Dr. Love Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Point Five Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 These are great! (thumbs u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicjack Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Something about this cover hooks me in! 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagii Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Doctor these are all magnetic covers, but I'm really liking this one! I think there will be a boom in painted romance back issue market coming soon. How could you pass any of these up collector of the genre or not if they came your way? 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Never realized that Lovers' Lane & Boy Meets Girls had a painted cover period. I have tunnel vision and know their March 1952 covers, of course and thought I had then "studied" the rest of the run but nope, didn't know this. Thanks again!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Thank you, Point Five! Great to see you here! Thank you, Scrooge! To uncover a small piece of the comic world for a seasoned collector like yourself is a big get off for me. The below is a schmaltzy jokey take on this of course - but in a way, for me, it's not. I can open your eyes Take you wonder by wonder Over, sideways and under On a magic carpet ride A whole new world A dazzling place I never knew But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear That now I'm in a whole new world with you Thank you, Sagii! I really like that Fuje too. A lot a lot. And I dig the font they use for the stories. Which leads to a bigger, interesting point - the use of all the elements of the cover to create an artistic image. I tend to see things from the least granular view - photocovers vs line drawn, for instance. Then I'll add in a distinction - line drawn vs painted cover. How the text on the page is handled is much further down the list to my eye. But there is one aspect of text that isn't minor, even though the font is smaller than the series title and inside features. Balloons, either the crisp dialouge or fuzzier thought, are a major conceptual break, right through the imaginary "fourth wall". They are a big deal. The whole experience is altered. And while it promotes intimacy, a shared experience, it also removes the image from the world of established art (at least until Lichtenstein elevated it). So yeh we could divvy up the publishers on balloons pretty easily - again it reverts back to photocovers yes or no. Mostly that is - Marvel mixed balloons into their photos to great campy effect. Also, you won't see a balloon on a painted cover. Somehow, it's unnnatural. It really comes down to line drawn - do you have the stones to let your drawn image carry the page? Ace did. But perhaps it wasn't editorial courage as much as consistency throughout their titles, and I would have done the same. The real publisher to grapple with this consciously was DC, and really it shows up in their SA romance. Which is where you'll have to check it out! Coming soon to a thread near you. Silver Romance Collectors Thread 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sqeggs Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Doctor these are all magnetic covers, but I'm really liking this one! I think there will be a boom in painted romance back issue market coming soon. How could you pass any of these up collector of the genre or not if they came your way? I agree. Striking cover that I haven't seen before. In perusing the good Doctor's wonderful books, I'm struck by how much great comic art I was missing before I began paying attention to romance books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 A solitary pursuit for so long. I can't tell you what a difference it's made to share it with you guys. I think I'm getting a little...verklempt! Say the word and you'll be free Say the word and be like me Say the word I'm thinking of Have you heard the word is love? It's so fine, it's sunshine It's the word, love 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 OK, back to business. In so much of life it seems, There Can Be Only One. In the painted cover category, that would be Avon. The marketplace speaks, and by definition, it's always right. Avon books go for big bucks. In this case I tend to agree. I LOVE this cover. It is hands down the nastiest clinch you'll see, at least in this genre, where things don't go off the tracks too often. Hands gripping hair, these two couldn't get any further into each others' mouths. Children, avert your eyes! I don't like to own beat up books, and I really don't like to post them. Romance has enough problems getting street cred, I don't need to add to it. But for this book I'll definitely make an exception. Someone out there owns a slabbed 7.5. If it's you, give sell it to me. Please? 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjpb Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Oh the horrors, such a ragged copy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 5.0? 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Most of us know that Avon repackaged many of their pulp/paperback covers into their romance comic line of painted covers. A fantastic overview of the subject was done by boardie Doohickamabob back in 2010-2012. His thread, "DOUBLES: Doppelgangers, Mirrored Motifs, Before/After, & Total Plagiarism", is a great one, and covers way more than just Avon romance, or even Avon period. You can find the whole thread here. Thanks, Doohick! Doubles 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Okay, so here are the first couple groups of images. The biggest genre to get the "repurposed image" treatment was romance. This is fine with me because many of the romance images contained sultry, noirish painting or photography that still holds up today in terms of sexiniess, allure and standing the artistic test of time. Even when it doesn't stand the test of time, it has a strange quality that makes it fun to browse. Leading off is the Realistic Comics series of romance comics called "Intimate Confessions": Intimate Confessions #1 is among my favorite among this group, with cover art that is instantly recognizable for the seductive streetwalker pose of the blonde in the red dress, who has one hand on her lower back and the other dangling a cigarette, while a landscape of neon lights sets the scene. What great art, courtesy of Nelson Algren's "The Neon Wilderness." Intimate Confessions #2 is from Donald Henderson Clarke's "The Chastity of Gloria Boyd." Intimate Confessions #3 = Robert Briffault's "Carlotta." Intimate Confessions #4 = James Woolf's "Song Without Sermon." Intimate Confessions #5 = "Her Private Passions" by Marty Holland. Intimate Confessions #6 = "Alabam'" by Donald Henderson Clarke. Intimate Confessions #7 = "Infidelity" by Arthur Weigal Intimate Confessions #8 = "Babes and Sucklings" by Philip Wylie 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Realistic Comics also spread comic-book love with its Realistic Romances title: Realistic Romances #1 = "The Scarf of Passion" by Robert Bloch. Realistic Romances #2 = "Chorus Girl" by Thyra Samter Winslow. Realistic Romances #3 = "No Bed of Her Own" by Val Lewton. Realistic Romances #4 = "Confidential" by Donald Henderson Clarke. Notice that with many of these covers, such as R.R.#2/"Chorus Girl," the art was significantly cropped to make it more suitable for the younger comic-book audience. Goodbye to the creamy thighs... However, with painted art like on #4/"Confidential," it is already so stylized that no change is necessary. Realistic Romances #5 = "Teach Me to Love" by Jack Woodford. Realistic Romances #6 = "The Amorous Interne" by Edward Reltid. Realistic Romances #7 = "As They Reveled" by Philip Wylie. Realistic Romances #8 = "Nina" by Donald Henderson Clarke. "The Amorous Interne" is my favorite from this group and I recently acquired a VG+ copy for a nice price on eBay. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Avon's title Romantic Love ran for 13 issues and has one of the most inconsistent sets of images of nearly any comic book title ever published. From one cover to the next, you don't know whether to expect a photograph, a painting, or even a painted photo. Avon's first issue was later reprinted under the "Realistic Reprints" label as Sparkling Love #1, and Romantic Love #3 also became a generic reprint: Romantic Love #1 = "A Hell of a Good Time" by James T. Farrell. Romantic Love #2 = "Career in C Major" by James M. Cain. Romantic Love #3 = "Uneasy Virtue" by Dana Wilson. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 These are some of the more recognizable covers from the Romantic Love run: Romantic Love #5 = "Love for Sale" by John Wilstach. Romantic Love #6 = "The Crystal Girl" by Stephen Longstreet. Romantic Love #7 = "Virgie Goodbye" by Nathan Rothman. Romantic Love #8 = "The Women in His Life" by E. Nash. Notice on R.L. #6 how the man is holding his cigarette so close to the woman's neck, with the smoke rising right back up into his face! The cigarette ash is positioned to fall into the woman's cleavage. Also, notice how for R.L. #6, they cropped the image just enough to prevent the visibility of the woman's rear thighs. (I need to get my mind out of the gutter.) Romantic Love #8 = "The Love Trap" by Vina Delmar. Romantic Love #9 = "Help Wanted -- Male" by Thomas Stone. Romantic Love #10 = "Iron Man" by W.R. Burnett. Romantic Love #11 = "Frisco Gal" by Clarkson Crane. Romantic Love #12 = "A Good Time Man" by E.P. Keating. Romantic Love #13 = "Stories of Venial Sin" by John O'Hara. R.L. #9 is one of my favorites of the bunch (in spite of the woman's duck lips), and I have yet to track down a copy of the comic. Anybody want to sell me one? R.L. #10 is probably one of my least favorites, due to the unsettling way the man is staring at us, instead of reciprocating the affections of the dish hanging onto him. This "Iron Man" appears to have some things in common with Tony Stark. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Campus Romances is a strange idea for a comic title -- is it designed to be read only by women in college? Do college-age women really read comic books? It only lasted three issues so maybe not. Though issue #1 did get its own Realistic Reprint with a different-colored background: Campus Romances #1 = "A Woman of Sin" by Ben Hecht, and later "Jealous Woman" by James M. Cain. Avon cannibalized from itself on an ongoing basis! Campus Romances #2 = "Where the Girls Were Different" by Erskine Caldwell. Campus Romances #3 = "Strange Desires" by Len Zinberg. (Notice they cropped her short-shorts right out of the image.) Here are some "leftovers" from the romance titles/crossovers: Reform School Girl = "Reform School Girl" by Felice Swados. Anybody got an extra copy around that they want to donate to me? (Of either the rare and valuable comic, or the rare and valuable digest?) The comic titled "For a Night of Love" is an Avon one-shot adapting a story by Emile Zola. I have never seen a copy of this in person but it is one of the most pink, girly, bodice-ripper covers I've ever seen on a golden-age comic. The artwork is cannibalized from the paperback "Amorous Philandre" by Jean-Galli DeBibiena. At bottom is another Avon one-shot, "Complete Romance" subtitled "Women to Love." The Realistic Comic version of this is just "Women to Love," and considered much more rare (I recently saw a copy on eBay go for a high price, considering it's an obscure romance title). Both covers come courtesy the paperback "On the Spot" by Edgar Wallace, and unfortunately both comics have been given the boobs-darkening treatment. Interesting side-note: The little man getting shot in the corner is re-used in the imagery of an Avon crime comic cover... 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagii Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 OK, back to business. In so much of life it seems, There Can Be Only One. In the painted cover category, that would be Avon. The marketplace speaks, and by definition, it's always right. Avon books go for big bucks. In this case I tend to agree. I LOVE this cover. It is hands down the nastiest clinch you'll see, at least in this genre, where things don't go off the tracks too often. Hands gripping hair, these two couldn't get any further into each others' mouths. Children, avert your eyes! I don't like to own beat up books, and I really don't like to post them. Romance has enough problems getting street cred, I don't need to add to it. But for this book I'll definitely make an exception. Someone out there owns a slabbed 7.5. If it's you, give sell it to me. Please? your text is as entertaining as the covers you post. Never saw this book before, and yes, kind of 'suggestive' cover for a 50's comic book. Hope you can get an upgrade, but that's a 'beater' I could live with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
