspaper advice column, the comic introduced one (albeit totally-scripted)...

Love Stories of Mary Worth continued for another four issues before cancellation and she hasn't had a steady comic book since then.

The Mary Worth newspaper strip continues to this day and you can find the latest "three-Kleenex tale HERE!

Next Week:

We're Not Yet Sure What Theme We'll Present, But We Can Say...

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

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True-to-Life Adventures of
MARY WORTH

Advice d'Amour LOVE STORIES OF MARY WORTH "Her Selfish Love!" Part 1

Winding up this month's theme is the ultimate comics busybody...

...the four-color embodiment of the little old lady who lives next door and has an opinion about everything!

We now take a pause, dear reader!

But we're not going to make you wait until next week, because you'll see the heart-rending conclusion...

TOMORROW!

(And, Yes, You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!)

Despite the caption in the splash panel talking about "actual case files" and "famous newspaper love advisor", Mary Worth was never used as a pseudonym for an actual columnist like "Beatrice Fairfax".
But the character (and her tendency to meddle in romance) was so well-known in 1930s and 40s pop culture, that it seemed like she probably did have a non-comics feature in newspapers!
And the book's title is somewhat misleading, since the tales have nothing to do with Mary's personal life!
It's about the people around her, most of whom only appear in a given plotline, then disappear, never to return!
BTW, the book (like almost all non-newspaper appearances of the character) reprints daily and Sunday newspaper strips.
Only the cover and splash page are new illustrations!
The book crams a plotline that ran for two to three months into a single issue!
So, instead of the usual three rows of panels (or fewer if you have half-page or full page panels), it's four rows of dialogue-heavy panels!
But if you're a soap opera fan, the strip is a true visual embodiment of the genre!

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True-to-Life Adventures of

MARY WORTH

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

MR ANTHONY'S LOVE CLINIC "If Only You'd Grow Up"

You think today's 18-30 crowd has problems "adulting"?

It ain't a new phenomenon, as this never-reprinted tale from Hillman's Mr Anthony's Love Clinic #1 (1949) proves!

You may well ask: "Who the hell is this Dr Phil wannabe?

To start with, he wasn't actually "John J Anthony".

His name was Lester Kroll.

He wasn't a doctor,...or even a licensed therapist!

In fact, he was a high school dropout!

But he had a great voice, so he became a radio disc jockey!
He suffered clinical depression and sought out therapy...which gave him an idea.
Utilizing his sons' names (John and Anthony) he created the persona of "John J Anthony" and his show dropped the music format, creating what many historians consider the first interactive "talk radio" show!
If you're wondering why people accepted him without question as an authority on such things, he claimed he was the director of the Institute of Martial Relations on the campus of Vassar College...then a women-only university!

His top-rated radio show became the basis for a licensed romance comic from Hillman in 1949.

But the show's name (Good Will Hour, then The John J Anthony Hour, wasn't dramatic enough!

So the comic was given the catchier title Mr Anthony's Love Clinic!

The comic seems to have been based on actual situations drawn from episodes of the radio show, but since so few of them survived to the present in any form, there's really no way of knowing!

Next Week...

We Don't Yet Know What We'll Present!
But we Can 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...

Agonizing Love

The Golden Age of Romance Comics