Wednesday, January 24, 2018

ACTUAL CONFESSIONS "Plain Girl"

This is not the usual "ugly duckling transforms into swan and wins studly guy" tale...
...which may be why this story from Atlas' Actual Confessions #13 (1952) has never been reprinted!
See, girls?
When you look past the surface, you might find your "knight in shining armor!
I've always found it ironic that in stories like these, "plain girls" lust for studmuffins, transform into glamorous creatures and win the beefcake!
The women were unwilling to see beyond appearance to what lay within, much as they accused the men in these tales of doing!
This life-lesson brought to us by penciler Ben Brown, inker David Gantz, and an unknown writer!
Next Week:
We don't know what we'll present..yet,
but we can guarantee that...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
And now a word from our sponsor...
Please Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Order...
Agonizing Love

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

OUR LOVE STORY "Only One Can Win!"

During the Silver Age of Comics, Marvel had a pair of romance books which featured work by their hottest artists, including this pair, John Buscema and Don Heck, on this torrid tale from Our Love Story #3.
Since fanboys don't usually read or buy these books, they're among the hardest to find titles of the 1960s, which is a shame since the art is first-rate!
Next Week:
We don't know what we'll publish...yet!
But...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

And now a word from out sponsor..
Marvel's picked some of the best love comics from the 60s and 70s!
"It Happened at Woodstock," "My Heart Broke in Hollywood," "Love on the Rebound!"
Collects Love Romance #89 and #101-104; My Love #2, #14, #16 and #18-20; Teen-Age Romance #77 and #84, Our Love Story #5; and Patsy Walker #119.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

TIME FOR LOVE "It's Like Wild, Wild, Wild!"

Here's a cover that presents both the beginning and the ending of the story!
How does that work?
Read for yourself!
See?
The cover is a composite of the first and last panels of the never-reprinted story from Charlton's Time for Love #13 (1969)!
I love the cover copy "Time for Swinging...Time for Dreaming!"
Think the "old fogies" at the Comics Code Authority realized the phrase they were approving?
But there's no mistaking the message of the story itself...counter-culture BAD!
It's obvious Vince Colletta is the inker of both the story and cover, but the writer and penciler are unknown.
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!
And now a word from our sponsor...
Please Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Order...

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

TENDER LOVE STORIES / REALISTIC ROMANCES "I Deceived My Love"

When I first saw this tale in the back of Skywald's Tender Love Stories #3 (1971)...
...I knew it was "off", but I couldn't quite figure out how or why!
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 (updating clothing and hairstyles) 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.
(Note: you can see the new tale this reworked story backs-up HERE!)
Note that none of the captions or dialogue were rewritten/updated, so the reference to Hal's sister dying in "the first war" on page 3 didn't make sense to a Vietnam War-era reader in 1971!
(But it would to a post-WWII-era reader because it references World War I!)
Ironically, this tale required more redrawing than most!
Bill Everett not only had to do the usual "updating" on people, but on vehicles and technology as well!
Here's the original, Rafael Astarita-rendered story from Avon's Realistic Romances #4 (1952)...
Though published in 1952, the tale was written/illustrated several years earlier and tossed into this anthology with little concern for timeliness!
In fact, look at the inside cover/contents page...
This story is described in the lower right corner...with an illustration that has nothing to do with the tale!
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!
And now a word from our sponsor...
Please Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Order...
Agonizing Love

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

HI-SCHOOL ROMANCE "Three's a Crowd in Love"

Oddly, though this New Year's Eve tale is subtitled "A True Hi-School Romance"...
...it concerns college students who are friends and/or lovers!
Though the writer and artist(s) are unknown, this story from Harvey's Hi-School Romance #3 (1950) is one of their most popular!
It was reprinted three times in various romance titles from 1955 to 1958, but hasn't been seen since...until now!
Hope you enjoyed it, and have a Happy New Year this weekend!
Next Week:
We don't know what we'll present..yet,
but we can guarantee that...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
And now a word from our sponsor...
Please Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Order...
Agonizing Love