Showing posts with label Tony Abruzzo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tony Abruzzo. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Hot Snow HEART THROBS "Winter Meeting" & GIRLS" LOVE STORIES "That Special Moment"

 Here's a (Literally) Kool, Twice-Told Tale of the Flames of Love...

...kindled in the snow!







Appearing in DC's Heart Throbs #69 (1960-61), which came out in late autumn-early winter, the Tony Abruzzo & Bernard Sachs-illustrated story perfectly-captured the mood of the season!
When it was reprinted a decade later in DC's Girls' Love Stories #163 (1971), also in late autumn-early winter, it was "updated" with then-current hairstyles and fashions!
In addition, because the "Heart Throbs" header on each page was removed, the art was extended, resulting in some interesting layout reworking, like on the splash page!
But, unlike most "updated" reprints, some of this one's captions and dialogue balloons have been rewritten...








It's unknown why some of the dialogue and captions were re-written.
Next Week , We're Going Mod for February!
And, as Always, We Guarantee...
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, August 16, 2023

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

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

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 1949/1950, 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!

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

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...)

And now a word from out sponsor...