Laugh at Love! TRUER THAN TRUE ROMANCE "Job from Hell!" / YOUNG LOVE "Love a la Carte"

Take an old romance comics story...

...and totally-rewrite it...without altering the artwork!

It's actually quite funny!

Author Jeanne Martinet (who did the rewriting) received DC Comics' cooperation with full access to their art archives so the original printing film could be reused to maintain an authentic retro comic book "look" in her "Classic Love Comics Retold!" anthology Truer than True Romance (2001)!
This particular piece was from DC's Young Love #85 (1971), and the original storyline by scripter Jack Oleck was vastly different!

The art was by Art Saff, who started drawing comics featuring beautiful women during the Golden Age, continued in the Silver Age, and kept going into the Bronze Age, as demonstrated HERE!

Next Week:

Another Serious Romance Story Rewritten for Laughs and We Guarantee That...

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

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Truer Than True Romance

She's NOT Barbie! She's BUNNY!

 Harvey's female teen character, Bunny, was a doll...literally!

1n 1966, a toy company wanted to launch a line of Barbie-type dolls, with the added kick of a comic book tie-in to boost public awareness!
Much like the way the 1980s GI Joe comic series was co-conceived by Hasbro and Marvel, Harvey's writers and artists worked with the toy company's staff on character development and storylines for the comic and toys.
Like most Harvey characters, Bunny had an ongoing obsession--in this case with teen fads and trends...clothing, dances, hairstyles, etc!
Presumably, this was to encourage doll buyers to pick up the newest clothing and accessories the manufacturer could produce after seeing them in the comic!
The proposed Bunny line also had what would have been the first African-American fashion doll character, her best friend Marcy, beating out Barbie's "Colored" Francie by a year!
Marcy was a major part of the comic series, including performing in an all-Black band called SOULar System which had it's own backup strip!
However, before a single doll could roll out of the factory, the toy company collapsed!
The Harvey family, deciding not to let the already-written and drawn pages go to waste, decided to publish the comic anyway.
It sold well enough to keep going for twenty 68-page issues from 1966 to 1971 and produce a one-shot spin-off, Harvey Pop Hits: Rock Happening, featuring the various musical groups introduced in the series!

Here's Bunny's never-reprinted "origin" tale from Harvey's Bunny #1 (1966).

Written by Warren Harvey (yes, one of the Harvey family who owned Harvey Comics), illustrated by Hy Eisman.

We previously ran a later Bunny story HERE, which, with its' thinly-masked drug references, was obviously not one of the original batch of pages done to tie-in with the proposed doll!

Next Month

We're going to spend August Having

FUN!

FUN!

FUN!

But not quite the way you think!

Be Here Next Week to Find Out!

And, Remember, You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!

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Archie's Rivals in Teen Comics

1940s-1970s

An Illustrated History

BARBIE Foreign Magazines and Current Comics

Though Barbie's publishing history in America is somewhat irregular...

...in Europe there has almost always been some periodical starring the fashion doll who was, in fact, based on a European fashion doll!

The magazines tend to feature materials about the dolls and related products along with teen lifestyle articles and fumetti starring the dolls themselves...

I don't remember American Barbies having spacesuits (or ray guns) like these, so they may have been European market exclusives, or custom-produced for the fumetti!

Note that while these pages are in sequence, they're not consecutive.

BTW, that last word means "end" in Swedish, not what it means in English!

(Get your minds out of the gutter!)

Meanwhile, in America, Barbie's been in a publishing revival since around 2015, with an interesting twist...

The character, as portrayed in current comics, is younger than the 18-25 year old adult previously-shown...

...and her adventures are far more fantastical!
And speaking of "fantastical"...

See Barbie when it opens in theatres this weekend!

Next Week:

The Story of a Rival 1960s Fashion Doll Who Had Her Own Long-Running Comic Book Series!

(and yes, there's a surprise twist to the tale!)

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

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Barbie and Ruth

The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her

BARBIE "Designing Woman"

In 1991, Marvel/Star (the "young readers" line) introduced two titles about Barbie...

Barbie (without Ken in the title as the first comic had done)...

...and Barbie Fashion!
(Both covers by John Romita Sr)

Unlike the 1960s Dell comic, these books didn't use the concept that Barbie was a doll whom little fan club girls told tales about, but portrayed her and her friends and relatives (including Ken, Christie, Midge, and little sister Skipper) as straightforward comic book characters.
Both titles had healthy half-decade runs, but have never been reprinted.
Here's a tale from #10 (1991), which includes some rather pointed insights into haute couture, written by Lisa Trusiani, penciled by James Brock and inked by Roy Richardson...

Next Week:

Another Never-Reprinted Story About Barbie!

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

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Barbie and Ruth

The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her

BARBIE & KEN "Wedding"

For girls of the late 1950s thru early 1970s, Barbie and Ken dolls were fashion icons...

...so it was inevitable that there would be a comic book about their adventures.

 But, as it turns out, Barbie and Ken were secretly married the entire time!

It's true!

Here's the story from Dell Comics' Barbie & Ken #1 (1962)...

Surprised?

To be fair, the never-reprinted tale, illustrated by Norman Nodel, details the little girls in the Barbie Fan Club telling their own alleged experiences with Barbie and Ken...which are no doubt fantasies since they cover Barbie being a nurse, a ballerina, and a stewardess, as well as getting married!
Except...who is the kid going off with Patty?
As you might have guessed, Mattel had play sets (clothing and props) showing Barbie doing all those things!
BTW, note that Nodel deliberately kept both Barbie and Ken "on model", looking very much like the actual dolls...except they could bend their arms and legs (which the dolls couldn't do until the late 1960s)!

Next Week:

Another Never-Reprinted Story About Barbie!

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 Buy...

Barbie and Ruth

The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her