Showing posts with label Orbit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orbit. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

LOVE DIARY "I Hated Men"

For a romance comics blog, our I Hated Men month's posts were among our most popular!
And we believe in giving the audience what it wants!
So...
This never-reprinted story from Orbit's Love Diary #4 (1950) was illustrated by Mort Lawrence, but the writer is, sadly, unknown!
Note: I found it amazing how many romance comic stories have "hate" or "hated" in the titles.
Next Week...
Another Story About a Woman Who Proclaims...
"I HATED MEN!!!"
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...

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

John Buscema Tales "Prescription for Happiness" & "S.O.S. for Love"

Though most of John Busecema's romance comics stories were one-shots...
...along with one two-parter (as shown HERE and HERE), he did do two series of 2-3 page shorts!
Entitled "Prescription for Happiness" and "S.O.S. for Love", the shorts featured distressed lovers asking a counselor for advice, much like the licensed (and unlicensed) advisors we presented last year in our Advice d'Amour tales!
Appearing in Orbit's Love Diary and Love Journal comics, the strips initially-featured rotating artists, but once Buscema took over, he stayed on both of them for the remainder of their runs, doing almost a dozen tales of woe!
Yes, the title on this one is "S.O.S. Love in Distress".
To be fair, this was the final strip in the final issue of Love Journal, so the editor can be forgiven for letting the incorrect header slip by!
After all, what were they going to do...fire him?
In a couple of cases, as Orbit was winding down operations just before cancellation, they took an "S.O.S. for Love" strip from the previous year like this one...
...and re-ran it as "Prescription for Happiness", just changing the logo and re-naming the counselor...without even redrawing him to match the other strip's host!
I guess they thought "PfH's" Ray Mann and "S.O.S.'s" Mark Ford were interchangeable!

Next Week...
What Will February Bring?
At This Point, We Haven't Decided Yet!
But We Can Assure You...
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 Buy...

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!

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

John Buscema Tales LOVE DIARY "Not Meant for Love"

...artist John Buscema was able to indulge his storytelling instincts, making any tale he illustrated, even one as well-written as this, better!
Written by Dorothy Woolfolk, who later became the "womens' comics" editor at DC (including romance and superheroine titles), this never-reprinted story from Orbit's Love Diary #13 (1951) is a classic example of what a romance comic was in the genre's prime!

Next Week, a 1960s story from John Buscema!
Witness his artistic evolution decade by decade!
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 Buy...
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!

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Love on New Year's Eve LOVE DIARY "Make Way for Love"

Though the caption on the cover references a story about three New Year's resolutions...

...the cover art doesn't show the characters from that tale (or any other story) in the issue!
At least it's by the same artist...John Buscema!






Illustrated by John Buscema and scriped by a currently-unknown writer, this never-reprinted story from Orbit's Love Diary #33 (1953) superbly-demonstrates the versatility of an artist most present-day comics fans know only for his voluminous Marvel superhero work and Conan the Barbarian!
But that'll change in January, which we decree will be...
John Buscema Month!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If Miss It!
HAPPY NEW YEAR

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

LOVE DIARY "Not the Right Type!"

It's the middle of summer, so let's hit the beach...
...where studly lifeguards and beautiful babes mix and mingle in a hot, passionate broth under the sun!
(I gotta work on my imagery...)
Remember...always be yourself!
If the art style looks familiar, that's because this was an early assignment for John Buscema, one of the primary artists at Marvel Comics from the late 1960s until his untimely passing in 2002!
Incredibly-versatile, there was nothing John couldn't illustrate, from war to superheroes to romance to his most famous work on Conan the Barbarian!
This particular never-reprinted story from Orbit's Love Diary #36 (1953) is both penciled and inked by Buscema, a practice he almost always did during his first period in comics from 1949 to 1960.
After a brief stint in advertising, he returned to comics in 1966, quickly becoming the number two artist at Marvel behind Jack Kirby.
In order to match Kirby's legendary speed (up to five pages a day), Buscema stopped inking his work, except on very rare occasions.
When Kirby moved to DC in 1970, Buscema's style rapidly became the "house style" for the company.
(In fact, the original version of How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way features Buscema demonstrating anatomy, perspective, and storytelling with his unique flair.)
Next Week:
We're Not Sure Yet Exactly What We'll Present!
But...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
And now a word from out sponsor..
Please Support True Love Comics Tales!
Visit Amazon and Order...

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Love in the Time of Covid-19 LOVE DIARY "I was Branded a Flirt, a Nurse Confesses..."

For our final (for now) disease-themed story...
...we present an intense, never-reprinted one from Orbit's Love Diary #1 (1949) which takes a twist you probably don't expect!!
That "life together" continued for five more issues of Love Diary, along with a two-story spinoff featuring supporting character Sally Weeks!
Vicky didn't end up with the wholesome "boy next door" doctor as you might expect, but the glamourous, slightly-arrogant studmuffin!
But, that doesn't mean the course of true love is without some rough patches, as you'll see when we continue this series in our "brother" RetroBlog Medical Comics and Stories!
Next Week
We Begin Our Super-Summer Blogathon featuring...
...Never-Reprinted Romances of Supergirl!
You'll Cry If You Miss It!
And now a word from our sponsor...
Please Support
True Love Comics Tales!
Visit Amazon and Order...