REACH FOR HAPPINESS Episode 10

How can you not love a story that opens with...

...now, let's see what leads up to this wonderfully over-the-top pronouncement!

Wait!

We're going to break off at a point where everyone is actually...happy?

What the hell is happening?

 Next Week...

Scheming, plotting, and emotional manipulation!
(Ah, that's more like it!)
We can guarantee that...

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

(Yeah, we say that a lot...but it's true!)

This chapter of "Reach for Happiness" from Secret Hearts #119 (1967) was written by Jack Miller, with layouts and pencils by several different people including Jay Scott Pike, John Rosenberger, Ross Andru, and Gene Colan with inks by several people I can't identify right off.

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TEEN-AGE ROMANCE "A Teen-Ager Can Also Hate!"

As the song goes; "There's a thin line between love and hate..."

...as Helen is about to discover...when she's forced to do the thing many kids hate most of all!

When we mentioned "the thing many kids hate most of all", of course we were taking about piano lessons!

What did you think we were talking about?

This tale from Atlas/Marvel's Teen-Age Romances #86 (1962) was written by Stan Lee, penciled (and possibly plotted) by Jack Kirby, and inked by Vince Colletta.

(Kirby and Colletta also did the cover.)

The story was reprinted almost a decade later with considerable alterations to "update" the hairstyles and clothing.

We'll bring that version to you later this summer.

BTW, this was the final issue of the title, which was replaced on the schedule by The Incredible Hulk.

Wonder whatever happened to him?

Next week:

The Return of Reach for Happiness...

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

And now a word from out sponsor...

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TENDER LOVE STORIES "Campus Crusader in Love"

Good Deeds or Good Loving...

That's the choice Christine has to make when her love of social justice and her love for her long-time friend come into conflict...

Unfortunately, none of the creatives were credited, so the writers and artists are regrettably, unknown.

However, the cover art is clearly inked (and probably penciled) by John Severin.

This cover-featured tale from Skywald's short-lived Tender Love Stories #3 (1971) was the only new story in the 52-page book!

The rest were reprints modified to update the clothing and hairstyles to then-current trends.

It was a common practice on romance titles from the mid-1960s until the genre died out in the mid-1970s.

We ran a "before-and-after" example of it HERE.

BTW, is this story looks familiar, it was the very first tale we ran on this blog back in 2011.

Unfortunately, the Dreaded Deadline Doom caught up with us as we prepared for vacation, so we decided to do a "re-presentation" rather than miss a week.

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...

You can own a kool komic collectible
(t-shirt, mug, tote bag, etc.)

embellished with the cover from this week's torrid tale...

...by clicking HERE!

REACH FOR HAPPINESS Episode 9 Part 2

We Have Already Seen...

Rita Phillips, a girl from the "wrong side of the tracks" is engaged to upper-crust Doctor Greg Marsh.

But Rita's sleazy former paramour (and employer), nightclub owner Ray Silva has decided to try to reclaim the woman he still desires...

Note the sales figures at the bottom of the page.
Secret Hearts was selling over 200,000 copies per issue!
Today, only three to five comics (out of a couple of hundred) break the 200,000 copy level on a consistant basis.
Comics in 2015 average 50,000 per issue...or less!
(Secret Hearts was considered a middle to lower-selling title in 1967!)
How times have changed...

Be back next month as we continue romance comics' longest-running soap opera!

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?)

This chapter of "Reach for Happiness" from Secret Hearts #118 (1967) was written by Jack Miller, with layouts and pencils by several different people including Jay Scott Pike, John Rosenberger, Jim Mooney, Ross Andru, and Gene Colan with primary inks by Jim Mooney and additional inks by a couple of others I can't identify right off.

And now a word from out sponsor...

Check out the

True Love Comics Tales™

Comics Collectibles Shop

REACH FOR HAPPINESS Episode 9

Even as soap operas disappear from TV screens...

...we have a heck of one in graphic novel form!
Let's reintroduce the cast, catch up on doings in Danville Corners, and jump back into the narrative...

 Next Week...

Secrets revealed, as two men face-off over the woman they both love!
We can guarantee that...

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

This chapter of "Reach for Happiness" from Secret Hearts #118 (1967) was written by Jack Miller, with layouts and pencils by several different people including Jay Scott Pike, John Rosenberger, Jim Mooney, Ross Andru, and Gene Colan with primary inks by Jim Mooney and additional inks by a couple of others I can't identify right off.

And now a word from out sponsor...

Check out the

True Love Comics Tales™

Comics Collectibles Shop