I'm pleased to let readers of "Nolan's Niche" know that my 100,000-word book on romance comics is in the process of editing and production at McFarland, America's leading publisher of books on pop cultural topics - among other subjects, especially involving American history. If luck holds, my book will be ready in time for the 2008 convention season.
I thought it might be fun to include a taste of the information I've included in the 12-chapter book, for which I proposed the title "Love on the Racks: Thirty Years of Romance Comics 1947-77." McFarland's editors, of course, might come up with their own title ideas, since part of their job is maximizing the appeal of their books through their titles. This will be the first comprehensive history of romance comics ever published. I'm hoping some of this information will whet your appetite for more and that you'll consider obtaining the book, provided you're interested in the art and Americana involved in romance comics
In one of the chapters, I cover the era of one-shot romance titles from 1949-59 (there were only 15 total romance comics in 1947-48, and none were one-shots). One-shots were unusual in the romance field, but I identified 25 non-reprint romance one-shots. In other words,
I'm not including things like I.W. reprints or rebound giants.
The one-shots began in 1949 with Avon's Complete Romance #1, Marvel's Love Trails #1, and St. John's Adventures in Romance #1 (the second issue changed titles and genres). Avon followed up in 1950 with Sparkling Love #1, while Fawcett contributed I Love You #1 and Young Marriage #1 that year, and Marvel changed three humor titles to one-shot romances: Cowgirl Romances #28, Real Experiences #25, and Honeymoon #41, all lackluster issues.
In 1951, none of the major publishers had a one-shot. I counted Fox's rare My Love Life #13 (not the 1950 #13) and My Secret Life #27 as one-shots, part of a few Fox titles that mysteriously reappeared after Fox seemed to have gone out of business in 1950. In addition, the tiny Canadian publisher P.L. had two romance one-shots: Love Life and Co-Ed Romances.
Standard's only one-shot, My Real Love #5, appeared in 1952, as did Ziff-Davis' only one-shots, the scarce and highly recommended 25-cent giant Women in Love #1 and Dearly Beloved #1. St. John's Pictorial Love Stories was the only other 1952 one-shot. The Holy Grail of romance comics, Stanmor/Gilmor's Daring Love #1, and 3-D Love #1 from Mike Ross were the only 1953 one-shots. Mike Ross's 3-D Romance #1 appeared early in 1954, to be followed at mid-year by one of the oddest titles in romance history: Sorority Secrets #1 from Toby.
I'm going to break my own rule about reprints by calling Charlton's 1955 Negro Romances #4 a legitimate one-shot, even though it used material from Fawcett's Negro Romances #2 in 1950. The Fawcett issue represented a legitimate commercial gamble, just as any one-shot does, and it's doubtful if many readers remembered the original series. The only other 1955 one-shot was Sterling's My Secret Confession #l, the only romance comic produced by that small publisher. That title also made Sterling the only publisher to produce only one romance comic.
Rounding out the list are Marvel's 1957 Romances of Nurse Helen Grant and Chariton's Giant Comics #2, the only romance issue in the series. In 1958, St. John produced the last romance one-shot of the 1950s with Secrets of True Love #1, one of the company's final comics.
I have almost all of these romance one-shots, and I'd have to say they're all fun. I love one-shots in general; trying to figure out why they're one-shots has long been one of my favorite comic book topics.
One book I would love to find - but probably won't be able to afford - is Daring Love #1. This issue features an infamous "roll in the hay" cover and includes Steve Ditko's first printed artwork, a decade before he gained fame co-creating the Amazing Spider-Man in the early 1960s. What's ironic about Daring Love #1 is that you probably could have had it for 50 cents or a buck in the 1960s and 1970s, and now it's worth hundreds of dollars more than many issues that sold for $25 or more 40 years ago. But then, isn't that part of what makes comic collecting fascinating? Anyway, grab Daring Love #1 if you can - and send me copies of the pages!
Title confusion may have caused the one-shot Marvel's Cowgirl Romances #28 to be discontinued, since Fiction House came out with the same title at the same time. For a long time, it was thought Marvel had published a Love Trails #2, but this title also was limited to one issue, perhaps because Ace already had Western Love Trails. The same could be said of Standard's My Real Love #5, since Ace had its long-established Real Love flagship title.
Ziff-Davis was near the end of its days as a comic book publisher when Dearly Beloved and Women in Love appeared in 1952. 3-D Love and 3-D Romance were produced and distributed under the Stereographics imprint by the entrepreneurial team of artist Mike Esposito and Ross Andru. They were victims of the brief 3-D Craze, but they went on to produce thousands of great pages for DC.
Other than Daring Love, the one-shot with the oddest distinction is Toby's Sorority Secrets #1 (July 1954). Toby, which was out of comics a year later, apparently planned a second issue of Sorority Secrets, but the material appeared as part of Great Lover Romances #20 near the end of a less-than-noteworthy 22-issue run. Sorority Secrets is, indeed, a secret.
Most collectors, though, would probably rather have the ultra-esoteric Negro Romances #4 from Charlton. This was published the year after the Supreme Court decided the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education case, but the beginnings of genuine civil rights were a decade in the future, with Congress' passage of the Civil Rights Act. America was still very much segregated when Charlton produced this issue.
Who knows whether Marvel's Romances of Nurse Helen Grant, the first comic exclusively with a nurse theme, would have continued? It was among dozens of victims of the 1957 Marvel implosion. It's a fun book, though, if you can find it. It's one of the scarcer romance one-shots. Charlton, of course, milked the nurse theme in the 1960s when medical shows became all the rage on television, but Marvel did it a whole lot better. It's worth trying to find, but then so are virtually all of these one-shots.
This is a guest article. The thoughts and opinions in this piece are those of their author and are not necessarily the thoughts of the Certified Collectibles Group.
