Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

It's the Season for Lovin' MY ROMANTIC ADVENTURES "Spring Meeting"

Since Spring is now in full bloom, let's look at a tale from a Spring over a Half-Century ago...
...and see a story that some would say could happen today, almost 70 year later!
"I figured right off that any check I gave you would be just a way of keeping the money in the family!"?
Now that's a lawyer!
This never-reprinted short illustrated by Al Williamson and Angelo Torres (who penciled and inked different sections as they passed the pages back and forth) appeared in ACG's My Romantic Adventures #86 (1958).
Odds are the script was by editor Richard E Hughes who wrote almost everything at ACG!
Next Week:
We don't know what we'll present..yet,
but we can 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 Buy...

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

LOVE 1971 "Reckless Losers"

55 years ago...
...romance comics were on their last legs.
But DC Comics' wasn't going down without a fight, starting with the torrid tale under this psychedelic Charlie Armentano cover!
Written/pencilled by Ric Estrada and inked by Tony DeZuniga, this cover-featured, never-reprinted story from DC's Super DC Giant #21 was the only new tale in the 64-page book.
Note: artist Charlie Armentano did only two comic pages that were ever published; this cover and the back cover of DC 100-Page Super-Spectacular #5 Love Stories (1971)!
The art was apparently submitted with coloring done on the original art itself, unheard-of at the time...
Armentano is still active in graphic arts!
Visit his website!
Next Week...
We Don't Know What We're Presenting...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...
Love Stories 1971 100-Page Super-Spectacular
Replica Edition
...which features Charlie Armentaro's only other comic book art on the back cover!
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Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Love IS a BattleField DARLING LOVE "I Want My Soldier Boy"

Today's story is About War...

...in several different ways!
Yet this ad, which utilized the tale's splash page, doesn't give away any of them!
Let's read on...











We've presented stories about Korean and German war brides who faced difficulties adjusting to their new lives in America after marrying servicemen, but never a case involving the husband's parents being prejudiced against the new wife!
It's not as if she's a "foreigner/alien" (non-English-speaking ethnic as many war brides were), but British, the nationality most white Americans at that point were descended from!
In fact WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) were the dominant ethnicity in business and politics from America's founding until the 1960s!
Notes:
Darling Love and it's sister, Darling Romance each ran a full-page ad promoting a story in the other's book!
AFAIK, publisher Darling Magazines was the only company to do this.
We took the ad from Darling Romance #5 (which used the tale's splash) and combined it with the rest of the story from Darling Love #5 (1950).
BTW, Darling Magazines was an imprint of MLJ Publishing, aka Archie Comics, which had been doing genre-specific imprints since the 1940s.
In the 1960s, they imitated Marvel with a Mighty Comics line featuring their various superhero character revivals, and in the 70s-80s, they had Red Circle, which published horror and super-hero material!
Next Week:
We don't know yet what we'll present, but we can guarantee...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Buy...
Agonizing Love

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Love and the Law POLICE TRAP "Masher!"

Riding the NYC subway can  be an adventure...
...like this atypical tale of lechery, love, and the law!
This tale of female empowerment from 1954 is from the first issue of Mainline's short-lived 1950s anthology Police Trap, illustrated (and probably written) by Bill Draut, who also did a lot of romance comics work in the 1950s-1970s, primarily for Harvey, Toby, and DC.
He continued producing material until the mid-1980s, ending up (like many other comic artists) working on animated tv series, where he was one of the primary designers for the original GI Joe cartoon.
And, please remember to be observant and careful when you ride public transportation!

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Love IS Lunacy A MOON, A GIRL...ROMANCE "I Was Jilted and Had No Desire to Live!"

Sometimes, you just want a three-hankie tear-jerker...
...to cleanse your soul...and here it is!
I know, I know.
This being EC Comics, you half-expected her to take the poison, become zombified, and eat Gregg when he came to the door.
And, the story from EC's A Moon, a Girl...Romance #9 (1949) is so cliched that it might have inspired writer/illustrator Al Feldstein to think about doing exactly that when, a year later, EC began doing its' now-classic horror comics titles!
BTW, if the book's title seems a little...weird, it's due to Post Office regulations!
Really!
Back in the days of getting subscription magazines by mail, a publisher had to purchase a separate license for each one to get the low "second class" magazine mailing rate!
But that license would apply only to one periodical at a time!
If you launched a differently-titled periodical, you had to buy a separate license for that book!
Comic publishers were notoriously-stingy, so if a book wasn't selling, they'd reformat it, but try to keep the title as similar as possible to avoid buying a new mailing license!
This series started out as Moon Girl and the Prince, about a super-heroine and her consort.
With #2, it became just Moon Girl, as the Prince was downplayed in the stories.
But when violent 'true crime' stories were introdued as of #7, the series was retitled Moon Girl Fights Crime.
When that didn't boost sales, Moon Girl was dropped entirely, and, in #9, the book became a romance comic called A Moon, A Girl...Romance!
But sales still didn't improve, so it was revamped as of #13 into s sci-fi/fantasy book called Weird Fantasy, atnad after four issues the PO said "ENOUGH!" and forced EC to finally pay for a new second class mailing license!
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

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Advice d'Amour PERSONAL LOVE "Sob Sister's Scandal"

What Happens When a Love Advisor Gives You the Wrong  Advice...Deliberately?

This never-reprinted story from Eastern's Personal Love #10 (1951) give us the answer!









Bill (Sub-Mariner) Everett illustrated (and perhaps scripted) this titillating tale filled with twists and turns!

Next Week:
We Have No Idea What Story We're Going to Run...Yet!
But 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 Buy...
Agonizing Love