Wednesday, February 12, 2014

GREAT LOVES "Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning"

Ever wonder if writers of romantic fiction were, themselves, happy...
 ...if they actually found True Love, or just wrote about it?
Well, wonder no more!
Illustrated by Jerry Robinson (who co-created both The Joker and Robin the Boy Wonder), this brief tale from Gold Key's Dear Nancy Parker #1 (1963) was the first in a projected series about famous real-life lovers.
Unfortunately, the romance anthology book was cancelled after the second issue...
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!

And now a word from out sponsor...

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

FAST WILLIE JACKSON "Happy Birthday, Frankie"

Here's an example of love gone wrong...
...in this never-reprinted story from the very hard-to-find Fast Willie Jackson #1 (1976).
Illustrated by Gus Lemoine, the script was either by him or publisher/editor Bertam Fitzgerald.
Previously, Gus pencilled shorts and a couple of covers at Archie Comics from 1967 to the mid-1970s.
The Fast Willie books were his final credited work.
(There is a theory that Gus was really Henry Scarpelli, a versatile humor artist who did work for Archie as well as Archie-clone books for both Marvel and DC.
The period when "Gus" was active at Archie was before Scarpelli's credited work appeared there, so...it's like "Gee, Clark, we never see you when Superman's around! Why's that?"
Lois Lane couldn't prove it, either.)
Bertram Fitzgerald was the publisher/editor/writer of Fitzgerald Publications, doing a Black historical comic anthology, Golden Legacy, sold to schools and bookstores.
He conceived Fast Willie as a way to break into the teen comic market on the newsstands.
Two ironic notes:
1) Fitzgerald finally broke even on the series as of it's final issue, #7.
(It has been "in the red" up to that point.)
2) He failed to capitalize on the late 1970s creation of the Direct Market and comic book stores, which could've enabled him to continue publishing the title without the costs and hassle of returnable books.

Though the series has never been reprinted, it has not been forgotten....
...though not an "official" appearance, this brief interlude in Image's Savage Dragon #170 (2011) by Erik Larsen would seem to be a "Where Are They Now?" tip of the hat to the MoCity crew.
As it turns out, Willie is a distant uncle of the comic's title character...
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...
featuring the cover art from all four HTF issues
on kool kollectibles!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

ROMANTIC ADVENTURES "Bewitching Buccaneer"

Swashbucking rogues have always been objects of romantic desire...
...as this tale featuring a sea-going scalliwag in the Errol Flynn/Tyrone Power mold proves!
Romances set in the Old West were a popular sub-genre of both comics and novels in the early 1950s.
In fact there were a number of titles like Range Romances, Golden West, and  CowGirl Romances!
This story from ACG's Romantic Adventures #8 (1950) may have been a test to see if comic readers were interested in historical romance tales set in other time periods.
Since pirates were popular in novels, it was thought they'd sell equally-well in comics.
However, reader response must have been lackluster, since such "historical romances" remained few and far between on the four-color pages.
BTW, Anne Bonny was a real female pirate, and will be the subject of this week's post on our "sister" blog Heroines this Friday, when we re-present the first story in her short-lived comic series!
Written by series editor Richard E Hughes, illustrated by Charles Sultan.
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, January 22, 2014

FRANKENSTEIN "Frankenstein's Wife"

With a new Frankenstein film opening this week...
...we thought we'd take a look at another side to the world's most famous monster, and discover he's (unfortunately) a lot like many of today's guys...
Written and illustrated by Dick Briefer, this tale of domestic "bliss" from Prize Comics' Frankenstein #1 (1945) shows the Monster to be much like many Gen-X, and Millennial guys!
And this was written 69 years ago!
The more things change...
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, January 15, 2014

GIRLS' ROMANCES "Made for Each Other"

Sometimes a cover just doesn't go with the story it's supposed to promote...
Art by Don Heck and Vince Colletta
...like this cover which (though nicely-done) doesn't match up with the story!
Heck, they got the girl's hair color wrong and the guy doesn't wear glasses!
Oh, well...on with the story...
Is it just me or is Candy a little passive-aggressive?
Illustrated by the talented Art Saaf, this story from DC's Girl's Romances #159 (1971) makes Candy, sadly, seem like a real doormat.
I'd love to blame the writer, but we don't know who he/she is!
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...