Identifying the Bronze Age Romance Classic Covers 3 3

[bronze johnny]

There are a number of beautiful Bronze Age romance covers but to date, none are designated classic cover by Overstreet. Perhaps it's time to take notice of the officially unidentified classic covers of the last great comic book age of the romance genre? The artists who are responsible for these great covers should be given the recognition received by those who came before. What are the classic romance covers for the Bronze Age? I will start by providing a few nominees, a few of which are "easy" identifications:

Wonder Woman 199 & 200 - Classic Jones Bondage Covers

Super DC Giant 17 - Classic Cardy Romance Cover

Super DC Giant 21 - Classic Armentano Psychedelic Cover (wonder what Baker would say about this one?)

My Love 14 - Classic Morrow Woodstock Cover 

-John

  

[boomtown]

I've recently started collecting the Cardy Romance covers and this is the one that got me going. Just a classic image imo, and Cardy nails it. Some of Cardy's Teen Titans and Aquaman covers are classic layouts and images also, but this might be my favorite.

Edited February 18, 2018 by boomtown

[Martin Sinescu]

1 hour ago, boomtown said:

I've recently started collecting the Cardy Romance covers and this is the one that got me going. Just a classic image imo, and Cardy nails it. Some of Cardy's Teen Titans and Aquaman covers are classic layouts and images also, but this might be my favorite.

Holy carp, that's awesome. Cardy was fantastic, so sophisticated in his poses and composition, always playing with triangles. I'd really love to see a retrospective of his work.

[Jayman]

1 hour ago, boomtown said:

I've recently started collecting the Cardy Romance covers and this is the one that got me going. Just a classic image imo, and Cardy nails it. Some of Cardy's Teen Titans and Aquaman covers are classic layouts and images also, but this might be my favorite.

Not my collecting nitch but this is an awesome cover. This is a new one to me, never saw it before! 

[boomtown]

54 minutes ago, Jayman said:

Not my collecting nitch but this is an awesome cover. This is a new one to me, never saw it before! 

Yeah, Cardy really turned it up a notch in the late 60s/early 70s. If you look at his Teen Titans or Aquaman covers from the early to mid 60s and compare to the late 60s it looks like a different designer. I think that might have been when Giordano arrived as an editor and possibly gave him more freedom. I love Adams work from that time period but Cardy is just on another level for that time period.

[bronze johnny]

2 hours ago, boomtown said:

I've recently started collecting the Cardy Romance covers and this is the one that got me going. Just a classic image imo, and Cardy nails it. Some of Cardy's Teen Titans and Aquaman covers are classic layouts and images also, but this might be my favorite.

What a great cover! Classic Bronze Age Romance cover imho...

[bronze johnny]

[Martin Sinescu]

2 hours ago, boomtown said:

Yeah, Cardy really turned it up a notch in the late 60s/early 70s. If you look at his Teen Titans or Aquaman covers from the early to mid 60s and compare to the late 60s it looks like a different designer. I think that might have been when Giordano arrived as an editor and possibly gave him more freedom. I love Adams work from that time period but Cardy is just on another level for that time period.

Agreed 

[Stronguy]

Paging @greggy -- your assistance is needed.

[Crimebuster]

That's a great Cardy cover, but I generally consider 15 cent books to be late Silver Age. Still, it's debatable, and any excuse to see more great romance covers is worth it. 

Similarly, Falling in Love #99 is a legit classic romance cover, but it's a late 12 cent issue, so firmly Silver Age I think. There are a few late Silver Age books that I think are up there, first and foremost Young Romance #150, which is an all-timer in my book. This is the classic DC Silver Age Romance cover in my opinion:

 

Other late silver age books in the discussion include Heart Throbs #120, which has a crazy mono-color domestic violence cover by Neal Adams that I think is undervalued, and Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #1 and Sinister House of Secret Love #1 are up there.  I also have a personal soft sport for Young Love #68:

 

As for bronze Age, I honestly just don't think Bronze Age romance has gotten the attention it deserves. It's hard to pinpoint many real "classics" because most people have just never looked at them. 

A few issues that deserve more eyes on them: My Love #14 is the more famous Woodstock cover, but Falling in Love #118 also has a Woodstock cover that is excellent, and predates My Love #14 by a year. 

 

Love Stories #150 has a great Jay Scott Pike cover, and is not easy to find. This is a book I think could earn classic cover status if anybody paid attention to this era of romance books (this is not my copy):

 

Other books that have gone under the radar a little and I think deserve more attention are My Love #25 and #31, both of which have feminist movement covers.

There's also Young Love #104, my favorite romance comic ever:

 

And Young Love #124, which I have seen get some play because of the women-in-jail motif.

 

Jay Scott Pike and Nick Cardy combined to do a bunch of great covers right at the end of Falling in Love, particularly #136, #137, #141, and #143.

 

I'm sure I'm missing some. And there are some cool Charlton books, but I'm not too familiar with them other than Haunted Love #5 maybe, which is more of a horror cover than a romance cover (not my copy): 

 

Edited February 20, 2018 by Crimebuster

[Martin Sinescu]

Okay, this one just made my "wanted" list. What a stunner.... 

[awe4one]

Here's a blast from the past...

Jim

[underthebigw]

There's a whole bunch of 15 cent DC issues with just great composition against white backgrounds.  One of my favorites:

 

[Brandon Shepherd]

I've been wanting to start a nice little collection of Bronze Age romance covers for the last 3 or 4 years now. Nick Cardy is one of my favorite cover artists of all time. I may not have traveled the world over, but the small shows and big cons I've attended have only had a handful of romance books, in poor shape. 

[jools&jim]

Cool "gothic" cover; stellar interiors by Toth and Wildey...

[underthebigw]

Another white cover gem. One of my favorite $3 box finds, Wizard World Chicago about 10 years ago.  Went straight to the CGC booth with it.

 

[underthebigw]

And this one, I don't even know what to say about it.  I don't necessarily like the art, it Just always struck me a real bizarre for a comic book.  Check out the census on this.

 

[aardvark88]

On 2/18/2018 at 8:01 AM, bronze johnny said:

There are a number of beautiful Bronze Age romance covers but to date, none are designated classic cover by Overstreet.

Super DC Giant 21 - Classic Armentano Psychedelic Cover (wonder what Baker would say about this one?)

 

-John

  

Scarce early inter-racial romance cover Super DC # 21. Only the 2nd time I was able to find one out in the wild:

[bronze johnny]

21 hours ago, aardvark88 said:

Scarce early inter-racial romance cover Super DC # 21. Only the 2nd time I was able to find one out in the wild:

Was the cover based on an inter-racial romance story?  I never read the stories. 

[aardvark88]

11 minutes ago, bronze johnny said:

Was the cover based on an inter-racial romance story?  I never read the stories. 

3 way romance with interracial kiss in main story #1 for the Super DC Giant Love 1971.