Amorous Education MEET MISS PEPPER "My Dearest..."

Not every  romance comic story set in school involved student/student or even student/teacher "interaction"...

...in a couple of series, it was teacher/teacher "relationships"!

Written and illustrated by Joe Kubert and Bob Bean (nobody's certain as to who did what on which page or even panel), this never-reprinted story from St john's Meet Miss Pepper (1954) was ripped-off...I mean derived...from the then-popular CBS radio and TV series Our Miss Brooks!

Note: In the 1950s, it wasn't unusual for a series to begin as a radio show, then carry over to the then-new medium of television, sometimes running in both formats simultaneously as this series did!
It was popular enough to warrant a b-movie with the tv show cast (done as the series ended it's run) which tied up the show's plotlines ending with Miss Brooks and Mr Boynton engaged!

There was a one-shot Our Miss Brooks comic from Dell (the biggest producer of radio/movie/tv tie-in comics), but, for whatever reason, it didn't lead to an ongoing series!

As you can see from this intro page to the Our Miss Brooks comic, Miss Pepper followed the format and characters of Miss Brooks almost to a "T", with one major exception...Miss Brooks chased after hunky teacher Mr Boynton, while Miss Pepper was chased by hunky teacher Mr Phizz!
The comic played the romance humorously, much like other teen humor books.

Meet Miss Pepper lasted only two, never-reprinted, issues, then Miss Pepper disappeared (except for occasional excerpts in history/reference books) forever from print.

Next Week:
We Continue with Stories Combining School and Sex!
And Yes, You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor...
Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
Volume 1: Super Crush
Paid Link

It's the Season for Lovin' ADVENTURES IN ROMANCE "September Squall"

Now that it's September...

...let's tell a seasonally-appropriate, never-reprinted, cover-featured story that really fits the concept of a "beach read'!

The painted cover art (by the story's artist, Warren King) was based on the final panel.
While other comics publishers used painted covers on their romance comics, most of those were re-used pulp or paperback paintings which were unrelated to the interior stories!
You've likely noted a couple of two-page spreads at the beginning of the story and at the conclusion.
St John's Adventures in Romance #1 (1949), experimented with doing double-page spreads in each story to establish a distinctive "look".
Sadly, the series only lasted two issues.  ;-(
Artist Warren King spent several years in comic books doing everything from superheroes to horror to romance, before moving into newspaper cartooning, becoming the in-house editorial cartoonist at the NY Daily News and winning the National Cartoonists Society Best Editorial Cartoonist Award in 1968.
He passed away in 1978.

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..
Support True Love Comics Tales

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Romance Without Tears
featuring comics stories written by Dana Dutch! 
Paid Link

A Month of Matt Baker TEEN-AGE ROMANCES "How Could I Fight Temptation?" / DIARY SECRETS "Temptation Was My Weakness"

Our Final Entry in A Month of Matt Baker...

...is an almost-stereotypical comic book love story, but told with finesse and style..with one weird aspect!

Can you tell what it is?

 

Published in St John's Teen-Age Romances #2 (1949), this story, written by Dana Dutch, penciled by Matt Baker and inked either by himself or by Ray Osrin hits all the classic elements of the genre.

The weird part is that the students are all drawn like college-age kids, but it's clearly set in high school!
When it was reprinted in St John's Diary Secrets #19 (1953), the title was changed...

...but nothing else in text or art was altered!

Next Week:

We Don't Yet Know What Story We'll Present, But We Guarantee that...

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

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor!

Support True Love Comics Tales

Visit Amazon and Order...

Matt Baker

Art of Glamour

Paid Link

A Month of Matt Baker WARTIME ROMANCES "Road to Disgrace"

Before 1973, serving in the military, whether voluntary or conscripted (the Draft)...

...used to be a part of almost every American man's life.

So, it seemed logical that there would be romance comics based around something that affected almost all young (18-25), eligible males, and the women who loved them!

The penciler of this never-reprinted story from St John's WarTime Romances #4 (1952) is legendary good-girl artist Matt Baker, aided by long-time inker Ray Osrin, but the writer is unknown.

Next Week:

We Don't Yet Know Which Matt Baker Story We'll Present, But We Guarantee that...

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

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor!

Support True Love Comics Tales

Visit Amazon and Order...

Matt Baker

Art of Glamour

Paid Link

A Month of Matt Baker TEEN-AGE ROMANCES "They Called Me a Wayward Girl"

Sometimes a "Bad Girl" is Just a Mis-directed "Good Girl"...

...who just needs a chance!

Scripted by Dana Dutch and illustrated by Matt Baker, fresh off his tenure at Fox Comics where he illustrated scantly-clad heroines like Phantom Lady and Rulah, the two teamed-up in this premiere issue of St John's Teen-Age Romances (1949), beginning a run that matched Simon & Kirby's genre ground-breaking romance books for Prize Comics in storytelling and sales!

Next Week:

We Don't Yet Know Which Matt Baker Story We'll Present, But We Guarantee that...

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

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor!

Support True Love Comics Tales

Visit Amazon and Order...

Matt Baker
Art of Glamour
Paid Link

WARTIME ROMANCES "Lovelife of an Army Nurse"

It is said that "All is fair in love and war"...

...as this nurse learns the hard way in a story from St John's Wartime Romances #1 (1951)!

Penciled by legendary "good girl" artist Mat Baker and inked by Ray Osirin, this tale of combat and cattiness was typical of the more adult approach that St John's creatives took in their various romance titles.

Next Week:

We Don't Yet Know What We'll Present, But We Guarantee that...

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

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor!

Support True Love Comics Tales

Visit Amazon and Order...

Matt Baker

Art of Glamour