Showing posts with label Bernard Sachs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bernard Sachs. Show all posts

Thursday, August 27, 2026

Tales Twice Told GIRLS' LOVE STORIES "This is Our Moment"

Yesterday, We Presented a Story from the '60s...

...that featured modified clothing and hairstyles as usual when it was reprinted a half-decade later!
But, it also had a radical modification not present in most of those reprints...

Pages 3 thru 6 of the original story are dropped, and we now continue with what was originally page 7...
Why did Editor Dorothy Woolfolk drop four pages from this story when it was "updated" for DC's Girls' Love Stories #162 (1971)
It wasn't for space reasons, as there were lots of other reprintable stories that would've fitted into the allocated pages without extensive re-editing!
We'll never know the answer...

We Don't Yet Know What We'll Present Next Week!
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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Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Tales Twice Told SECRET HEARTS "What About Some Love for Me?"

How many of us have been treated like doormats by our "friends"...
...even to the point where we'd actually help them steal the one we love?
I'll bet a lot of readers can identify with Katie...
We don't know how Jane reacted to this turn of events...nor do we care!
This cover-featured tale from DC's Secret Hearts #109 (1966) was penciled by John Romita, inked by Bernard Sachs with several panels redrawn by Mike Sekowsky.
(Romita had just gone over to Marvel to take over as the artist on Daredevil, and shortly thereafter, Spider-Man!)
Like many other stories of the era, it was reprinted with updated fashions and hairstyles!
But, unlike most of those stories, when it was reprinted, it was also heavily-reedited and rewritten, with almost half the pages cut!
See that  version...tomorrow!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!
And now a word from our sponsor...
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Thursday, July 30, 2026

Tales Twice Told HEART THROBS "I Know My Love!"

The story we presented yesterday, "Summer Love", had previously-appeared under this cover...
..in DC's Heart Throbs #63 (1960).
When it was reprinted in 1970, the title was changed.
(DC tended to do this more than Marvel.
It drives comics historians nuts trying to match up different printings of stories!)
John Romita Sr was doing a lot of romance comics work for DC during this period, before leaving to go to Marvel in early 1965.
You'll note that, besides the usual "updating" of hair and clothing in yesterday's story, the art in the reprint version is "extended" on each page because the original pages had a printed header across the top of the art area.
The reprints eliminated the headers, and the art was extended either along the top or bottom of the page, depending on which way would be easier and/or faster to do.

As we showed HERE, this "updated reprinting" became a common practice on romance comics until the genre all-but died out in the late 1970s.

Publishers would do a new 6-12 page lead story and use retouched reprints to fill out the book.
Editors felt that:
a) the plots were relatively timeless.
b) updating the art was cheaper than totally-redrawing the story. 
c) the artists were better-utilized doing stuff that sold better (like superheroes).
d) the audience for romance comics, unlike superhero comics, totally-changed every 5-6 years anyway, and wouldn't notice the "old" plots.
Next week:
We Re-Present Our Annual Summertime "Beach Read" Book-Length Gothic Romance Novel...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)
And Now a Woed From Out Sponsor (Us)...
Support True Love Comics Tales!
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Wednesday, July 29, 2026

It's the Season for Lovin' GIRLS' LOVE STORIES "Summer Love"

Here's some light beach reading now that Summer's under way...
...in fact, it's so light, there's no dialogue or captions!
Not a single, solitary word, except the title...
We re-present this silent story for your perusal from DC's Girls' Love Stories #155 (1970).
The writer is unknown, but the art is by penciler John Romita Sr and inker Bernard Sachs!
You may wonder how and why the artist who was then drawing Spider-Man for Marvel would do a romance comic story for rival DC?

If you come back
Tomorrow
I'll explain!
And now a word from our sponsor...
Support True Love Comics Tales!
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Hot Snow HEART THROBS "Winter Meeting" & GIRLS" LOVE STORIES "That Special Moment"

 Here's a (Literally) Kool, Twice-Told Tale of the Flames of Love...

...kindled in the snow!







Appearing in DC's Heart Throbs #69 (1960-61), which came out in late autumn-early winter, the Tony Abruzzo & Bernard Sachs-illustrated story perfectly-captured the mood of the season!
When it was reprinted a decade later in DC's Girls' Love Stories #163 (1971), also in late autumn-early winter, it was "updated" with then-current hairstyles and fashions!
In addition, because the "Heart Throbs" header on each page was removed, the art was extended, resulting in some interesting layout reworking, like on the splash page!
But, unlike most "updated" reprints, some of this one's captions and dialogue balloons have been rewritten...








It's unknown why some of the dialogue and captions were re-written.
Next Week , We're Going Mod for February!
And, as Always, We Guarantee...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

And now a word from our sponsor...
Support True Love Comics Tales!
Visit Amazon and Order...