TRUE LOVE PROBLEMS AND ADVICE ILLUSTRATED "Love Flirt" After and Before

When this story appeared in Harvey's True Love Problems and Advice Illustrated #36 (1955)...

...the newly-formed Comics Code forced some alterations to the reprinted tale!

Now, here's the original version, from True Love Problems and Advice Illustrated #16 (1952)...

Wow!

There's a lot more of Kit in that splash panel!

And there's a "naughty" caption in the second panel that the reprint leaves out!

The last word balloon "Hold me close, Bill -- very close!" was removed from the reprint!

In the reprint, part of the second panel's caption is deleted, Kit's swimsuit is blackened out, and her bust is reduced...and it wasn't a very revealing swimsuit to begin with!

The only change here is the removal of Kit's cleavage in panels 1, 3, and 5 and a change in her eyes in panel 4!
Interesting what the Comics Code Authority thought was "naughty" enough to warrant removal/modification, especially her eyes in panel 4 of the final page...

Next Week:

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

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

And now a word from out sponsor..

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Love on the Racks

A History of American Romance Comics

ADVENTURES IN ROMANCE "September Squall"

With autumn right around the corner...

...here's a tale for the final weekend of warm weather that really fits the concept of a "beach read'!

You'll note a couple of two-page spreads at the beginning of the story.
This particular comic series, St John's Adventures in Romance #1 (1949), experimented with doing double-page spreads to establish a distinctive "look".
Sadly, it only lasted two issues.  ;-(
Artist Warren King spent several years in comic books doing everything from superheroes to horror to romance, before moving into newspaper cartooning, becoming the in-house editorial artist at the NY Daily News and winning the National Cartoonists Society Best Editorial Cartoonist Award in 1968.
He passed away in 1978.

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...

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

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

 ...by clicking HERE!

CINDERELLA LOVE "A Record-Breaking Affair"

Though technology changes, the human heart remains the same...

...as this tale, set long before iPods and digital music, demonstrates!

 

This story of workplace romance in a (then) high-tech setting was published in Cinderella Love #27 (1955).

If you don't know what "lp records" or "mimeographing" or "filing cards" are, ask your parents (or grandparents).

Trivia: There had been a previous series named Cinderella Love, which was canceled at #15.

At the same time as Cinderella Love, another comic from the same company, called Romantic Marriage, began publishing, continued to #24, then changed it's name to Cinderella Love, ending it's run with #29.

Thus, collectors of romance comics should note that Cinderella Love ran #1-15, then 25-29, with no issues 16-24!

Neither Cinderella Love or Romantic Marriages has been used as the title of a comic book since!

Next Week:

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

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

And now a word from out sponsor..

Please Support True Love Comics Tales!

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Love on the Racks

A History of American Romance Comics

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!

And now a word from out sponsor..

Please Support True Love Comics Tales!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Love on the Racks

A History of American Romance Comics