Showing posts with label St John. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St John. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

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!
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Wednesday, February 12, 2025

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...

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

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...

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

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!

And now a word from out sponsor..
Please Support True Love Comics Tales!
Visit Amazon and Order...

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Amorous Education WARTIME ROMANCE "I Tried to Burn the Candle at Both Ends!"

Though it appeared in Wartime Romances...
...this story has nothing to do with anything even vaguely-military related!
Written by Dana Dutch and illustrated by Matt Baker, this story from St John's Wartime Romances #1 (1951), like all the tales in the issue, was a reprint (but all were retitled from their original publication)!
In fact, this one was originally called "I Should Have Played Hard-to-Get!" when it ran in St John's Blue Ribbon Comics: Teen-Age Diary Secrets #4 (1949)...where it was the cover feature!
With the Korean War under way, the editors thought a romance title based on how war affects male-female relationships might be a hot seller!
But they could only find two military-themed stories in their inventory, so they lead with those tales and used other, non military-related tales to fill out the issue!
With #2, they started running new material commissioned specifically for the book, which ran 18 issues through 1953, outlasting the war!
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!
Please Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Order...

Matt Baker
Art of Glamour

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Amorous Education TEEN-AGE DIARY SECRETS "I Was Tired of BEING GOOD..."

 How can you resist a tale with a titillating title like that?

Plus the art is by legendary good girl artist Matt Baker!!!
The writer of this never-reprinted tale from St John's Teen-Age Diary Stories #4 (1949) is unknown, though it's suspected to be Dana Dutch.
BTW, this particular issue was actually a magazine, featuring both fiction and non-fiction text features (with b/w illustrations) and a color comics section with three stories, including this one.
For whatever reason, the later issues of the title were standard comic-book size and format.
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!
Please Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Order...