Showing posts with label Tender Love Stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tender Love Stories. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Amorous Education TENDER LOVE STORIES "Campus Crusader in Love!"

Good Deeds or Good Loving...
That's the choice Christine has to make when her love of social justice and her love for her long-time friend come into conflict...
Unfortunately, none of the creatives were credited, so the writers and artists are regrettably, unknown.
However, the cover art is clearly inked (and probably penciled) by John Severin.
This cover-featured tale from Skywald's short-lived Tender Love Stories #3 (1971) was the only new story in the 52-page book!
The rest were reprints modified to update the clothing and hairstyles to then-current trends.
It was a common practice on romance titles from the mid-1960s until the genre died out in the mid-1970s.
Unfortunately, the Dreaded Deadline Doom caught up with us, so we decided to do a "re-presentation" rather than miss a week.
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 our sponsor...
You can own a kool komic collectible
(t-shirt, mug, tote bag, etc.)
embellished with the cover from this week's torrid tale...
...by clicking HERE!

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

TENDER LOVE STORIES "I Wanted the World" Conclusion

Scheming, manipulative Crystal Larson has been bed-hopping (in a PG-13 manner) to move herself up the social and financial ladder...
This never-reprinted tale from Skywald's Tender Love Stories #2 (1971) shows that what's good for the goose is equally-good for the gander!
Next Week...
Our annual month-long look at Weird Romances...just in time for Halloween!
Yes, it's ROMANCE, but with a serious helping of...
Horror
Sci-Fi
and/or
Fantasy!
You'll Cry If You Miss It!
And now a word from our sponsor...
Please Support
True Love Comics Tales!
Visit Amazon and Order...

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

TENDER LOVE STORIES "I Wanted the World" Part 1

When most women describe themselves as "hard-working"...
...I don't think this is quite what they mean!
But then, Crystal Larson isn't planning to go though the whole "nose to the grindstone" routine...
Written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Jack Katz (with some redrawing by Skywald's art director Ross Andru along with Mike Esposito, and Frank Giacoia), this never-reprinted tale from Tender Love Stories #2 (1971) shows a more 1940s-50s mindset than a tale written at the dawn of the Womens' Lib movement should!
BTW, our sincere thanks to the amazing Kracalactaka for the scans from this incredibly-hard to find comic!
And now a word from our sponsor...
Please Support
True Love Comics Tales!
Visit Amazon and Order...

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

TENDER LOVE STORIES "My Kind of Music!"

Motorcycle, guitar, long hair, fringed jacket...
...yep, this Don Heck/Joe Sinnott cover superbly-portrays a 1970's version of a "bad boy"!
Long-time pros Jack Katz, Werner Roth, and John Tartaglone illustrated this never-reprinted tale from Skywald's Tender Love Stories #1 (1971).
Next Week:
It's our annual Beach Read blogathon as we present a book-length Gothic comic...
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...

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

TENDER LOVE STORIES / REALISTIC ROMANCES "I Deceived My Love"

When I first saw this tale in the back of Skywald's Tender Love Stories #3 (1971)...
...I knew it was "off", but I couldn't quite figure out how or why!
With sales falling on most non-superhero genres in the late 1960s (including Western and war as well as romance), this "updated reprinting" became a common practice on romance comics until the genre all-but died out in the late 1970s.
Publishers would do a new 6-12 page lead story and use retouched reprints (updating clothing and hairstyles) to fill out the book.
Editors felt that:
a) the plots were relatively timeless.
b) updating the art was cheaper than totally-redrawing the story. 
c) the artists were better-utilized doing stuff that sold better (like superheroes).
d) the audience for romance comics, unlike superhero comics, totally-changed every 5-6 years anyway, and wouldn't notice the "old" plots.
(Note: you can see the new tale this reworked story backs-up HERE!)
Note that none of the captions or dialogue were rewritten/updated, so the reference to Hal's sister dying in "the first war" on page 3 didn't make sense to a Vietnam War-era reader in 1971!
(But it would to a post-WWII-era reader because it references World War I!)
Ironically, this tale required more redrawing than most!
Bill Everett not only had to do the usual "updating" on people, but on vehicles and technology as well!
Here's the original, Rafael Astarita-rendered story from Avon's Realistic Romances #4 (1952)...
Though published in 1952, the tale was written/illustrated several years earlier and tossed into this anthology with little concern for timeliness!
In fact, look at the inside cover/contents page...
This story is described in the lower right corner...with an illustration that has nothing to do with the tale!
Next Week:
We don't know yet what we'll present, but we can guarantee...
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...
Agonizing Love

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

TENDER LOVE STORIES "Spark of my Heart!"

...with a never-reprinted tale about a guy, a girl, and gearshifts!
Written by May Sterling, penciled by Kurt Schaffenberger, and inked by John Celardo, this tale from Skywald's Tender Love Stories #4 (1971) was the final original story from the short-lived company's longest-running title!
While Schaffenberger and Celardo were both long-time pros who began their careers back in the Golden Age of comics, this is May Sterling's only writing credit!
Schaffenberger, in the 1950s and 60s, was DC's "go to" artist for female characters with long stints on Lois Lane, Supergirl, and Mary Marvel as well as occasional assignments on Wonder Woman and Mighty Isis!
Oddly, he had very few romance comic assignments over his long career...
Is "May Sterling" a pseudonym, or was she a comics neophyte who went on to other things after this one script?
Sadly, we'll never know...
Next Week:
We don't know yet what we'll present, but we can guarantee...
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...
Agonizing Love