Love in the Time of Covid-19 TEEN SECRET DIARY "He Loves Me"

Though it's all but eliminated now, polio (a virus like Covid-19)...

... was once rampant in our population, crippling hundreds of thousands until a vaccine was created!

Interesting how polio proved to be an "equalizer", turning a social snob into (as my father used to say) "a genuine human being"!

Penciled by (I think) Tony Talarico and inked (definitely) by Sal Trapani, this never-reprinted story from Charlton's Teen Secret Diary #3 (1960) is a paean to a time when we were a somewhat more empathetic society.

The writer is, unfortunately, unknown.

The fact one of our then-recent Presidents, Franklin D Roosevelt, was crippled by polio was a factor in the speed a cure was found.

Wonder if that would work today...

Next Week...

Another Tale of Debilitating Conditions and Desire!

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

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Agonizing Love

The Golden Age of Romance Comics

Love in the Time of Covid-19 CINDERELLA LOVE "My Secret Yearning"

Beautiful socialite or dedicated lab assistant!

Who will win the handsome doctor?

It's a romantic triangle...created by disease!

Fran Matera illustrated this tale of desires, decisions, and disease from Ziff-Davis' Cinderella Love #7 (1952).

The writer is unknown, but it could be the book's editor Jerry (Superman) Siegel!

Next Week...

Another Tale of Debilitating Conditions and Desire!

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

The Golden Age of Romance Comics

Love in the Time of Covid-19 BEWARE "Black Death" & TALES FROM THE TOMB "Devil's Plague"

Here's a story that was so not nice, they presented it twice!

Illustrator Henry Kiefer and an unknown writer crafted this tale for Trojan Magazine's Beware #7 (1954), during the height of the horror comics boom!

Because of the content, it was never reprinted after the Comics Code came into effect!

(And, to this day, still hasn't been reprinted!)

But that doesn't mean the story itself hasn't reappeared...

...as the editor of Eerie Publications' b/w magazine line (which was not regulated by the Comics Code) had artist Oscar Fraga re-do the tale verbatim from the original script in Tales From the Tomb V2N3 (1970)!

This version has been reprinted several times throughout the Eerie Publications line from 1971 to 1980, when they went out of business!

Next Week...

Another Tale of Debilitating Conditions and Desire!

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

And now a word from our sponsor...

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Weird Love

Volume 1: You Know You Want It!

Love in the Time of Covid-19 DIARY LOVES "I Was For Sale"

Sometimes disease affecting a loved one causes us to do the wrong thing...

...but for the right reason, as this never-reprinted story from Quality's Diary Loves #4 (1950) proves!

Talk about your potential "fate worse than death"!

Luckily, nobility and selfless sacrifice win out in the end!

Artist Reed Crandall was no slouch when it came to rendering beautiful women as his work on the heroic Blackhawk (who was constantly being pusued by glamorous female spies and other villainesses) book proved on a monthly basis!

Reed didn't often do  romance, but when he did, it was a beautifully-illustrated treat! 

However, the writer of this somewhat tawdry tale is unknown!

Note: the disease Laurie's brother Jimmy suffers from is called "glanders"...which only horses suffer from!

Next Week...

Another Tale of Debilitating Conditions and Desire!

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

And now a word from our sponsor...

Please Visit Amazon and Order...

Marvel Romance: the Trade Paperback!

Marvel's picked some of the best love comics from the 60s and 70s...including "My Heart Broke in Hollywood,"

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.

Love in the Time of Covid-19 TALES TO ASTONISH "Scheme!"

Most romance comics tales about disease involve nobility and sacrifice...

...but not this one (which, technically, isn't a romance comic tale)!

BTW, since numerous others (including her servants) were in close physical contact with Anne and didn't catch the disease, the only way it could be transmitted was via (ahem) "marital relations"!

(Fine, no more euphemisms...sexual intercourse!)

Pretty kinky for a Silver Age Comics Code-approved tale, eh?

Plotter Stan Lee, writer Larry Lieber, penciler Gene Colan, and inker Dick Ayers all had experience in romance genre comics, but this particular story appeared in Atlas' Tales to Astonish #28 (1962)...a sci-fi anthology...just as Atlas was transitioning into Marvel Comics!

(Trivia: the previous issue of Astonish featured the first appearance of Hank (Ant-Man) Pym!)

I can't help but wonder what the target audience of 8-to-15 year old boys thought of this particular tale...

Next Week...

Another Tale of Debilitating Conditions and Desire!

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

And now a word from our sponsor...

Please Visit Amazon and Order...

Marvel Romance: the Trade Paperback!

Marvel's picked some of the best love comics from the 60s and 70s...including "My Heart Broke in Hollywood,"

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.