WOMEN IN LOVE "I Was a Greenwich Village Character"

For over a century, NYC's Greenwich Village has been considered a creative utopia...

...and the unknown writer of this tale seems very familiar with the workings of both the commercial art and fine art communities that mingled in The Village!

This never-reprinted tale from Ziff-Davis' 100-page one-shot Women in Love (1952) is incredibly-overwritten, as if it was a prose story that just happened to have illustrations!

Artist Gerald McCann had the unenviable task of trying to actually illustrate panels that are overflowing with captions and text!

Next Week:

We're Not Sure Exactly What We'll Present!
But...

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

And now a word from out sponsor..

Support True Love Comics Tales!

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Love on the Racks

A History of American Romance Comics
Paid Link

Anything BUT Archie! HOMER HOOPER "Twelve-Dollar Conundrum"

How Close Can You Come to Being an Archie Clone...without  Being Sued?

Atlas Comics sure gave it a shot with this series!

This typical tale from Atlas' Homer Hooper #3 (1953) was scripted by Stan Lee and illustrated by Hy Rosen.

Besides the blonde (who was well-off but not rich), the red-headed lead and the nasty frenemy, the series also featured a brunette, Homer's skinny best friend with a big nose, an athlete, brainy nerd, annoyed teachers and principal, etc.

Hy Rosen, who did a credible job as a Dan DeCarlo clone was one of the few artists working in the style who didn't end up at Archie Comics.

In the mid-1940s he added newspaper editorial cartooning to his already-busy schedule.

When comics almost died in the mid-1950s, Hy took on advertising storyboard work to take up the slack, creating the "White Tornado" ad campaign for Ajax Cleanser!

Hy's last work was for Harvey Comics in the early 1990s...on New Kids on the Block and Saved by the Bell comics!

Interestingly, his eulogy at his "home" newspaper, The Albany Times-Union, makes no mention of his comic book work!

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..

Support True Love Comics Tales!

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Archie's Rivals in Teen Comics

1940s-1970s

An Illustrated History
Paid Link

Yuletide Tidings PEP COMICS "Archie in 'Christmas Cheers' "

It's comics' all-American boy...as most of you don't know him...

...a buck-toothed, layabout, closer to Reggie (who doesn't appear in this tale), than the wholesome teen of today!
(BTW, for an explanation of War Bonds, and why Archie's dad invested part of his son's $50 check, go HERE!)

Written by Harry Sahle and Ed Goggin, penciled by Sahle and inked by "Ginger" (Virginia Drury), this story from MLJ's Pep Comics #46 (1944) is notable for the debut of two characters; Pop Tate, owner of "Pop's Chocklit Shop" (Called "Tate's" in this tale), and Gabby, a short-lived character who screwed-up other people's lives by continually blabbing things others were not meant to know!

As you can see, the original Bob Montana character designs (which Sahle and Drury matched almost exactly) had not yet been updated to the streamlined Dan DeCarlo versions, which serve as the primary templates of the characters from the 1950s to this day!

Next Week:

We don't know what we'll publish...yet!

But, 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 Buy...

Archie and Friends All-Stars Christmas Stocking
Paid Link

COOKIE "Turkey Meets Jerky"

I couldn't find a single romance comic with a Thanksgiving theme...

...but, thankfully (pun intended), teen humor comics have a number of them!

Note, there is a romantic sub-plot involving Cookie's girlfriend AngelPuss!

Curiously, this tale, written and illustrated by Dan Gordon, is from the same issue our previous Cookie holiday tale appeared in, ACG's Cookie #10 (1947)!

Dan Gordon was a writer-animator-director for the Fleischer Studios (Superman, Popeye), then went into comics, finally returning to animation at Hanna-Barbera where he co-created (among others) The Flintstones!

Next Week:

We don't know what we'll publish...yet!

But, 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 Buy...

Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories

Halloween HeartBreak MENACE "Fake!"

 Remember the old adage "Don't judge a book by it's cover"?

 Here's the codicil; "It goes both ways"!

Illustrated by Al Eadeh, this tale from Atlas' Menace #10 (1954) follows the classic trope of golddigger tripped up, not by her own greed, but by the fact her husband (who still loves her) is not even human!

Remember, the target audience for horror (as opposed to romance) comics was 8-14 year old boys, to whom girls were "yukky".

And for whom Lois Lane , the nosy reporter who was always trying to either expose Superman's secret identity or trick the Man of Steel into marrying her, was the typical woman!

Next Week:

We Don't Yet Know What We'll Present, But We Guarantee That...

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...

Gothic Tales of Haunted Love

Paid Link

Super-Spy-Love JET DREAM & HER STUNT GIRL COUNTERSPIES "Achilles Heel"

We Return to One of Our Most Popular Categories...

...with a cautionary tale about handsome men featuring an all-woman crimefighting team that predates Charlie's Angels by almost a decade!

This short tale by writer Dick Wood, penciler Mike Sekowsky, and inker Frank Giacoia is from Gold Key's Man from U.N.C.L.E. #13 (1967).

Jet Dream and Her StuntGirl CounterSpies appeared in 4-page tales in the middle of the book from #8 to #22, then appeared in a book-length story in a one-shot comic.

It's never been reprinted, and very few of the stories are available on the Net...until now!

We're re-presenting the entire series, beginning with the premiere currently at our "sister" blog Heroines!™. and crossing over with "brother" blog Crime & Punishment™!

Next Week: Another Tale of Romance (and/or Seduction) with an Amazing Woman Warrior!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

A Month of Matt Baker WARTIME ROMANCES "Road to Disgrace"

Before 1973, serving in the military, whether voluntary or conscripted (the Draft)...

...used to be a part of almost every American man's life.

So, it seemed logical that there would be romance comics based around something that affected almost all young (18-25), eligible males, and the women who loved them!

The penciler of this never-reprinted story from St John's WarTime Romances #4 (1952) is legendary good-girl artist Matt Baker, aided by long-time inker Ray Osrin, but the writer is unknown.

Next Week:

We Don't Yet Know Which Matt Baker Story We'll Present, But We Guarantee that...

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...

Matt Baker

Art of Glamour

Paid Link