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

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Romance on the Range GOLDEN WEST LOVE "A Woman Scorned"

A Sub-Sub-Genre Within the Sub-Genre of Western Romances...

...was the "Contemporary Western Romance", which took place in the present day,







Like stories we presented HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE, this never-reprinted tale from Kirby Publishing's Golden West Love #2 (1949) took a character from a contemporary urban setting and placed him/her into a rural Western-style environment.
Illustrated by Bruno Premani, the writer is unknown.
Kirby Publishing (no relation to Joe Simon & Jack Kirby) is unique in that it only published six titles during it's two-year existence, half of which were romance books: Enchanting Love, Golden Love, and Golden West Love!

Next week:
We haven't decided yet which Western Romance Story 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 out sponsor...
Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Buy...
New Western Romance Graphic Novel
Paid Link

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Romance on the Range REAL WEST ROMANCES "To Fight for Her Man!"

In the Old West, Men Were Real Men, Women Were Real Women...

and everybody had real guns...and knew how to use them!






Edited by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (the team who invented the romance comics genre), Real West Romances was one of two cross-genre titles Prize Comics published between 1949-1950, with the other being Western Love, also edited by Simon & Kirby!
This particular never-reprinted tale from V1N2 (1949) was illustrated by Leonard Starr, and likely written by Simon and/or Kirby.
It's also probable Kirby did rough layouts for the story.

Next week:
We haven't decided yet which Western Romance Story 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 out sponsor...
Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Buy...
A New Western Romance Graphic Novel
Paid Link

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Romance on the Range COWGIRL ROMANCES "Men Died for My Kisses!"

It's been a while since we've run a Western romance comic...
...so we looked for the most sensational story title we could find!
This 1950 one-shot from Atlas Comics is either #1 (if you go by the cover numbering) or #28 (if you go by the indicia on the inside cover).
The #28 indicates it's a continuation of Jeanie Comics, a teen humor title which ended two months earlier with #27.
As for why it's a one-shot, it seems rival Fiction House released their own Cowgirl Romances simultaneously...or just before...Atlas.\d
Fiction House's title continued for 11 more issues while Atlas' book disappeared after this one appearance.
Penciled by Pierce Rice and inked by Christopher Rule.
The scripter is unknown!
Fun fact: Atlas released six different Western romance titles in 1949-50, more than any other comics company...
Cowgirl Romances (1 issue)
Cowboy Romances (3 issues)
Love Trails (1 issue)
Rangeland Love (2 issues)
Romances of the West (3 issues)
Western Life Romances (3 issues)
You gotta give them credit.
When Atlas saw a hot trend, they jumped on it whole-heartedly!
Next week:
We haven't decided yet which Western Romance Story 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 out sponsor...
Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Buy...

The Cowboy
Western Romance Graphic Novel
Paid Link

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Swinging '70s Stories OUR LOVE STORY "Game of Triangles"

Though told from the viewpoint of the male protaganist...
...this story was, allegedly, written by one of the few female writers in Bronze Age comics.
Was it?
Read, and judge for yourself...
This never-reprinted tale from Marvel's Our Love Story #20 (1972) was scripted by Joy Hartle and illustrated by George Tuska and Paul Reinman.
Most people believe "Joy Hartle" was a pseudonym for Gary Freidrich.
"Joy" had only two stories to her credit, both romance tales that appeared almost simultaneously in late 1972-early 1973.
And, in fact, Gary's sister-in-law was named Joy Hartle!
But Gary was working steadily for Marvel at this point, scripting Captain America and Sgt Fury, as well as co-creating the motorcycle-riding Ghost Rider and a new version of the Frankenstein Monster (both with Mike Ploog)!
So why the pen-name?
The only thing I can think of is that these stories were done during the brief period in 1971-72 when Gary had left Marvel to work at the short-lived Skywald Publishing, and were "inventory" stories used to fill out what would've been all-reprint issues of the dying romance comics line.
BTW, the cover-featured tale has one of the worst romance comics covers I've ever seen...
Art by Alan Weiss & Frank Giacoia with retouching by Marie Severin and John Romita
Heck, the guy looks more like a stalker than a lover...
Next Week:
We're Not Sure Yet Exactly Which 1970s Story We'll Present!
But...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
And now a word from out sponsor..
Visit Amazon and Buy...
Marvel's picked some of the best love comics from the 60s and 70s!
"It Happened at Woodstock," "My Heart Broke in Hollywood," "Love on the Rebound!"
Collects Love Romance #89 and #101-104; My Love #2, #14, #16 and #18-20; Teen-Age Romance #77 and #84, Our Love Story #5; and Patsy Walker #119.
Paid Link

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Swinging '70s Stories JUST MARRIED "Why am I Here?"

This Month, We're Taking Romance Stories from Different Publishers...

...with one unifying aspect: the fact they're from the 1970s, the twilight of the genre!









This never-reprinted tale from Charlton's Just Married #74 (1970), written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, takes the "misunderstanding the situation because of lack of information" trope to a new level.
Only the superb artwork makes the silly plotline tolerable!

Next Week:
We're Not Sure Yet Exactly Which 1970s Story We'll Present!
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 Order...
Paid Link

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

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...