Falling In Love #13

From September, 1957. Bonus points for that cover for showing both a boy and a girl about to cry. The opener is about Celia, a young woman stuck in a dreary job (apparently as a typist). She fantasizes that she's a Cinderella, and when the clock strikes midnight one evening, she decides to use her savings to buy a trip to Italy. While on a tour through the countryside, she takes her lunch in an orchard and falls asleep, missing her bus. She tries to explain to the handsome Italian farmer:

Surprise, he turns out to be an American living in Italy. They have lunch together and he suggests that she stay for awhile (at a local inn, this was 1957 after all). She agrees and they spend the summer together:

But she's saddened by the knowledge that eventually she will have to leave. Rolf doesn't seem to be serious about her:

The Cinderella thing comes up again, and she senses that the clock is nearing midnight on her summer romance. Without telling Rolf, she gets a ride in a donkey cart to the airport, and prepares to depart, her heart breaking. Then:

And so she becomes a farmer's wife in Italy.

Comments: Art by Mike Sekowsky.  The Cinderella theme is well-handled and despite the simplicity of the plot, I found the story pretty effective.

The second tale is about a young florist who worships Ted Brennan even though he simply looks at her as the gal who sells him a dozen roses to send to his latest flame:

Then she meets Dale, another old schoolmate, who's become an artist:

And although she's a little torn at leaving the florist shop, where she catches her few precious moments waiting on Ted Brennan, she agrees.  And soon:

Well, you can probably guess who his friend is.  But when he makes it clear that he doesn't remember her at all, and is just interested in her beauty, she treats him coldly:

She even begins seeing Dale in an effort to forget about Ted.  But one night:

I'm kind of amused at the fact that she never seems to realize that the only reason she "loves" Ted is because he's so handsome.  They strike me as well-suited for each other.

There is an advice column called "To You... From Carol Andrews".  Most of the letters are pretty standard dating advice but I did blink a bit at this one:

 The third story is about a blind date that goes quite well:

But she's annoyed when it takes him a couple of days to call, and later she finds out that he's dating another gal too.  The friend that set them up originally has a pretty sensible observation:

And when she calls him up to invite him to a party that Saturday, he quite honestly admits that he already has a date.  Well, why not bring her to my party?  The more the merrier!  And of course, to hide her misery when he does show up with the blonde in tow:

Nothing says, "I'm going crazy now," like a handful of mambo records.  She dances with everybody in sight but Lowell and at the end of the night, the other girlfriend bares her claws:

But it turns out that's just what it took to get him to make up his mind.  He's not going to play the field any longer if it means that she can as well.

 The cover story winds up the book.  Vinnie (a girl) and Don have known each other since childhood.  But Vinnie meets a handsome stranger at the fair one day and they win a prize for dancing.  Second night of the fair and they win again.  And Don's in trouble:

But on the third night, she meets him again, and this time:

Ouch!  And to make matters worse, she seems to be losing Don as well:

So she assures Don that she loves only him by throwing away the prizes she had won dancing with the other guy.

Comments: Meh.  At least she ends up with the right guy.

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!

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Falling In Love #99

As you can see, the psychedelic and op-art influences were being reflected in DC's romance line fairly early; this was the May 1968 issue.  Just a beautiful cover by Ric Estrada.  Note the tribute to Palisades Amusement Park, a longtime DC advertiser.

You can get a quick idea of the opening story from this sequence:

She doesn't resist him, but she refuses to tell him she loves him.  And after they're going steady she decides to try to attract her old boyfriend, Greg. But then she realizes she's just playing Rod's game:

As you can see, Rod's already fooling around on her with the brunette in the background.  And it turns out that Greg really does want her back:

Cute ending, with the final line probably swiped from the movie Some Like It Hot.

The second story concerns a gal who arrives in the big city for the first time.  Fortunately a handsome stranger helps her flag down a taxi to her old friend's apartment, where she'll be staying.  She assumes she'll never see him again, but that evening:

Gail finds herself falling for her roommate's boyfriend.  To make matters more difficult, Marjorie and Cliff insist on including her in their dates, making her uncomfortable whenever they get a little lovey-dovey.  Finally, one evening Marjorie asks Gail to entertain Cliff as she is going to be working late.  Cliff falls asleep and Gail confesses all:

But it turns out Cliff heard everything, and returns her love.  And surprise, while Marjorie isn't overjoyed, she realized something was up:

Comments: I like the characterization for everybody in this story, although I doubt that Marjorie would really have been as phlegmatic as it appears here.

The final story is the cover feature, and it's a doozy.  Lisa and Amy have been friends since they were kids, but Lisa starts to realize that the boys are interested in her buddy:

So she gets a new bff:

Heh.  But although the guys notice her more now that she's not around Amy, they still tend to have wandering eyes:

But finally she meets Frankie, who notices only her:

Well, happy ending, right?  Not quite, for Lisa notices that Frankie, while not straying, still doesn't treat her the way she wants.  And this is where the story gets a little murky, because it appears that Lisa's kinda bitchy:

And when it looks like he forgot her birthday she's in tears.  However, he does show up with a present and this time it's obvious that he's not very thoughtful:

Any guy who's ever given a prank gift to a gal will know that doesn't go over well.  And as time goes on, Lisa realizes that while Frankie may be faithful, he's not satisfying her other needs.

But this time she's had enough.  Maybe she needed him at one point, but no longer:

Comments: Entertaining story and beautiful artwork by Estrada.  Frankie comes off as a bit of a cypher; why exactly doesn't he flirt with the other girls?  I assume because that's what the plot required.

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First Kiss #2

I haven't talked much about Charlton Comics here. Aside from Steve Ditko's terrific work, it's safe to say that they are considered the ugly stepsister of Silver Age comics, with (mostly) mediocre art and stories. Their comics even seemed to be printed on cheaper paper than the other publishers. And yet they did publish a boatload of comics in the Silver Age; at least 2500 that I've been able to catalog, and I'm positive that I'm missing some.

Like most publishers in the Silver Age, Charlton eschewed the superhero comics except during Batmania. They published a LOT of romance comics, even more than
DC. Their active romance titles in the Silver Age included Career Girl Romances (37 issues), Cynthia Doyle, Nurse In Love, Dr Tom Brett Young Intern, First Kiss (40 issues), High School Confidential Diary and Confidential Diary (17), Hollywood Romances (10), I Love You (82), Just Married (74), Love Diary (69), My Secret Life (29), Nurse Betsy Crane (16), Romantic Secrets (44), Romantic Story (83), Secret Romance (10), Secrets of Love and Marriage (25), Secrets of Young Brides (40), Sweetheart Diary (34), Sweethearts (92), Teen Confessions (65), and Teen-Age Love (70 issues). When flipping through the comics racks back then, I often thought of Charlton as the equivalent of Harlequin in the comics.

The opening story in this issue is pretty good despite the dull-as-dishwater title, Love Him, Love What He Does. Alice is a bit ashamed of her prizefighter boyfriend George. She wants him to take up a more genteel profession, like her friends' husbands:

So she gives him an ultimatum: Either he gives up boxing or she dumps him. However, he's on the verge of a title bout and isn't about to abandon the sport he loves. Alice, who's been moping about, decides to attend the big fight, initially hoping that he will lose and come to his senses:

And win he does, making Alice realize that she's as proud of him as she would be of a lawyer or doctor:

The story could have been more dramatic if there had been a confrontation before the fight between the two lovers, with Alice initially admitting that she hoped George would lose, and then him recovering to win the bout when he realizes that she's rooting for him. Still, it's a solid effort. The subtext (accept your man for who he is, not for who you wish he were) is a frequent theme during romances of this era, although that would change as editors began to demand that leading men be wealthy and/or powerful. Of course, you could argue that a championship fighter was exactly that; back in the 1950s they were probably the most well-paid figures in sports.

The second story is not as satisfying; you can probably guess the ending from this panel alone:

The dreaded mustache tells us that he's not the right man for her. She goes out shopping, gets stuck in a ditch and meets an arrogant man who tells her to stop spinning her wheels. No real surprises here; the arrogant man is her true love.

The third story does present some interesting points. Doris Wiles had married a wealthy playboy, who died and left her and her infant son penniless. She works her way up from waitressing to running her own restaurant. A wealthy former friend of her husband, improbably named Carlos McLean, starts to woo her. But wait, he has the dreaded mustache! Is he a villain?

Nope, and he seals the deal when her son swallows something that puts him in peril:


I'm going to guess that the specialist went by the name of Dr Heimlich. ;)

There's an interesting PSA:

I don't remember DC publishing any overtly religious PSAs during the Silver Age, although they certainly published ones that promoted religious tolerance.

Solid Gold Heart closes out the book. Donna is a succesful model who wants to make the jump to acting. Her downstairs neighbor is Larry, a self-employed biochemist. Donna is promoting her career and making the gossip columns by going out with various wealthy playboys, but she wishes Larry were more successful. One days she promises to attend a sales pitch to an investor, but then her manager calls with a rich date who will certainly get her name in the paper. Torn, she attends the date even though it is at the same corner as Larry is waiting. But it all works out in the end, as:

It's an entertaining story, largely selling the same message about accepting your man for who he is as the opening tale. And as in the opener, the woman doesn't really have to suffer, as it is clear her man will become wealthy.

There's a "movie date" filler bit of advice here:

One oddity; the comic does not seem to contain many ads aimed at women; in fact the inside front cover contains a Joe Weider body-building ad.

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