Alex Toth Tales YOUNG LOVE "20 Miles to Heartbreak" Part 4

When Last We Left Our Heroine...

Cover art penciled and inked by Dick Giordano with retouches by Nick Cardy

...we'll let scripter Barbara Friedlander explain where we left off...

This final story in a four-issue arc appeared in DC's Young Love #79 (1970), penciled by Alex Toth and inked by Vince Colletta.

Next Week:

We Begin Our Month-Long Series of Christmas-Themed Posts, including a very HTF version of O Henry's classic "Gift of the Magi" by P Craig Russell!

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

Alex Toth Tales SECRET HEARTS "20 Miles to Heartbreak" Part 3

We Have Already Seen...

...actually, this cover scene by penciler Dick Giordano and inker Vince Colletta doesn't occur in the story, since it's not Juan at the door!

(In fact, he only appears in a flashback in this chapter!)

So who is it???

Yep, we finally get back to Young Love for the soap opera-esque finale...

TOMORROW!

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

The third chapter (out of four) from DC's Secret Hearts #142 (1970) was written by Barbara Friedlander, penciled and lettered by Alex Toth and inked by Vince Colletta.

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Treasures Retold

Lost Art of Alex Toth

Alex Toth Tales YOUNG LOVE "20 Miles to Heartbreak" Part 1

We're Winding Up Alex Toth Tales with a Four-Part Story...

Cover by Dick Giordano

...which bounced between two comic titles, while being the cover feature for all four installments!

You Won't Have to Wait a Month for the Next Chapter in...

...Since You'll Be Able to Read it on Thursday!

But, You Will Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!

This initial chapter from DC's Young Love #78 (1970) was scripted by Barbara Friedlander, penciled and lettered by Alex Toth and inked by Vince Colletta.
Note: usually, if Toth does the lettering, he usually inks the story as well...but not in the case of this multi-parter.
The reason is unknown.

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Treasures Retold

Lost Art of Alex Toth

Asian Amour ALL TRUE ROMANCE "Korean War Bride"

I've been going through the archives looking for romance comic stories featuring Asians...

...and besides some relationships in super-hero and martial arts series, all I found, so far, are tales about "war brides"!

With the current explosion of overt anti-Asian racism, we're running a RetroBog-wide presentation of stories showing how Asians and Asian-Americans been portrayed in comic books.

This never-reprinted story from Comic Media's All True Romance #11 (1953) is the first example.

Distrust and suspicion of "war brides"...whether Asian or European...was common, with many believing the women were "seductresses" taking advantage of "innocent" Americans via sex!
There are other types of tales out there...it's just going to take time to find them...

Next Week...

We Don't Yet Know What We'll Present!

But 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

YOUNG ROMANCE "Full Hands, Empty Heart" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

Art by Bob Oksner and Frank Giacoia

...Nurse Phyllis Carter and Doctor Allan Tate bond over working together in the ER, and a romance develops between the medical professionals.
But it's a romance with a complication the medical professionals never thought they'd have to deal with...

Wait.
The doctor she's working with has just been murdered in front of her!
Even if she wasn't romantically-involoved with him...
They can't let her sit down and rest?
She's clearly in shock!
I wouldn't want her near patients in her present condition!
Plus, the police won't want to talk to her as a witness to the murder?
Speaking of that...has anybody restrained Johnny?
Written by Robert Kanigher, penciled by John Rosenberger and inked by Vince Colletta, this cover-featured story from DC's Young Romance #194 (1973) tries to jam a legitimate moral into the last few panels instead of giving it an extra page to play out in a more coherent manner.
Editor/writer Robert Kanigher was the most vocal proponent of racial equality in the DC editorial "Old Guard" of the 1950s-70s, scripting numerous anti-racist stories as well as introducing several Black characters into the DC Comics universe including...

...Nubia, the second ongoing character to bear the Wonder Woman title, as well as scripting this somewhat infamous Lois Lane story...

Though he meant well, Kanigher was rather heavy-handed, sometimes sacrificing plot logic (like the ending of "Full Hands, Empty Heart") to make a moral point.

Note: On some pages Phyllis (and other Black characters') skin is gray/purple and on some it's brown.
That's because on the pages showing her as gray, the color separators used the wrong combination of yellow, red (magenta) and blue (cyan) screens.
When the story was reprinted in Simon & Schuster's Heart Throbs: Best of DC Romance Comics (1979) trade paperback, the only editorial change was to correct the Black skin tones.

All the other coloring remained the same.

Next Week...

We Don't Know What We're Presenting...Yet!

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

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Negro Romance
Comic Collectibles Store

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

YOUNG ROMANCE "Full Hands, Empty Heart"

There are very few black romance stories in comics before the 1990s...

..and even fewer interracial romance stories during this tumultuous period in American racial relations!

Note: On some pages Phyllis' skin is gray and on some it's brown.

That's because on the pages showing her as gray, the color separators used the wrong combination of yellow, red (magenta) and blue (cyan) screens.

To find out what happens next...
Be Here Next Week
for the heart-rending conclusion as well as some background about the writer of the tale!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
And Now a Word from Our Sponsor!

Visit our

Negro Romance
Comic Collectibles Store

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