MY LOVE "Must I Live Without Love?"

We saw last week how wonderfully legendary artist John Buscema portrayed women in swimsuits...

...so here's a cover that takes a scene occurring (in the story) during the chilly Autumn and turns it into a hot Summer pic...

When this story by writer Stan Lee, penciler John Buscema, and inker Sal Buscema (yes, John's little brother, who's an equally-gifted penciler) initially-appeared in Marvel's My Love V2N1 (1969), it wasn't the cover-featured tale.

But, when it was reprinted in Marvel's My Love Special #1 (1971), a new cover, based on the last panel of Page 6, was commissioned.

Guess they felt a bare-chested guy and bikini-clad girl would sell better than the sweater-clad couple in the story...

Next week:

Be here Monday as we begin our annual Beach Read blogathon featuring a book-length, multi-chapter Gothic romance!

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

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Marvel Romance: the Trade Paperback!

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.

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

TEEN CONFESSIONS "Perfect Date"

Remember Dating Game?

They're revived it on tv as Celebrity Dating Game...

...apparently on the premise that everyday people seeking love is no longer interesting to the audience!

Let's look a a story about what would later be called a "reality show", scripted and illustrated during the original show's heyday in the 1970s...

This never-reprinted tale from Charlton's Teen Confessions #85 (1974) was illustrated by Demetrio Sanchez Gomez with a slightly-different style (and unlike the previous story we presented, he doesn't sign every page!)

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?)

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JOE COLLEGE "Rosie Romance Seeks Her Knight in Shining Armor!"

Before it became the province of little kids (6-13) in the 1960s...

..."teen humor" was also popular not only with with older kids (13-18), but both genders!

In fact, there were male-oriented teen humor titles, like Hillman's Joe College, from which this never-reprinted story was taken.

Note: the male characters in the book, including the title character, Housedate Harry, and Boola Boola Jones, fare no better.

They're all portrayed as obsessed idiots, who, if they achieve anything, it's through blind luck!

Sadly, the creator(s) of this strip are unknown.

Next Week...

We Don't Yet Know What We'll Present!

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

The Golden Age of Romance Comics

ACTUAL CONFESSIONS "Summer Romance"

It's summertime, so when better to present a tale about  summer romance?

But, I have to ask, was "Heartbreak Harry" a nickname for a "love 'em and leave 'em cad?

The "bad boy's" name in the story is "Jim"!

Jim would be seeking "friends with benefits" rather than "happily married" status if this never-reprinted story from Atlas' Actual Confessions #14 (1952) was created today!

As was common in comics "back in the day", the cover (by penciler Carmine Infantino and inker Gil Kane) and story (by artist Jay Scott Pike) were likely created weeks if not months apart,

Editor Stan Lee would sometimes come up with an idea, have a cover done based on it, then he (or another writer) would flesh out the concept for the story's illustrator (usually someone other than the cover artist) weeks or even months later, resulting in inadvertently changing story elements between the two!

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

The Golden Age of Romance Comics