Wednesday, September 26, 2012

SECRETS OF YOUNG BRIDES "Can This Be Love?"

As the weather turns cooler, let's take one last summer fling...
...with a '70s tale from Charlton's Secrets of Young Brides #3 (1975)
Man, dig those crazy fashions and hairstyles!
Illustrated by the talented Enrique Nieto (who did only romance, horror, or gothic romance tales)
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?)

And now a word from out sponsor...

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

LOST WORLDS "Worlds Apart"

"Submitted for your approval, a romantic triangle with unequal sides..."
"...because one point of this scalene triangle is firmly entrenched...in the Twilight Zone!"
(It works if you read it in a Rod Serlingesque voice.)
Cue Twilight Zone theme music...
While the writer for this story from Standard's sci-fi anthology title Lost Worlds #5 (1952) is unknown, the art is by Nick Cardy, who began his career in the Golden Age and still does the occasional comics cover today at the age of 91!
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?)
And now a word from out sponsor...

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

YOUNG ROMANCE "Goodbye, My Darling"

What if he was going to leave you...and it was all your fault?
Would the guilt rip you apart, or bring you together?
I'd have that doctor up on malpractice charges in a hot minute!
First he tells her "Your husband's gonna die within a year, and it's your fault!", then it's "Oh, he's fine, it's a miracle!"
The guy's a quack!
The writer for this tale from Prize's Young Romance #89 (1957) is unknown, and it's just as well!
The nicely-done art is by Lou Cameron (pencils) and Vince Colletta (inks).
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?)
And now a word from out sponsor...

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

OUR LOVE STORY "Model with a Broken Heart"

It's a '70s story with a '40s feel...
...because the scripter was a child of the Swingin' 60s-70s, and the illustrator was one of the greats of the Golden Age.
The story has a weird feel to it, like one of the 1940s-50s tales updated for the 60s-70s.
But I'm assured this never-reprinted tale from Our Love Story #14 (1971) was, in fact, written and illustrated in 1970-71!
Scripter Gary Friedrich began penning comics in the late 1960s, including Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos, the cowboy Ghost Rider, and the Steve Ditko-illustrated Blue Beetle.
But he began his career doing romance comic stories at Charlton!
Later, he would co-create the motorcyclist Ghost Rider and the first Black superheroine, ButterFly!
Tarpe Mills was one of few female writer/artists (let alone female writers or artists) in the Golden Age.
Besides working on a number of established series, she created one of the first superheroines; Miss Fury!
Tarpe retired from comics in the early 1950s, returning in the '70s to do this romance story under the pen-name "JT Mills" (short for her full name, June Tarpe Mills) and a cover for a Miss Fury reprint trade paperback.

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!
(I know we say that every week...but it's [sob] true!)

And now a word from out sponsor...