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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Negro Romance

Comic Collectibles Store

featuring the cover art from all four HTF issues 

GIRLS' LOVE STORIES "Make-Believe Romance" & YOUNG ROMANCE "Romance That Never Was!"

This month is dedicated to a Bronze Age experiment by DC Comics!

This tale from DC's Girls' Love Story #169 (1972) is an example of that multi-issue project.

Keep in mind that Marvel had done at least one romance story with Black protagonists several years earlier...

...and you might think "Hey, better late than never!"

But, you might not be aware of one big difference!

The Marvel story, though somewhat heavy-handed, was an original!

This tale was a modified reprint!

We've talked about how Silver Age publishers (including both Marvel and DC)would take older romance stories, modify the clothing and hairstyles and re-present them behind a new lead story to fill out a comic's page count as shown HERE and HERE!
DC editor Dorothy Wollfolk believed they could do something similar, but change more than just garb and hair!
Here's the original version of "Make-Believe Romance" from DC's Young Romance #149 (1967)...

...which was apparently a "nerds in love" tale!

You'll note the script (by an unknown author) wasn't modified at all.

We're also not sure of the penciler, but the inking (and retouching for the reprint) are by Vince Colletta.

BTW, the story was reprinted (and retitled as "I Wanted Someone Just Like Him") with the usual (non-ethnic) clothing and hairstyle alterations one more time in DC's Young Love #111 (1974).

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?)
And now a word from out sponsor...
Visit our

Negro Romance

Comic Collectibles Store
featuring the cover art from all four HTF issues on kool kollectibles!

Wedding Bliss AGONIZING LOVE & "Hurry Up Marriage!"

This absolutely wonderful trade paperback about romance comics...

... features a crying bride on the cover from a cover illustrated by the legendary Jack Kirby from the groundbreaking comic he co-created with Joe Simon, Young Romance!

But here's the kicker...there's no story inside to go with the cover!

Simon and Kirby often would do a cover concept first, then do a story based on it!

Sometimes they'd come up with a cover idea...but then couldn't expand it into a tale they were creatively-satisfied with!

But, the cover was pretty good, and they didn't want it to go to waste, so they'd use it anyway!
This situation existed with all three of the Simon & Kirby Prize Comics romance titles; Young Romance, Young Love, and Young Brides!

Here's another cover involving a bride and groom that didn't have a story attached...

Here's a generic one that could've been (and was) used on any of the series...

And here's one that did have a related story in the issue...

BTW, note the differences, including the fact there's no gruff Old West-style sheriff in the tale below!

Cover art is by John Prentice, and the story art is by Bob McCarty, both working from Jack Kirby layouts!

Next Week...

We return to Super-Love with a special look at the soap opera-style Mighty Thor/Jane Foster romance!

And, We Can Guarantee That...

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

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Agonizing Love
The Golden Age of Romance Comics

Halloween HeartBreak YOUNG ROMANCE "Bonnie Taylor: Airline Stewardess in One Kiss Forever" Part 2

We Have Already Seen...

...depressed airline stewardess Bonnie Taylor, on layover in Scotland, drives into the Highlands, just in time for a local festival celebrating the mythical "Rising of Wee Kirk"!

But Wee Kirk actually appears, and she meets an incredibly-handsome resident of the time-lost town!

BTW, he's gone by the next issue, where Bonnie is implied to be a reincarnated Egyptian princess by a man seeming to be a lover who's followed her though the ages to the present day!

We'll save that one for next Halloween...

Next week:

Another Tale of ♥True Love♥...with a Halloween Twist!

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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Gothic Tales of Haunted Love

Halloween HeartBreak YOUNG ROMANCE "Bonnie Taylor: Airline Stewardess in One Kiss Forever!" Part 1

Ever hear of Brigadoon?

It was a long-running Broadway musical, adapted into a major motion picture, about a mysterious Scottish village that appears in our dimension for a couple of days once a century, then disappears again, taking anybody within it's boundaries with it!
There was a recent AppleTV mini-series musical parodying it...Schmigadoon...

...which was equally-good, if not better (but somewhat snarky)!

Anyway, that concept is the basis for this haunted tale about the eternally-searching for love Bonnie Taylor: Airline Stewardess...

Just thought we'd mention it, for historical context...

They just don't write (or draw) 'em like that anymore!

You just know this moment of passionate pleasure is going to be followed by tragedy...as you'll see...

TOMORROW!

(You didn't think we'd make you wait a week...did you!)

You'd Cry Your Eyes Out if We Did That!

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Gothic Tales of Haunted Love