Welcome to "Western Romance Month" at our blog!
Intro from Standard's Western Hearts #1 (1949).
In the late 1940s-early 50s, a flood of romance comics hit newsstands as the industry looked for the next "hot" genre after superheroes faded out!Interestingly, a number of Western-themed tales appeared in these anthologies...and received very good reader response.
With Westerns already one of the major genres in comics from Day One, publishers decided to try a mix of the genres, and "Western Romance" comics were born!
Every publisher had at least one, and a couple had several running simultaneously!
Here's a never-reprinted tale, also from Standard's Western Hearts (#4 in 1950) which seems to validate the trope that girls love "bad boys"...
Illustrated by penciler John Severin and inked by Will Elder, this story seems to be set in both the present (Coke and coffee machines in the restaurant, then-current suits and dresses throughout the story in indoor scenes), and the past (no autos/jeeps, telephones, aircraft...which would've been used in a search for the kidnapped girl!).
There was a sub-genre within Western romances of "dude ranch" tales featuring then-contemporary urban dwellers who find True Love while moving to (or just vacationing in) rural environments.
Is that the case here, or did the artists just inadvertently draw the tale that way?
There was a sub-genre within Western romances of "dude ranch" tales featuring then-contemporary urban dwellers who find True Love while moving to (or just vacationing in) rural environments.
Is that the case here, or did the artists just inadvertently draw the tale that way?
We'll never know!
Next Week:
Another "Romance on the Range"!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
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