Though told from the viewpoint of the male protaganist...
...this story was, allegedly, written by one of the few female writers in Bronze Age comics.
Was it?
Read, and judge for yourself...
This never-reprinted tale from Marvel's Our Love Story #20 (1972) was scripted by Joy Hartle and illustrated by George Tuska and Paul Reinman.
Most people believe "Joy Hartle" was a pseudonym for Gary Freidrich.
"Joy" had only two stories to her credit, both romance tales that appeared almost simultaneously in late 1972-early1973.
And, in fact, Gary's sister-in-law is named Joy Hartle!
But Gary was working steadily for Marvel at this point, scripting Captain America and Sgt Fury, as well as co-creating both the motorcycle-riding Ghost Rider and a new version of the Frankenstein Monster (both with Mike Ploog)!
So why the pen-name?
The only thing I can think of is that these stories were done during the brief period in 1971-72 when Gary had left Marvel to work at the short-lived Skywald Publishing, and were "inventory" stories used to fill out what would've been all-reprint issues of the dying romance comics line.
BTW, the cover-featured tale has one of the worst romance comics covers I've ever seen...
 |
| Art by Alan Weiss & Frank Giacoia with retouching by Marie Severin and John Romita |
Heck, the guy looks more like a stalker than a lover...
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...
