Wednesday, November 23, 2016

BUNNY "Yvoorg Nam"

We've presented several teen humor stories from Jetta and Tippy Teen...
...but this one has to be the wildest of all!
WTF?
If you're shaking your head in confusion, consider two things...
1) It was 1968 and "psychedelic" was IN!
2) This story, illustrated by Ernie Colon (though who wrote the tale is unknown), is from Bunny #4, Harvey Comics' 1960s attempt to expand their fanbase from pre-teens to 'tweens and teens...which has a fascinating back-story of it's own...

To most people today, the 'tween / teen comics scene begins and ends with the Archie Comics line.
Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, and the rest seem to be the only non-super powered teenagers in the four-color world!
But it wasn't always that way...
In the 1960s, when many comics companies flourished in the era of Pop Art and "Camp", every company had teen-age characters side-by-side with superheroes and spies!
Harvey Comics, had a teen line headed by a female lead, rather than a male.
She was a doll...literally!

In 1966, a toy company wanted to launch a line of Barbie-type dolls, with the added kick of a comic book tie-in to boost public awareness in the same way the 1980s GI Joe series was co-conceived by Hasbro and Marvel.
Harvey's writers and artists worked with the toy company's staff on character development and storylines for the comic and toys.

Like most Harvey characters, Bunny had an ongoing obsession--in this case with teen fads and trends...clothing, dances, hairstyles, etc!
Presumably, this was to encourage doll buyers to pick up the newest clothing and accessories the manufacturer could produce...after seeing them in the comic!

However, before a single doll could roll out of the factory, the toy company collapsed!
The Harveys (three brothers who owned and ran the comic company), not wanting to let the already-prepared pages go to waste, decided to publish the comic anyway.
It sold well enough to keep going for several years and produce a spin-off title, Rock Happening, which serves as the basis for our own line of Bunny-themed goodies!

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!
(Things are really getting juicy...)
And now a word from our sponsor...

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

HEART AND SOUL "Take Me Back"

Can a European aristocrat be a happy housewife in Middle America?
Judge for yourself in this scintillating saga from MikeRoss's Heart & Soul #2 (1954)!
Penciled by Mike Sekowsky, best known for writing/drawing radical revamps in the 1970s of both Wonder Woman...
...and Supergirl (in Adventure Comics).
Inked by Mike Esposito, who did a lot of romance work along with superhero and sci-fi art.
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!
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True Love Comics Tales
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Agonizing Love

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

REACH FOR HAPPINESS "Episode 23" Part 2

Movie producer B.W. has offered to make Karen a star, admitting his interest in doing so is to take her to his bed.
Karen, now indebted to him since she compeled the producer to re-hire director Barry Gordon (who had made her late husband a hot cinematic property and now lusts for her), accepts the deal.
But her lawyer (and yet another potential paramour) Scott Ward, is enraged when he sees Barry make a move on Karen...
On the cusp of stardom, will Karen be drawn from Hollywood back to Danville Corners?
This chapter of "Reach for Happiness" from Secret Hearts #132 (1968) was written by Jack Miller, but the art credits are becoming somewhat nebulous, as a variety of hands seem to be doing various things on different pages, so we're not going to offer an assessment as to who did what, except the splash/cover art is by Dick Giordano!
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!
Please Support
True Love Comics Tales
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Wednesday, November 2, 2016

REACH FOR HAPPINESS "Episode 23"

..we're back in Hollywood for more soap opera-style serialized sleaziness!
Next Week:
The end of this cockfight and the explanation for the splash panel!
This chapter of "Reach for Happiness" from Secret Hearts #132 (1968) was written by Jack Miller, but the art credits are becoming somewhat nebulous, as a variety of hands seem to be doing various things on different pages, so we're not going to offer an assessment as to who did what, except the splash/cover art is by Dick Giordano!
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True Love Comics Tales
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Heart Throbs
Best of DC Romance Comics

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Countdown to Halloween 2016: ARCHIE COMICS "Halloween Hi-Jinx"

We end our contribution to the Countdown to Halloween 2016 blogathon as we began...
with a pop culture icon celebrating the holiday!
As you can see from the cover (which is actually from the issue before the one the story appears in (which had a Christmas cover) and contents page by Harry Sahle, the Dan DeCarlo-created "look" that defines the characters to this day hadn't yet been implemented!

Note the caption about an Archie radio show.
Despite lack of success in movies and live-action TV, Archie and his friends had a long-running (1943-1952) radio show on NBC Blue (which became ABC) and the Mutual Network
It started as a daily 15-minute broadcast but converted to a weekly half-hour.
(As a seasonal treat, HERE'S a Halloween-themed episode from 1948!)
Back to the matter at hand...This tale from MLJ's Archie Comics #6 (1944) was written and penciled by Harry Sahle and inked by Janice Valleau.
Sahle might have also written it, but we can't confirm that.
Next week:
The Return of Reach for Happiness...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Things are really getting juicy...)
And now a word from our sponsor...
Please Support True Love Comics Tales!
Visit Amazon and Order...