Wednesday, December 15, 2021

HI-SCHOOL ROMANCE "Too Young"

We know, this doesn't look like a Christmas story...

...but we assure you, it does end up as one!
Underage girl weds older guy.
She has angst about not being able to do the stuff teen-agers do any more!
They break up!
Then she learns she's pregnant!
And they reunite on Christmas Eve!
It's a poignant tale with a happy ending that could occur!
So why, when this story from Harvey's Hi-School Romances #29 (1954) was reprinted a couple of years later, did they alter it?
Find out...

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

LOVELORN "My Heart Went Astray!"

It's amazing how few Christmas-themed American romance comic stories there are...
...so we're going with this tale of greed and vanity set during a winter vacation!
(Hey, I'm working on finding more Yuletide romances!)
So, everything works out hunky-dory...except for poor Fallon!
Poor guy just can't catch a break...
This never-reprinted tale of love (of money) appeared in ACG's LoveLorn #4 (1950) and is typical of the era with its' "woman who must be shown the error of her ways before she can find true love" plotline.
Though both the writer and artist are unknown, it's fair to guess that Editor Richard E Hughes plotted and/or scripted the tale.
Next week:
We DO Know What We'll Present!
A Christmas-Themed Romance Tale!

And, We Guarantee That...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
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Romance Without Tears
featuring comics stories written by Dana Dutch! 

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

COOKIE "Do Your Christmas Shopping Early"

How do you make some extra cash for Christmas?
If you're a teenager named "Cookie", it's usually the hard way...
I've found almost NO Christmas-specific romance comic stories!
Heck, I had to go through a stack of British comics to find last-year's tale (click HERE)
So I went with this teen humor strip from Cookie #10 (1947), written and illustrated by Dan Gordon, who was a writer-animator-director for the Fleischer Studios (Superman, Popeye), then went into comics, finally returning to animation at Hanna-Barbera where he co-created (among others) The Flintstones!
Note: Archie Comics has a huge number of Christmas-themed stories featuring Archie and Betty & Veronica!
I'm looking to find a couple of the earliest ones that would still be Public Domain to use here!
Wish me luck!
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 our sponsor...
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True Love Comics Tales!
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Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Amorous Education SEDUCTION "Second Stringer"

What could be more autumnal than college football?
Perhaps a romance between a girl and two guys...a college football star and a college bookstore employee?


Scripted by Steve Jones and illustrated by Sandy Carruthers, this never-reprinted tale from Malibu's one-shot anthology Seduction (1991) takes a classic romance comics trope and updates it for a more modern sensibility!
You may note the art isn't as "polished" as most of the work we've presented.
From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, there was a boom in b/w comics, and publishers were desperate for material, so some artists who were not-quite-ready-for-primetime got a once in a lifetime break.
One of them was Sandy Carruthers, who co-created a comic series that would produce a far more famous movie/tv franchise...Men in Black!
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True Love Comics Tales!
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Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Amorous Education MEET MISS BLISS "Hello"

Not every romance comic story set in school involved student/student or even student/teacher "interaction"...

...in at least one series, it was teacher/teacher "relationships"!
Written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Al Hartley, this never-reprinted intro tale from Atlas' Meet Miss Bliss (1955) was ripped-off...I mean derived...from the then-popular CBS radio and TV series Our Miss Brooks!
Note: In the 1950s, it wasn't unusual for a series to begin as a radio show, then carry over to the then-new medium of television, sometimes running in both formats simultaneously as this series did!
It was popular enough to warrant a b-movie with the tv show cast (done as the series ended it's run) which tied up the show's plotlines ending with Miss Brooks and Mr Boynton engaged!
There was a one-shot Our Miss Brooks comic from Dell (the biggest producer of radio/movie/tv tie-in comics), but, for whatever reason, it didn't lead to an ongoing series!
As you can see from this intro page to the Our Miss Brooks comic, Miss Bliss followed the format and characters of Miss Brooks almost to a "T", with one major exception...Miss Brooks chased after hunky teacher Mr Boynton, while Miss Bliss was chased by hunky teacher Mr Grant!
The comic played the romance humorously, much like other teen humor books.
Meet Miss Bliss lasted only four issues, then Miss Bliss became a supporting character in the better-selling Patsy and Hedy comic book!

Next Week:
We Continue with Stories Combining School and Sex!
And Yes, You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!
And Now a Word from Our Sponsor...
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Visit Amazon and Buy...

Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
Volume 1: Super Crush