John Buscema Tales COWBOY ROMANCES "Cowgirls Don't Cry!"

Then-fledgling (now-legendary) artist John Buscema entered the comics field in 1949...

...and this tale, combining romance with a contemporary Western setting, was among the stories he illustrated that year!

This never-reprinted story from Atlas' Cowboy Romances #1(1949) was one of nine romance tales John illustrated that year.

Six of them were for Western romance comics!

(It was a very popular sub-genre at that point!)
BTW, John followed the established format for Atlas Comics' romance stories.
No full-page "splash" pages!
Six-panels to a page (except for the first page).
Lots of medium (from the waist up) and close-up panels.
When Buscema began working for other publishers, those restrictions no longer applied, and the artist we've come to know and admire burst forth...

Next Week, a 1950s story from John Buscema!

Witness his artistic evolution decade by decade!

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

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Big John Buscema

Comics and Drawings

A combination of complete checklist of Buscema's comic and magazine work and a heavily-illustrated catalog of a 2009 Italian museum exhibition of his work!

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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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

Wedding Bliss STORIES OF ROMANCE "A Man to Marry"

They look like the perfect couple, don't they?

Wait until the end of this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Stories of Romance #12 (1957), dear reader!

Didn't see that one coming, did you?
The scripter is unknown, the inker is Vince Colletta, and the unknown ghost-penciler appears to be Joe Sinnott!

Next Week...

We Do Know What We'll Present!

And, We Can Guarantee That...

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

(Read the ad below and you'll see what it is!)

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Agonizing Love
The Golden Age of Romance Comics
(Next week, we're presenting the comic cover that illustration is taken from!)

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Man Who Changed!"

Here's a decidedly-different (and very sweet) take on Valentine's Day...

...with an ending you won't see coming!

Illustrated by Penciler Jay Scott Pike and inker Christopher Rule, this story from Atlas' Journey into Mystery #27 (1955) isn't a typical romance.

But sometimes we need to be reminded that "love" takes many forms from passionately-romantic to simply caring about someone else...and that everybody deserves to be loved!

Since we're posting today, there won't be a post on Wednesday, February 16th, but we will be back on February 23rd!

💕Happy Valentine's Day!💘

Amorous Education MEET MISS BLISS "Hello"

Not every romance comic story set in school involved student/student or even student/teacher "interaction"...

...in at least one series, it was teacher/teacher "relationships"!

Written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Al Hartley, this never-reprinted intro tale from Atlas' Meet Miss Bliss (1955) was ripped-off...I mean derived...from the then-popular CBS radio and TV series Our Miss Brooks!

Note: In the 1950s, it wasn't unusual for a series to begin as a radio show, then carry over to the then-new medium of television, sometimes running in both formats simultaneously as this series did!
It was popular enough to warrant a b-movie with the tv show cast (done as the series ended it's run) which tied up the show's plotlines ending with Miss Brooks and Mr Boynton engaged!

There was a one-shot Our Miss Brooks comic from Dell (the biggest producer of radio/movie/tv tie-in comics), but, for whatever reason, it didn't lead to an ongoing series!

As you can see from this intro page to the Our Miss Brooks comic, Miss Bliss followed the format and characters of Miss Brooks almost to a "T", with one major exception...Miss Brooks chased after hunky teacher Mr Boynton, while Miss Bliss was chased by hunky teacher Mr Grant!
The comic played the romance humorously, much like other teen humor books.

Meet Miss Bliss lasted only four issues, then Miss Bliss became a supporting character in the better-selling Patsy and Hedy comic book!

Next Week:
We Continue with Stories Combining School and Sex!
And Yes, You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!

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Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
Volume 1: Super Crush

Halloween HeartBreak / Tell a Tale of Terror Thrice WORLD OF FANTASY "If...!"

Ever think men and women are from totally-different worlds?

This reworking of yesterday's story (Seen HERE) proves you right!

Writer Carl Wessler had already used the basic plot for this story twice before:

1. "If!" in Atlas' Suspense #27 (1953), with the girl and her family being werewolves and vampires (talk about a blended family) as you saw yesterday!
2. "Out Cold" in EC's Haunt of Fear #25 (1954), with the girl and family shown to be ghouls!

But, by the time this never-reprinted story in Atlas' World of Fantasy #2 (1956) was published, the Comics Code had been implemented, banning "creatures of the night", except in humor titles.

So Wessler went with aliens.

Sci-fi was experiencing a resurgence, so it was the logical way to go.

The illustrator was Jay Scott Pike who ended up specializing in romance comics.

You can see some of his work on this very blog by clicking HERE.

Look for the final version of this terrifying tale in baleful black-and-white from Pastime Publishing's Weird Mysteries #1 (1959)...

TOMORROW!

(You didn't think we'd make you wait a week...did you!)

You'd Cry Your Eyes Out if We Did That!

And now a word from out sponsor...

Please Support True Love Comics Tales

Visit Amazon and Order...

Gothic Tales of Haunted Love

Halloween HeartBreak / Tell a Tale of Terror Thrice SUSPENSE "If!"

Here's a real Halloween treat...no trick...a little tale about a guy and a gal from different worlds...

...and we mean that literally!

Written by Carl Wessler, illustrated by Fred Kida, this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Suspense #27 (1953) shows off panache and style close to the legendary EC Comics horror titles of the era.

In fact, Wessler reused the plot (with the variation of the girl and her family being ghouls, not vampires) the next year in EC's Haunt of Fear #25 as "Out Cold!".
(Since that's been reprinted numerous times, and is still under copyright, we aren't going to run it here.)

Even after the Comics Code forbade werewolves, vampires and ghouls, Wessler managed to get another version of the story into print, this time making the girl and her family aliens in Atlas' World of Fantasy #2 (1956)!

You can see that story here, tomorrow!

But, wait!
We promised you "Tell a Tale of Terror Thrice", right?

Well, Carl reused the concept one last time, returning to horror in a b/w magazine, which wasn't restrained by the Comics Code Authority!

So look for the final version of this terrifying tale in baleful black-and-white from Pastime Publishing's Weird Mysteries #1 (1959) on Friday!

Look for the story from Atlas' World of Fantasy #2 (1956)...

TOMORROW!

(You didn't think we'd make you wait a week...did you!)

You'd Cry Your Eyes Out if We Did That!

And now a word from out sponsor...

Please Support True Love Comics Tales

Visit Amazon and Order...

Gothic Tales of Haunted Love