JETTA OF THE 21st CENTURY: Zoomer "Time Out for Trouble"

Like Archie's crowd, Jetta's supporting cast got occasional solo stories...

...like Zoomer and Atomica, a pair of "typical" teen-agers who would've fit in nicely in Riverdale, though 20th Century tech will give them problems, as you'll see...

This 60-year old tale of time and two teens from Standard's Jetta of the 21st Century #6 (1953) was written and penciled by the legendary Dan DeCarlo, and inked by Fred Eng.

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!

(I know we say that every week...but it's [sob] true!)

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AGAR-AGAR "Rendevous with Aquarius"

Star-Crossed, a new show on the CW, is about human and alien teens in love...

...but sci-fi and comics have been doing that for decades!

"This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius...Age of Aquarius..."

Oops, sorry, got carried away there for a second.
This surreal mini-series had eight installments, each one weirder than the previous.

Agar-Agar "got physical" (in a PG-13 way) with a variety of life-forms including centaurs, super-heroes, and a human or two.
Illustrated in a Peter Max-esque style by Alberto Solsona.

Written by Luis Gasca under the pen-name "Sadko" and published in England as part of Dracula (1971), a 12-issue partworks by New English Library, the first 3 tales made their American debut in Warren Publishing's Dracula TPB which reprinted #1-#6 of the British Dracula's run in 1973.
You can see the series, including the five stories that have never been seen by American readers, at our "sister" blog, Heroines™.
It'll be a groovy trip, baby!

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?)

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TEEN-AGE ROMANCE "Summer Must End"

We're only at the end of July, mid-way through Summer...

Cover art by Jack Kirby and George Klein

...but this tale by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Vince Colletta just screamed to be told (and not for the reason you think)!

PSST!

Wanna know a secret?

This story, which we're presenting from Marvel's Teen-Age Romance #84 (1961) later appeared in Our Love Story #9 (1971) in an extremely-modified form!

The art in Our Love Story was retouched by art director John Romita to "update" the hairstyles and some of the fashions...

"Why did they do that?" you may ask...

With sales falling on most non-superhero genres in the late 1960s (including Western and war as well as romance), this "updated reprinting" became a common practice on romance comics until the genre all-but died out in the late 1970s.

Publishers would do a new 6-12 page lead story and use retouched reprints to fill out the book.

Editors felt that:

a) the plots were relatively timeless.

b) updating the art was cheaper than totally-redrawing the story. 

c) the artists were better-utilized doing stuff that sold better (like superheroes).

d) the audience for romance comics, unlike superhero comics, totally-changed every 5-6 years anyway, and wouldn't notice the "old" plots.
We had previously-posted the reprint version HERE, but didn't have the original story for a complete comparison (just the splash page).
When we finally acquired the original story we just had to do a "contrast and compare"!

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?)

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ROMANTIC HEARTS "HeartBreak"

When a woman is involved with three men, it'll probably end up in...

...for someone, as this never-reprinted story from Master's Romantic Hearts V2 #6 (1954) demonstrates.

But, what about poor, faithful George Franklin?

Pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Mike Esposito.

The writer is unknown.

The team of Andru & Esposito worked on numerous projects including a long run on Wonder Woman in the 1960s.

They also had their own comics company in the early 1950s called MikeRoss Publications which published only four titles, three of which were romance comics!

You can see tales from one of them, Heart & Soul, HERE, HERE, and HERE!

It's possible that this story was meant for Heart & Soul, but since the book was cancelled, it ended up here.

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...

Visit our

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TEEN LOVE STORIES "Follow Your Fate" Conclusion

When Last We left our Heroine...

Roberta, Eloise's rival for Craig's affections, is about to make Eloise crash during a water-skiing routine...

This tale appeared in the first issue of the short-lived 1960s magazine called Teen Love Stories (not a comic book, as explained HERE) and was a reprint of a British romance strip (which explains some of the phrases like "That was a near thing...")
Of all the ongoing Warren Publishing b/w comic magazines (including Creepy, Vampirella, and 1984), Teen Love Stories was the shortest-lived at only three issues, all of which are very hard-to-find!
Next, back to one-entry stories for the remainder of the summer...

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...

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