Amorous Education FIRST LOVE ILLUSTRATED "I Joined a Teen-Age Sex Club"

If that title doesn't get your attention, nothing will...

...and it wasn't even the cover-featured story in that issue of Harvey's First Love Illustrated!

Surprisingly,  this story from First Love Illustrated #13 (1951) wasn't one of the tales mentioned in Fredric Wertham's anti-comics screed Seduction of the Innocent (1954)!

Tales of scandalous "sex clubs" pop up every so often during periods of sexual repression such as the 1950s usually in local media looking for a sensationalistic story.

You'll note the tale is presented from scans of the original artwork, not the printed comic.

Unfortunately, every copy of the comic we could find is "slabbed" (encased in plastic) to increase it's resale value to the owner.

The fact it renders the comic unreadable is, sadly, secondary to most people.

(The concept of "slabbing" was developed for trading cards which don't have interiors.

The "collector mentality" of dealers adapted the idea to comics and magazines which do have readable interiors that, after being encased in plastic, are no longer accessible!

And removing the comic from the casing lowers the resale value!)

Illustrated by noted good-girl artist Bob Powell (who also did a number of heroine strips including Cave Girl), the writer of this torrid tale is unknown.

Next Week:

More High School/College Hi-Jinks!

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

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Love on the Racks

A History of American Romance Comics

Laugh at Love FLIP! "For the Love of Mike"

Our final "Laugh at Love" entry was created for one of the many MAD comic book clones of the 1950s!

But, it was illustrated by an artist who was noted for his serious romance comic stories!

Writer Nat Barnett never wrote a romance comic tale.

His two-dozen or so comic book scripts ranged from humor (including this story from Harvey's Flip! #1 [1954]) to horror to war, but absolutely no love comics!
Artist Bob Powell was another matter, as anybody who has perused this blog can tell you!
Starting with "I Joined a Teen-Age Sex Club!" he's one of the biggest comic creatives featured here!
As a bonus for our finale of fun, here's the original art for this story, thanks to the ever-amazing Kraktactaka!

Next Week:

We're devoting all of March to one graphic novel of True Love based on a very popular (and controversial) prose series!

And, as Always, We Guarantee That...

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

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Sincerest Form of Parody

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Anything BUT Archie! HENRY BREWSTER "Cat's Meeow!"

This never-reprinted, short-lived Silver Age series from a short-lived publisher...
...could well be considered the "anti-Archie" teen humor book!

Written and illustrated by Bob Powell, this story from MF Enterprise's Henry Brewster #3 (1967) takes the classic cliche that girls love cats, but boys can't handle felines, to an extreme!

You'll note the art deliberately doesn't resemble the work of Dan DeCarlo, whose renderings of the Archie characters had become the "house style" for that publisher and the de facto look of almost all teen humor books by this point in time!
Writer/artist Bob Powell was one of the most prolific writer/artists in the business from the 1940s through the 1960s.
And, he was a major contributor to the romance genre, as we've shown over the years!
MF Enterprises lasted only a year and a half, and Henry Brewster was its' longest-running book, lasting seven issues.
The parent company, CountryWide did a diverse assortment of magazines dedicated to many other topics including music, pop culture, wrestling, astrology, and UFOs.
As the color comics line ended, the publisher launched a b/w horror comics magazine imprint, Eerie Publications, which published reprints, and newly-re-illustrated versions of old comics tales from 1967 through 1981!
We've run several of them HERE, HERE, and HERE during our Halloween marathons!

Next Week:

A Final Tale...which Didn't Look Like Archie...Until It Did!

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

LOVE PROBLEMS AND ADVICE ILLUSTRATED "I Hated Men!"

For the rest of January, we're presenting several different tales with this title...

...because it's one of the most frequently-used headers for romance comic stories!

Illustrated (and possibly written) by Bob Powell, this (surprisingly) never-reprinted tale from McCombs' Love Problems and Advice Illustrated #1 (1949) is a classic example of male/female attitudes of the era!
Note: This year we're going to do a different theme each month.
Wait'll you see what we have planned...

Next Week:

Another, Radically-Different Story Entitled

"I Hated Men"!

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

And now a word from out sponsor..

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Love on the Racks

A History of American Romance Comics

Amorous Education HI-SCHOOL ROMANCE "He Melted My Heart"

With all the talk about transsexuals participating and dominating in womens' sports...

...what about women who could kick mens' asses in sport?

She obviously let him win in this never-reprinted tale illustrated by Bob Powell from Harvey's Hi-School Romance #1 (1949)!

Next week:

We haven't decided yet what it'll be, but we can guarantee that...

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

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

And now a word from out sponsor..

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Love in the Time of Covid-19 FIRST ROMANCE "Take Me"

Not every romance comics story has a happy ending!

Some are melancholy!

Some are bittersweet!

You decide which one is applicable here...

Personally, I lean towards "bittersweet", because Larry will help Mary though the crisis, and, with any luck, she'll fall for him...

This story of desire deferred and disease from Harvey's First Romance #25 (1953) was illustrated by multi-genre mainstay Bob Powell. but the author is unknown...

Next Week...

Another Tale of Disease, Debilitating Conditions and Desire!

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

Love in the Time of Covid-19 TRUE LOVE PROBLEMS AND ADVICE ILLUSTRATED "Was It Love or Pity?"

You've read this basic plot before...but there's several twists you haven't seen...

Oddly, our tale, though listed second in the table of contents, appeared in the back of the book!

Dr Mathews doesn't think much of his own daughter...

This never-reprinted tale from Harvey's True Love Problems and Advice Illustrated #2 (1949) was illustrated by comics workhorse Bob Powell.

The scripter is unknown, but could have been Powell himself.

Next Week...

Another Tale of Disease, Debilitating Conditions and Desire!

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