HOLLYWOOD ROMANCES "Discovery"

One of the kooler sub-genres of romance comics is the "starlet love" category...

...combining show business glitz with romance!
This tale is from the longest-lasting title in that sub-category!

Argentinian artist Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez began his American comics career at Charlton in 1967, doing a lot of romance comics work!

This never-reprinted tale from Charlton's Hollywood Romances #52 (1970) is from the end of his romance genre work as Charlton'e editors finally gave him a chance to branch out into horror which brought him to DC Comics' attention.

They offered him more money and used him in many different genres horror to sci-fi to superheroes!

Unfortunately, DC had cancelled their remaining romance titles a couple of months before they hired him!

But Garcia-Lopez barely noticed as he was swamped with work!

Jose became their primary licensed-property artist, with work on everything from lunchboxes to t-shirts to toy packaging to food items!

Today, at 70, he still works on projects for them, and shows no signs of wanting to retire!

Next Week:

We're Not Sure Yet Exactly What We'll Present!
But...

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

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Modern Masters Volume Five
Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

LOVE DIARY "Not the Right Type!"

It's the middle of summer, so let's hit the beach...

...where studly lifeguards and beautiful babes mix and mingle in a hot, passionate broth under the sun!

(I gotta work on my imagery...)

Remember...always be yourself!

If the art style looks familiar, that's because this was an early assignment for John Buscema, one of the primary artists at Marvel Comics from the late 1960s until his untimely passing in 2002!

Incredibly-versatile, there was nothing John couldn't illustrate, from war to superheroes to romance to his most famous work on Conan the Barbarian!

This particular never-reprinted story from Orbit's Love Diary #36 (1953) is both penciled and inked by Buscema, a practice he almost always did during his first period in comics from 1949 to 1960.

After a brief stint in advertising, he returned to comics in 1966, quickly becoming the number two artist at Marvel behind Jack Kirby.

In order to match Kirby's legendary speed (up to five pages a day), Buscema stopped inking his work, except on very rare occasions.

When Kirby moved to DC in 1970, Buscema's style rapidly became the "house style" for the company.

(In fact, the original version of How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way features Buscema demonstrating anatomy, perspective, and storytelling with his unique flair.)

Next Week:

We're Not Sure Yet Exactly What We'll Present!
But...

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

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Love on the Racks

A History of American Romance Comics

AROUND THE BLOCK WITH DUNC AND LOO "TV or Not TV"

After last week's spooky Gothic romance mini-blogathon...

...we thought a bit of teen humor would be in order!

You'll note two major differences from most teen humor tales we present here...

1) the art doesn't mimic the Archie Comics "house" art style, which became synonymous with "teen humor" in the late 1950s!

2) the series is set in a big city with apartment houses and other urban elements.

(Most "teen humor" series are set in suburbs/small towns!)

This never-reprinted story from Dell's Around the Block with Dunc and Loo #1 (1961) was written by John Stanley and illustrated by Bill Williams (who were the series' co-creators).

It was one of three "teen humor" series created for Dell by Stanley, including Kookie and Thirteen (Going on Eighteen) for Dell.

We'll be presenting examples of them in the future...

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!
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Thirteen Going on Eighteen

by John Stanley

Beach Read SECRETS OF SINSTER HOUSE "Death at Castle Dunbar" Chapter 5 (Conclusion)

We Have Already Seen...

...why is Justine pretending to be the ghost of Valerie?
Take a deep breath and read on...for all the answers await you!

It's a pretty impressive send-off for an anthology that, sadly, only lasted five issues, despite using first-rate talent.
Note: Secrets of Sinister House survived as a horror anthology for another 13 issues, ending with #18 in 1974.

Co-author Lynn Marron wrote only a half-dozen comics stories before switching to prose, and continues to write fantasy to this day.

You can read another of her comics stories HERE.

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...

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Showcase Presents

Secrets of the Sinister House

(Which includes the four issues of Sinister House of Secret Love as well as this week's story...but in black and white!)

Beach Read SECRETS OF SINSTER HOUSE "Death at Castle Dunbar" Chapter 4

When Last We Left Our Heroine...

...investigating the death of her sister, Valerie, who married into the Dunbar family, "Mike" Hollis literally dives into the mystery of the lake where Valerie died...

TOMORROW...

ALL the Secrets REVEALED!

You'll cry your eyes out if you miss it!

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Gothic Tales of Haunted Love