Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Romance on the Range ROMANCE TRAIL "Romantic Tenderfoot"

This is one of those "contemporary city slicker finds love at the dude ranch" tales...

...but with an unusual twist, which fans of Old West fiction will appreciate!

Illustrated by John Giunta and scripted by an unknown writer, this never-reprinted tale from DC's Romance Trail #2 (1949) plays up one of the "open secrets" of genre (mystery/sci fi-fantasy/Western) fiction...that a number of supposed male authors were actually women, whether using a name that could be either male or female (as Lee does) or a male pseudonym!
There's an article about the phenomenon in Old West fiction HERE!
Ironically, this comic book story was, more than likely, scripted by a male writer!

Next Week:
Another "Romance on the Range"!
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...

Cowgirl Bride

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Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Romance on the Range WESTERN HEARTS "I Loved an Outlaw"

Welcome to "Western Romance Month" at our blog!

Intro from Standard's Western Hearts #1 (1949).
In the late 1940s-early 50s, a flood of romance comics hit newsstands as the industry looked for the next "hot" genre after superheroes faded out!
Interestingly, a number of Western-themed tales appeared in these anthologies...and received very good reader response.
With Westerns already one of the major genres in comics from Day One, publishers decided to try a mix of the genres, and "Western Romance" comics were born!
Every publisher had at least one, and a couple had several running simultaneously!
Here's a never-reprinted tale, also from Standard's Western Hearts (#4 in 1950) which seems to validate the trope that girls love "bad boys"...
Illustrated by penciler John Severin and inked by Will Elder, this story seems to be set in both the present (Coke and coffee machines in the restaurant, then-current suits and dresses throughout the story in indoor scenes), and the past (no autos/jeeps, telephones, aircraft...which would've been used in a search for the kidnapped girl!).
There was a sub-genre within Western romances of "dude ranch" tales featuring then-contemporary urban dwellers who find True Love while moving to (or just vacationing in) rural environments.
Is that the case here, or did the artists just inadvertently draw the tale that way?
We'll never know!

Next Week:
Another "Romance on the Range"!
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...
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Wednesday, February 22, 2023

GIRLS' LOVE STORIES "Revenge!" & YOUNG ROMANCE "Take Me Back!"

We wind up February with this story...
...which, like the previous entries, didn't originally feature Black protagonists, as you'll see!
In our entry about Fawcett's 1950s title Negro Romance (HERE), we mentioned that the actual stories were rather generic, with the characters being illustrated as Black rather than White being the only difference.
This John Rosenberger-penciled and Win Mortimer-inked tale from DC's Girls' Love Stories #170 (1972) proves that point, since it's actually a visually-modified version of this story...
...from DC's Young Romance #151 (1967-68)!
BTW, the original tale was the cover feature!
While the fashions, hairstyles, and the leads' facial features were modified, the script stayed almost exactly the same!
Even the characters' names (Terry and Rich) were unchanged!
(Credit where credit is due: amazing romance comics historian Jacque Nodell pointed out the link between these two stories HERE!)
But the saga doesn't end there!
The story was re-presented one more time, in DC's Young Love #111 (1974)...
...this time with the usual "updating" of hairstyles and fashions...but very little modification of the original script and Terry and Rich stayed Caucasian!
Next Week:
We don't yet know what we'll present!
(But if you read last week's post, you'll see what we might run!)
No matter what, 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...
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Wednesday, February 15, 2023

HEART THROBS "Give Him Back" & YOUNG ROMANCE "Love is a Lie!"

Our (post) Valentine's Day piece has a classic romance story theme...
..and a unique setting!
What more could you want?
Cowboy/Western romances were. briefly, a hot comic sub-genre in the 1950s, with everyone doing one (or more) titles (Hey, I think I've just discovered March's theme!), but they were all but extinct by the 1970s, with this being the very last tale (chronologically) I've been able to find!
Penciled by Tony Abruzzo and inked by Arthur Peddy, this never-reprinted story from DC's Heart Throbs #141 (1972) is the only Black Western romance comic story I've ever seen.
Would it surprise you to see it is, in fact, another reworked reprint?
Here's the original version from DC's Young Romances #134 (1965)...
One technical note: Besides reworking hair and clothing, the reprint art retouchers also had to modify the height of the panels when they removed the "Young Romance" header at the top of each page, resulting in several oddly-composed panels!
Next week:
Another Example of the Fascinating Attempt by DC to be More Inclusive...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)
And now a word from out sponsor...

featuring the cover art from all four HTF issues 

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