Wednesday, April 17, 2013

HEART & SOUL "Too Late to Love"

What happens when a torch singer ends up carrying a torch?
This never-reprinted story from MikeRoss' Heart & Soul #2 (1954) tells the tawdry tale...
Both the writer and penciler are unknown, but the layouts look like Carmine Infantino's work.
The inker is Bernard Sachs.
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 out sponsor...

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

GIRLS' ROMANCES "It's Over -- All Over!"

They're the last words anyone wants to hear from a loved one...
...as presented in this lead tale from DC's Girls' Romances #139 (1969)
When the story was reprinted and updated with modified hairstyles and clothing in Young Romance #203 (1975), it was retitled "Come to My Wedding!"
Though the writer is unknown, the art is credited to Tony Abruzzo, who specialized in romance stories and covers from 1954 to arond 1973, exclusively for DC!
He was one of the artists whose work Roy Lichtenstein "appropriated" for his Pop Art paintings.
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 out sponsor...

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

FIRST LOVE ILLUSTRATED "I Joined a Teen-Age Sex Club"

If that title doesn't get your attention, nothing will...
...and it wasn't even the cover-featured story in that issue of Harvey's First Love Illustrated!
Surprisingly,  this story from First Love Illustrated #13 (1951) wasn't one of the tales mentioned in Fredric Wertham's anti-comics screed Seduction of the Innocent (1954)!
Tales of scandalous "sex clubs" pop up every so often during periods of sexual repression such as the 1950s and the present, usually in local media looking for a sensationalistic story.
You'll note the tale is presented from scans of the artwork, not the printed comic.
Unfortunately, every copy of the comic we could find is "slabbed" (encased in plastic) to increase it's resale value to the owner.
The fact it renders the comic unreadable is, sadly, secondary to most people.
(The concept of "slabbing" was developed for trading cards which don't have interiors.
The "collector mentality" of dealers adapted the idea to comics and magazines which do have readable interiors that, after being encased in plastic, are no longer accessible!
And removing the comic from the casing lowers the resale value!)
Illustrated by noted good-girl artist Bob Powell (who also did a number of heroine strips including Cave Girl), the writer of this torrid tale is unknown.
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 out sponsor...

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

TIPPY TEEN "What's Happening, Baby?"

When middle-aged men write stories about hipsters...
...the results are going to be...interesting, offering a look at how the middle class viewed beatniks in the 1960s!
If the plotting and art style on this tale from 1968's Tippy Teen #19 reads like an Archie Comics story, that's because many of their writers and artists (who were freelancers) including Sam Schwartz, Harry Shorten, and Dan DeCarlo, also worked on Tippy strips for the short-lived Tower Comics in the 1960s!
If anyone can tell me who of that crew did this tale, I'll post the info and credit the poster!
 Happy Easter from Tippy!
Though there were a number of Easter-themed comic stories (and even entire comic books) in the 1940s and 1950s, this is the only Easter-themed comic I could find from the Silver Age!
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 out sponsor...

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

TIFFANY SINN "To Save an Agent"

Career Girl Romances featured secretaries, nurses, models, waitresses...
...and, briefly, a secret agent!
Hey. it was the 1960s, and working for the CIA is a career!
It doesn't look like Rex made good on his promise!
The cad!
I don't have the second story to refer to, and the last tale Tiffany tale (which we ran HERE) only mentions him in a flashback and makes no reference to Tiffany and he being married.
(The fact she's still Tiffany Sinn, and not Tiffany Swift from an era when wives almost always took their husband's name is a tip-off.)
Written by Gary Friedrich, penciled by Charles Nicholas, and (probably) inked by Vince Alascia, this premiere tale from Charlton's Career Girl Romances #38 (1967) was a real change of pace for the rather sedate comic!
Tiffany appeared as the lead feature in the next issue...then disappeared!
Her next (and last) story after that was in the one-shot Secret Agent #10 (1967), with a new creative team and the possibility of more adventures.
BTW, thanks to Jacque Nodell, writer of the superb romance comics blog Sequental Crush, for doing a kool, informative post about Career Girl Romances, prompting me to do this entry!
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!
(You will! Really!)
And now a word from our sponsor...