John Buscema Tales COWBOY ROMANCES "Cowgirls Don't Cry!"

Then-fledgling (now-legendary) artist John Buscema entered the comics field in 1949...

...and this tale, combining romance with a contemporary Western setting, was among the stories he illustrated that year!

This never-reprinted story from Atlas' Cowboy Romances #1(1949) was one of nine romance tales John illustrated that year.

Six of them were for Western romance comics!

(It was a very popular sub-genre at that point!)
BTW, John followed the established format for Atlas Comics' romance stories.
No full-page "splash" pages!
Six-panels to a page (except for the first page).
Lots of medium (from the waist up) and close-up panels.
When Buscema began working for other publishers, those restrictions no longer applied, and the artist we've come to know and admire burst forth...

Next Week, a 1950s story from John Buscema!

Witness his artistic evolution decade by decade!

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

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Big John Buscema

Comics and Drawings

A combination of complete checklist of Buscema's comic and magazine work and a heavily-illustrated catalog of a 2009 Italian museum exhibition of his work!

Romance on the Range ADVENTURES IN ROMANCE "Stopgap: the Saga of Coby Nash"

Though not strictly a "Western romance" title......St John's anthology Adventures in Romance was an attempt to mix several genres with romance...including high adventure, swashbuckling pirates, and, as you'll see, Westerns...to attract both male and female readers!

Despite running romance strips in almost every genre (except horror and sci-fi), the book only lasted two issues.

Illustrator Leonard Starr spent a decade in comics before moving on to newspaper comic strips, first as an assistant on Flash Gordon, then as the creator/writer/artist of the long-running Mary Perkins: on Stage!
He's best known to contemporary audiences as the creator/writer/designer of the animated TV series ThunderCats!

Next Week:

We're Not Yet Sure What We'll Present!
But...

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

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Cowgirl Bride

Romance on the Range FRONTIER ROMANCE "Ropin' in a Wild Cowpoke"

A new reality series, Farmer Wants a Wife, is about four farm/ranch owners seeking a mate.

And, to tell the truth, they sound a helluva lot like this guy!

Illustrated by Ed Waldman, this tale from Avon's Frontier Romances #1 (1949) starts out transactional, but turns emotional by the end.
BTW, in regard to Fox's Farmer Wants a Wife reality series, the show plays up the "rancher/cowboy" aspects while playing down the "farmer" aspects of the lifestyle.

Wonder why?

Next Week:

Our Final "Romance on the Range"!

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

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Cowgirl Bride

Romance on the Range COWBOY LOVE "Outlaw Girl"

Yes, there were both CowBOY and CowGIRL romance comics!

Perhaps the publishers hoped to capture both the female and male reading audiences!

This tale from Fawcett's Cowboy Love #2 (1949) plays up the "justice in the Old West" plotline, making the romance aspect decidedly-secondary, which might be just as well, since Amy's falling for a guy she's known for such a short period is totally-unrealistic!

Next Week:

Another "Romance on the Range"!

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

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Cowgirl Bride

Romance on the Range WESTERN HEARTS "I Loved an Outlaw"

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?

We'll never know!

Next Week:

Another "Romance on the Range"!

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

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?)

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Negro Romance

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featuring the cover art from all four HTF issues