Wednesday, January 4, 2017

REACH FOR HAPPINESS "Episode 25"

...BTW, this is the first time the strip doesn't have a splash page before this synopsis!
Now, on with the story...
Is Karen just Greg's "sloppy seconds"?
What would happen if Rita woke up?
Next Week:
The Plot Sickens!
This chapter of "Reach for Happiness" from Secret Hearts #134 (1969) was written by Jack Miller, and the art credits are stabilizing as Jay Scott Pike seems to have penciled the entire story with inks by George Roussos, although the art seems rushed!
Note: this issue was edited by Joe Orlando, just before Dick Giordano took over as of next issue.
Jack Miller (who writes "Reach for Happiness") was the book's editor, and left the position as of this issue, but continues to write the strip!)
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True Love Comics Tales!
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Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Christmas Comics COOKIE "Do Your Xmas Shopping Early"

How do you make some extra cash for Christmas?
If you're a teenager named "Cookie", it's usually the hard way...
Oddly enough, I couldn't find a Christmas-specific story in over 400 romance comics!
So I went with this teen humor strip from Cookie #10 (1947), written and illustrated by Dan Gordon, who was a writer-animator-director for the Fleischer Studios (Superman, Popeye), then went into comics, finally returning to animation at Hanna-Barbera where he co-created (among others) The Flintstones!

We're taking a week off and will be back after New Year's Day.
Merry Christmas
and
Happy New Year

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

REACH FOR HAPPINESS Episode 24 Part 2

...receiving a phone call from her sister about former love Greg being in trouble, freshly-minted Hollywood starlet Karen drops everything to dash back to Danville Corners...
Is Karen through with Hollywood?
Is Greg through with Rita?
And what is the meaning behind Greg's thought balloon "No! It's too late!" on the cover...but not in the story?
Find out in January, as Reach for Happiness continues!
This chapter from Secret Hearts #133 (1969) was written by Jack Miller, and the art credits are stabilizing as Jay Scott Pike seems to have penciled the entire story with inks by George Roussos, except the splash/cover art penciled/inked by Dick Giordano!
Next Week:
We're in the Holiday Mood!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
And now a word from our sponsor...
Please Support True Love Comics Tales this Christmas!
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Wednesday, December 7, 2016

REACH FOR HAPPINESS "Episode 24"

...wait!
What?
That's Danville Corners!
Whats going on?
Ok!
Hopefully, this will clear itself up shortly...
Well, I didn't see that coming!
Next Week:
Return to Danville Corners!
This chapter of "Reach for Happiness" from Secret Hearts #133 (1969) was written by Jack Miller, and the art credits are stabilizing as Jay Scott Pike seems to have penciled the entire story with inks by George Roussos, except the splash/cover art penciled/inked by Dick Giordano!
Please Support
True Love Comics Tales
this Christmas!
Visit Amazon and Order...

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

BUNNY "Yvoorg Nam"

We've presented several teen humor stories from Jetta and Tippy Teen...
...but this one has to be the wildest of all!
WTF?
If you're shaking your head in confusion, consider two things...
1) It was 1968 and "psychedelic" was IN!
2) This story, illustrated by Ernie Colon (though who wrote the tale is unknown), is from Bunny #4, Harvey Comics' 1960s attempt to expand their fanbase from pre-teens to 'tweens and teens...which has a fascinating back-story of it's own...

To most people today, the 'tween / teen comics scene begins and ends with the Archie Comics line.
Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, and the rest seem to be the only non-super powered teenagers in the four-color world!
But it wasn't always that way...
In the 1960s, when many comics companies flourished in the era of Pop Art and "Camp", every company had teen-age characters side-by-side with superheroes and spies!
Harvey Comics, had a teen line headed by a female lead, rather than a male.
She was a doll...literally!

In 1966, a toy company wanted to launch a line of Barbie-type dolls, with the added kick of a comic book tie-in to boost public awareness in the same way the 1980s GI Joe series was co-conceived by Hasbro and Marvel.
Harvey's writers and artists worked with the toy company's staff on character development and storylines for the comic and toys.

Like most Harvey characters, Bunny had an ongoing obsession--in this case with teen fads and trends...clothing, dances, hairstyles, etc!
Presumably, this was to encourage doll buyers to pick up the newest clothing and accessories the manufacturer could produce...after seeing them in the comic!

However, before a single doll could roll out of the factory, the toy company collapsed!
The Harveys (three brothers who owned and ran the comic company), not wanting to let the already-prepared pages go to waste, decided to publish the comic anyway.
It sold well enough to keep going for several years and produce a spin-off title, Rock Happening, which serves as the basis for our own line of Bunny-themed goodies!

Next Week:
We don't know yet what we'll present, but we can guarantee...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Things are really getting juicy...)
And now a word from our sponsor...