Wednesday, December 17, 2014

REACH FOR HAPPINESS Episode 4 Part 2

Karen and Peggy leave the Smathers' party and go to the Crystal Club, where they see...Greg and Rita!
Meanwhile,  irresponsible teen Wally Smathers drag-races with his sportscar-riding buddies and cracks up both their car and his grandfather's Rolls-Royce...
We'll return to Danville Corners in January.
BTW: This chapter of "Reach for Happiness" from Secret Hearts #113 (1966) was written by Jack Miller, penciled by Gene Colan, and inked by Colan with what appears to be an assist (or test) from Tom Palmer who was just breaking into the industry at this point.
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...
Looking for the perfect Christmas Gift for
the romance comics/soap opera fan in your life?

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

REACH FOR HAPPINESS Episode 4 Part 1

Cue the violins, because it's time to return to the longest-running soap opera in romance comics...
Will this disaster bring people together...or force them further apart?
Next Week...
Tragedy Follows Tragedy 
We can guarantee that...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)
BTW: This chapter of "Reach for Happiness" from Secret Hearts #113 (1966) was written by Jack Miller, penciled (and probably inked) by Gene Colan.
And now a word from out sponsor...
Looking for the perfect Christmas Gift for
the romance comics/soap opera fan in your life?

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

MY SECRET LIFE "Quicksand Romance"

Here's a preview of our big Valentine's Day project for 2015...
...a retrospective of the romance comics work of legendary "good girl" artist Wally Wood!
Best-known as a horror and sci-fi artist with a penchant for illustrating beautiful women, Wally Wood's early output had quite a bit of romance comics work, much of it not seen since first publication, like this story from Fox's My Secret Life #25 (1950).
BTW, the reason the first page is only black and magenta is that it's the inside cover of the comic.which was printed in only two of the four colors used on the front/back covers and interiors of books as a cost-saving measure.
(Most publishers just used black ink and no color on inside covers to save even more money!)
And, since it was done before the Comics Code Authority eliminated most adult-level content in comics after the juvenile delinquency scare of the 1950s, the subject matter was on the level of the b-movies of the era, often a bit hard-edged and tawdry.
Through January and February we'll be running a series of these never-reprinted tales taken directly from the original comics!
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, November 26, 2014

ROSIE ROMANCE "Seeking Her Knight in Shining Armor"

Before it became the province of little kids (6-13) in the 1960s...
..."teen humor" was also popular not only with with older kids (13-18), but both sexes!
In fact, there were male-oriented teen humor titles, like Hillman's Joe College, from which this never-reprinted story was taken.
Note: the male characters in the book, including the title character, Housedate Harry, and Boola Boola Jones, fare no better.
They're all portrayed as obsessed idiots, who, if they achieve anything, it's through blind luck!
Sadly, the creator(s) of this strip are 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, November 19, 2014

REACH FOR HAPPINESS Episode 3 Part 2

The sordid past of Rita Phillips, now engaged to the respectible Dr Gregory Marsh, comes back to haunt her when her sleazy former boyfriend/manager, Ray Silva, tracks her down...
Yes Greg...how could you?
We Will Return to Danville Corners...soon!
But, next week:
We don't know what we'll present, but we guarantee...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)
BTW: This chapter of "Reach for Happiness" from Secret Hearts #112 (1966) was written by Jack Miller, penciled (and probably inked) by Gene Colan.
And now a word from out sponsor...