mrmyst Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 True Life Secrets 12 a fave of mine, interesting composition nicely done That's a really cool cover. Thanks for sharing it - you inspired me to find and buy one - which I did!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjpb Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I knew I had to have a copy of this as soon as I saw Dr. Love post his a while ago. One of my favorite romance covers. Great cover! So how is Branded by a Tattoo Artist ? I enjoyed it (the tattoo is temporary). All the stories are decently drawn by Cappello but the themes are not the normal romance fare. *Brother and sister fall in love (he breaks it off when he finds out). *Woman doesn't tell a terminally ill man he's really going to live. *Woman asks the readers if she should let a former lover freeze to death in the snow or help him. *Woman with temp tattoo poses in bikini for a painting, she refuses the artists advances and he dies trying to kill her. Great stuff. Sounds like a keeper. I've got a copy of TLS #12 coming in the mail (I was an Escort Girl), and am hoping the story lives up to the title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1950's war comics Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I never really gave Charlton a second look...Some real gems there. Great copies, damonwad! Both the Cole and the Cappello are fantastic - I don't know how in heck you find these babies in such sweet shape. Black arts, I'm thinkin. Charlton never gets a first look, much less a second. And yet they were the undisputed #1 leader in the genre in terms of output - 1370 issues (vs #2 DC with 932 issues), most of which were cranked out from 1955 on. Everybody rags on Charlton and yet somebody was buying these books - unless Charlton was just printing for the sake of realizing the economies of scale produced through their groundbreaking vertical integration in terms of manufacturing. Charlton had distinct periods of artistic flowering, waxing and waning. A deep bullpen of talented artists, inkers and colorists. A strange fun place to work, where even Steve Ditko was tolerated and given the space to be...well, Ditko. And if you were Italian, like a lot of the Charltonians were, then the Derby compound was like the Badda Bing! was to Tony Soprano - home away from home. There were just a few issues that qualify as Charlton GA. Artie Cappello kinda owned the True Life Secrets run. Take a look. The black covers are awesome cause they make the garish coloring POP and also because they're awesomely hard to get in grade. Dr Love you have the most interesting and informative posts of anyone !! thank you FoggyNelson 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heronext Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Hi folks, really enjoy looking at these recent postings. Coincidentally I own 3 of the recently posted books, True To Life Romances 11, I Love You 1 and True Life Secrets 14. Here is a run of Popular Teen-Agers I recently bought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 True Life Secrets 18 this issue gets bid up hard when it surfaces - has a Toth feel to it It ought to feel like Toth ... http://www.comics.org/issue/9411/cover/4/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusterMark Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Wow, these last two pages: what great covers! (thumbs u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sqeggs Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 True Life Secrets 18 this issue gets bid up hard when it surfaces - has a Toth feel to it It ought to feel like Toth ... http://www.comics.org/issue/9411/cover/4/ Busted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sqeggs Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Hi folks, really enjoy looking at these recent postings. Coincidentally I own 3 of the recently posted books, True To Life Romances 11, I Love You 1 and True Life Secrets 14. Here is a run of Popular Teen-Agers I recently bought Great books! One to keep and one to list on a sales thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonwad Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Thanks for the compliment, but my "high grade" is your "barely acceptable" and I'm getting less picky as I get older. Great information as usual, Doc. Sign me up for an advance copy if you ever decide to write a romance collecting book. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more issues of True Life Secrets (and other Charlton's). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonwad Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 True Life Secrets 18 this issue gets bid up hard when it surfaces - has a Toth feel to it It ought to feel like Toth ... http://www.comics.org/issue/9411/cover/4/ Busted! Nice catch Scrooge. I'll still take both though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjpb Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 True Life Secrets 18 this issue gets bid up hard when it surfaces - has a Toth feel to it It ought to feel like Toth ... http://www.comics.org/issue/9411/cover/4/ Busted! Nice catch Scrooge. I'll still take both though. Toth does the better cover, but points to Charlton for somewhat creepy dialogue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Well, the more I look at it the more I believe Toth was himself inspired by a photo ... from somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 True Life Secrets 18 this issue gets bid up hard when it surfaces - has a Toth feel to it It ought to feel like Toth ... http://www.comics.org/issue/9411/cover/4/ Busted! Nice catch Scrooge. I'll still take both though. Toth does the better cover, but points to Charlton for somewhat creepy dialogue. Wow, these all seem to have black covers. Must be near impossible to find high grade copies. Then girls/women probably took better care of their books than guys did... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 No book from me, friend. But a book about romance books lies dormant in the heart of our own RCheli. I believe life got in the way of that project, as it often does, but his blog about the genre from 10 years ago lives on, preserved in time. Check it out. Raphe's knowledge and passion on the subject are evident. Thirty Two Pages of Love and nice pickup of the Cole run by the Substitute Duke. I hope I'm not talking out of turn, but if you have a moment you should also check out his website - a great new tool for listing and selling books, both slabbed and raw. Heronext 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Rjpb is right - points indeed to Charlton for the creepy dialouge. And points to eagle eye Scrooge - who knows a thing or two about many genres, of which romance is just one. Let's take a closer look at that Toth cover. The only romance cover he did. I don't own this book anymore, but I don't think the present owner would mind if I post this cover. It's taken from the splash inside, which is fully colored. On the other hand the cover has a monotone background which really makes the central figures pop. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 And while we're talking about Toth...let's listen to Toth talk to us about romance books: Of all his Standard work, Toth was proudest of his romance stories. In 1990 he told interviewer Luca Biagini: "Romance was very special. It dealt with emotions in a different way than the slam-bang adventure stuff. There are a lot of things under the surface...a line of dialogue could say 'this,' but the expression of the person would say 'that.' Maybe only the camera/us/the reader's viewpoint would reveal the truth when she said, 'I love you,too, George.' Her face, eyes were saying something else! And the reader knows that, but 'George' doesn't! He can't see that! So, there were all these little nuances of line readings, acting, reacting, interpretation, layers of character personality, integrity, etc., people bouncing off each other...that was suddenly very grown-up, as opposed to the slam-bang...It was a whole new ballgame, and it forced me to really pay attention, and look, learn and listen. I was lucky to have good scripts. The best romance writing was by Kim Aamodt, really good! I looked for ways to put more into interpreting ping-pong dialogue scenes, the give-and-take between a guy and a gal, or gal and boss, and not reduce it to talking heads. Though a lot of it did wind up being close-ups. I was enjoying characterizations, overdoing it! Not as subtly as I might've." Quote taken from a fantastic book on Toth, "Setting the Standard - Comics By Alex Toth 1952-1954." Edited by Greg Sadowski, it is of course a Fantagraphics publication. Hat tip to adamstrange, who has long admired and spoken of Toth's great work on romance for Standard. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusterMark Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 And while we're talking about Toth...let's listen to Toth talk to us about romance books: Of all his Standard work, Toth was proudest of his romance stories. In 1990 he told interviewer Luca Biagini: "Romance was very special. It dealt with emotions in a different way than the slam-bang adventure stuff. There are a lot of things under the surface...a line of dialogue could say 'this,' but the expression of the person would say 'that.' Maybe only the camera/us/the reader's viewpoint would reveal the truth when she said, 'I love you,too, George.' Her face, eyes were saying something else! And the reader knows that, but 'George' doesn't! He can't see that! So, there were all these little nuances of line readings, acting, reacting, interpretation, layers of character personality, integrity, etc., people bouncing off each other...that was suddenly very grown-up, as opposed to the slam-bang...It was a whole new ballgame, and it forced me to really pay attention, and look, learn and listen. I was lucky to have good scripts. The best romance writing was by Kim Aamodt, really good! I looked for ways to put more into interpreting ping-pong dialogue scenes, the give-and-take between a guy and a gal, or gal and boss, and not reduce it to talking heads. Though a lot of it did wind up being close-ups. I was enjoying characterizations, overdoing it! Not as subtly as I might've." Quote taken from a fantastic book on Toth, "Setting the Standard - Comics By Alex Toth 1952-1954." Edited by Greg Sadowski, it is of course a Fantagraphics publication. Hat tip to adamstrange, who has long admired and spoken of Toth's great work on romance for Standard. Wonderful insights. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Thanks gents for all interest, input, and kind words. Love this thread. Who would have thunk? I wouldn't have taken a romance book for free, much less paid you a dime for one. Each one of us is a convert. One last look at Cappello, 1971. It's pretty representative of where he ended up artistically. A very solid piece of work that shows a craftsman who has mastered the basics and then some. Classic stylistic components - the overheard conversation, the thought balloon capturing inner torment, the choice that needs to be resolved. Tears. Betrayal. One hand with fingers outstretched for support or to ward off more anguish, the other hand clenched with knuckles pressed to mouth. Reminds me of this tidbit from Rocky 3. Clubber Lang (Mr. T) is getting interviewed prior to the big fight. Interviewer: What's your prediction for the fight? Clubber Lang: My predicition? Interveiwer: Yes, your prediction. Clubber Lang: Pain! It doesn't have the fire or beauty of his work from 20 years prior. But it does have an understated elegance. And while it is clearly Cappello, it also shows the influence of the guy who would carry the romance torch forward from GA to SA in a big way at both DC and Marvel - John Romita. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusterMark Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Thanks gents for all interest, input, and kind words. Love this thread. Who would have thunk? I wouldn't have taken a romance book for free, much less paid you a dime for one. Each one of us is a convert. One last look at Cappello, 1971. It's pretty representative of where he ended up artistically. A very solid piece of work that shows a craftsman who has mastered the basics and then some. Classic stylistic components - the overheard conversation, the thought balloon capturing inner torment, the choice that needs to be resolved. Tears. Betrayal. One hand with fingers outstretched for support or to ward off more anguish, the other hand clenched with knuckles pressed to mouth. Reminds me of this tidbit from Rocky 3. Clubber Lang (Mr. T) is getting interviewed prior to the big fight. Interviewer: What's your prediction for the fight? Clubber Lang: My predicition? Interveiwer: Yes, your prediction. Clubber Lang: Pain! It doesn't have the fire or beauty of his work from 20 years prior. But it does have an understated elegance. And while it is clearly Cappello, it also shows the influence of the guy who would carry the romance torch forward from GA to SA in a big way at both DC and Marvel - John Romita. Doc, I must say, you really know how to make romance comics even more appealing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjpb Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 You nailed it, Doc. My thought was that looks like Romita's romance work before I even read the comments. i wouldn't be surprised if it was "borrowed". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
