Laugh at Love! TRUER THAN TRUE ROMANCE "I Hate My Hair!" / FALLING IN LOVE "Stolen Dreams!"

Over the past two weeks, we presented stories created in the early 1970s...the end of romance comics!

For the remaining two entries, we're running stories created during the 1950s-60s, the Silver Age of Comics!

Ironically, writer Jeanne Martinet would be considered "politically-incorrect" today for her characterization of androgenous appearance and the resulting gender confusion!

Hardly the sort of thing penciler Tony Abruzzo, inker Bernard Sachs, and an unknown writer had in mind when they created the story for DC's Falling In Love #4 (1956).

Interestingly, when this story was reprinted over a decade later in DC's Falling in Love #99 (1968), only the women's hairstyles were "updated", with the protaganist's hair modified to the then-trendy "page boy" style!

Neither the mens' hair nor anybody's fashions were updated!

(They usually gave the men sideburns and/or longer hair to make them look "mod"!)

But they felt they had to change her hair!

Go figure...

Next Week:

The Final Serious Romance Story Rewritten for Laughs and We Guarantee That...

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

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Truer Than True Romance

HEART THROBS "Give Him Back" & YOUNG ROMANCE "Love is a Lie!"

Our (post) Valentine's Day piece has a classic romance story theme...

..and a unique setting!

What more could you want?

Cowboy/Western romances were. briefly, a hot comic sub-genre in the 1950s, with everyone doing one (or more) titles (Hey, I think I've just discovered March's theme!), but they were all but extinct by the 1970s, with this being the very last tale (chronologically) I've been able to find!

Penciled by Tony Abruzzo and inked by Arthur Peddy, this never-reprinted story from DC's Heart Throbs #141 (1972) is the only Black Western romance comic story I've ever seen.
Would it surprise you to see it is, in fact, another reworked reprint?
Here's the original version from DC's Young Romances #134 (1965)...

One technical note: Besides reworking hair and clothing, the reprint art retouchers also had to modify the height of the panels when they removed the "Young Romance" header at the top of each page, resulting in several oddly-composed panels!

Next week:

Another Example of the Fascinating Attempt by DC to be More Inclusive...

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

(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

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featuring the cover art from all four HTF issues 

SECRET HEARTS "Mad Mad Modes for Moderns: '60s Swimsuits"

Though the summer is winding down...

...there's never a bad time to (if you're a girl) see the then-current swimsuit fashions or (if you're a guy) have a look at girls in swimwear, as shown in this never-reprinted feature from DC's Secret Hearts #122 (1967)!

"Mad Modes" was a feature that ran in all the DC romance titles from 1966 to 1970 whenever a one or two-page filler was needed.

Written by Barbara Friedlander, the feature was intitially-illustrated (as in this case) by Tony Abruzzo, one of the mainstays of the romance line, with Jay Scott Pike taking over later in the strip's run.

Next week:

The Return of Reach for Happiness...

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

(Things are really getting juicy...)

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GIRLS' ROMANCES "It's Over -- All Over!"

They're the last words anyone wants to hear from a loved one...

...as presented in this lead tale from DC's Girls' Romances #139 (1969)

When the story was reprinted and updated with modified hairstyles and clothing in Young Romance #203 (1975), it was retitled "Come to My Wedding!"

Though the writer is unknown, the art is credited to Tony Abruzzo, who specialized in romance stories and covers from 1954 to arond 1973, exclusively for DC!

He was one of the artists whose work Roy Lichtenstein "appropriated" for his Pop Art paintings.

Lichtenstein's "Sleeping Girl", based on an Abruzzo panel, recently went for a record $45 million!

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...

Visit our

True Love Comics Tales™

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