HEART THROBS "Give Him Back" & YOUNG ROMANCE "Love is a Lie!"

Our (post) Valentine's Day piece has a classic romance story theme...

..and a unique setting!

What more could you want?

Cowboy/Western romances were. briefly, a hot comic sub-genre in the 1950s, with everyone doing one (or more) titles (Hey, I think I've just discovered March's theme!), but they were all but extinct by the 1970s, with this being the very last tale (chronologically) I've been able to find!

Penciled by Tony Abruzzo and inked by Arthur Peddy, this never-reprinted story from DC's Heart Throbs #141 (1972) is the only Black Western romance comic story I've ever seen.
Would it surprise you to see it is, in fact, another reworked reprint?
Here's the original version from DC's Young Romances #134 (1965)...

One technical note: Besides reworking hair and clothing, the reprint art retouchers also had to modify the height of the panels when they removed the "Young Romance" header at the top of each page, resulting in several oddly-composed panels!

Next week:

Another Example of the Fascinating Attempt by DC to be More Inclusive...

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

(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

And now a word from out sponsor...

Visit our

Negro Romance

Comic Collectibles Store

featuring the cover art from all four HTF issues 

GIRLS' LOVE STORIES "We Can Never Marry!" & "A Marriage Without Love!"

A bride getting cold feet at her wedding is as universal a concept as can be imagined...
...transcending ethnicity, religion, or societal upbringing!

A happy ending for this tale from DC's Girls' Love Stories #172 (1972).

But, if you're a regular reader of this blog, it might seem a bit...familiar!

That's because we already ran it last year...sort of...as part of our "Wedding Bliss" series!

This version appeared six years earlier, also in DC's Girls' Love Stories, but in #121 (1966).
(Altered reprints didn't usually appear in the same series the original version was published in!)
Curiously, the Grand Comics DataBase doesn't make mention of the reuse of the story in either of its' Girls' Love Stories listings for #121 or #172!
And, they can't make up their minds as to who illustrated it.
I lean towards a combination of John Rosenberger and Win Mortimer.

Next week:

Another Example of the Fascinating Attempt by DC to be More Inclusive...

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

(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

And now a word from out sponsor...

Visit our

Negro Romance

Comic Collectibles Store

featuring the cover art from all four HTF issues on kool kollectibles!

GIRLS' LOVE STORIES "Make-Believe Romance" & YOUNG ROMANCE "Romance That Never Was!"

This month is dedicated to a Bronze Age experiment by DC Comics!

This tale from DC's Girls' Love Story #169 (1972) is an example of that multi-issue project.

Keep in mind that Marvel had done at least one romance story with Black protagonists several years earlier...

...and you might think "Hey, better late than never!"

But, you might not be aware of one big difference!

The Marvel story, though somewhat heavy-handed, was an original!

This tale was a modified reprint!

We've talked about how Silver Age publishers (including both Marvel and DC)would take older romance stories, modify the clothing and hairstyles and re-present them behind a new lead story to fill out a comic's page count as shown HERE and HERE!
DC editor Dorothy Wollfolk believed they could do something similar, but change more than just garb and hair!
Here's the original version of "Make-Believe Romance" from DC's Young Romance #149 (1967)...

...which was apparently a "nerds in love" tale!

You'll note the script (by an unknown author) wasn't modified at all.

We're also not sure of the penciler, but the inking (and retouching for the reprint) are by Vince Colletta.

BTW, the story was reprinted (and retitled as "I Wanted Someone Just Like Him") with the usual (non-ethnic) clothing and hairstyle alterations one more time in DC's Young Love #111 (1974).

Next week:
Another Example of the Fascinating Attempt by DC to be More Inclusive...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)
And now a word from out sponsor...
Visit our

Negro Romance

Comic Collectibles Store
featuring the cover art from all four HTF issues on kool kollectibles!

PICTORIAL ROMANCES "Fast Company"

Though this romance story doesn't have any Black characters (like our Soul Love or Negro Romances entries)...

..it certainly qualifies as a Black History Month post, not because of who's in it, but because of who did it!!

Though the writer of this tale from St John's Pictorial Romances #7 (1951) is unknown, the penciler is Matt Baker with long-time collaborator Ray Osrin inking the story.

Matt Baker was one of the few Black comic book artists of the Golden and Silver Ages, and was easily the most prolific of them!
Though known for his "good girl" art, including the famous (and infamous) Phantom Girl stories, he handled every genre with ease, including horror, war, sci-fi, and romance!

Sadly, though, few of his stories featured Black characters...who were rare in comics until the mid-1960s!

You can read a short, but complete bio HERE!

Next Week:

We Don't Yet Know What We'll Present, But We Guarantee that...

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

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Matt Baker

Art of Glamour