ADVENTURES IN ROMANCE "Heels Over Head In Love"

With Labor Day coming up, it's time to ease into Autumn...

...with a story from the short-lived (and never reprinted) St John's Adventures in Romance #1 (1949)!

Written by the prolific Dana Dutch, about whom very little is known, except his extensive list of  comic scripts.
Interestingly, out of 206 identified scripts, over 200 were romance stories, with a smattering of superhero and high adventure!

Illustrated by the versatile Frank Bolle, who's still active in the field today!

Here's his website!

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Romance Without Tears
featuring comics stories written by Dana Dutch! 

PICTORIAL ROMANCES "Fast Company"

Though this romance story doesn't have any Black characters (like our Soul Love or Negro Romances entries)...

..it certainly qualifies as a Black History Month post, not because of who's in it, but because of who did it!!

Though the writer of this tale from St John's Pictorial Romances #7 (1951) is unknown, the penciler is Matt Baker with long-time collaborator Ray Osrin inking the story.

Matt Baker was one of the few Black comic book artists of the Golden and Silver Ages, and was easily the most prolific of them!
Though known for his "good girl" art, including the famous (and infamous) Phantom Girl stories, he handled every genre with ease, including horror, war, sci-fi, and romance!

Sadly, though, few of his stories featured Black characters...who were rare in comics until the mid-1960s!

You can read a short, but complete bio HERE!

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Matt Baker

Art of Glamour

IT'S LOVE, LOVE, LOVE "Unwanted"

Talk about a title that screams the book's subject matter...

...but the story's title and content and title seem to reflect just the opposite!

The only creative credit we have for this tale from the second (and last) issue of this short-lived St John comic from 1958 is penciler Bill Molno, who drew the entire issue except the cover.

However, editor Al Fago moved to Charlton when St John folded a couple of months after this book was published. bringing many of his creatives (including Molno) with him!

Molno continued to work steadily in numerous genres besides romance until Charlton went all-reprint in the late 1970s.

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?)

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WARTIME ROMANCES "Guilty Secrets"

Ironically, I had planned, a couple of weeks ago, to use today's cover feature...

...as the first post-Yuletide tale of 2020!

But the exacerbation of the Middle East situation by Don da Con gives the Korean War-era story a timeliness I wasn't expecting!

Penciled by comics legend Matt Baker and inked by Ray Osrin, this never-reprinted story from St John's Wartime Romances #12 (1952) was a typical about the stress and strain that wartime separation put on couples...both married and unmarried!

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...

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(and remember, Valentine's Day is coming!)

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WARTIME ROMANCES "Make-Believe Marriage"

The 1950s.

When employers could legally-discriminate against you if you weren't married!

Here's a litany of lies and love (and a couple of wildly-improbable coincidences) illustrated by the legendary Matt Baker in St John's WarTime Romances #1, 1951.

Scripted by either Dana Dutch or editor Ruth Roche, this densely-plotted tale rivals the Simon-Kirby Young Romance and Young Love for appeal to both teen and young adult readers!

(In fact, the two demographics were pretty-evenly represented in 1940s-50s romance comics' readership!)

Next Week:

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

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

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Love on the Racks

A History of American Romance Comics

CINDERELLA LOVE "A Record-Breaking Affair"

Though technology changes, the human heart remains the same...

...as this tale, set long before iPods and digital music, demonstrates!

 

This story of workplace romance in a (then) high-tech setting was published in Cinderella Love #27 (1955).

If you don't know what "lp records" or "mimeographing" or "filing cards" are, ask your parents (or grandparents).

Trivia: There had been a previous series named Cinderella Love, which was canceled at #15.

At the same time as Cinderella Love, another comic from the same company, called Romantic Marriage, began publishing, continued to #24, then changed it's name to Cinderella Love, ending it's run with #29.

Thus, collectors of romance comics should note that Cinderella Love ran #1-15, then 25-29, with no issues 16-24!

Neither Cinderella Love or Romantic Marriages has been used as the title of a comic book since!

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...

Love on the Racks

A History of American Romance Comics