Baker Romance 43 43

[sacentaur]

Here's my ranking for the True Love Pictorial (TLP) covers, and a reminder link:

https://www.comics.org/series/18749/

RANK

#1 - TLP #11

#2 - TLP #10

#3 - TLP #2

#4 - TLP #3

#5 - TLP #9

#6 - TLP #7

#7 - TLP #4

#8 - TLP #8

#9 - TLP #5

#10 - TLP #6

#11 - TLP #1 (photo cover)

REVISED (see below)

Edited February 24, 2018 by sacentaur
Revised List

[comicnoir]

I would have ranked 4 and 5 a little higher. And 7 a little lower.

[Yorick]

15 hours ago, manetteska said:

Seller refused to give a price and refused to disclose/admit the rust clearly shown in his pictures. I offered a price based on the rust I could see and someone else offered more.

Not me, but I did recently win an Australian Baker...  VERY affordable.

[Yorick]

8 hours ago, sacentaur said:

ranking for the True Love Pictorial

2, 5 and 9 are the top for me.  I like 11, but don't see why so many people put that at the top.  Sorry.

[sacentaur]

Thanks for the feedback - the TLP 5 just doesn't grab me that much (but looking again, I do see some appeal).

TLP 11 was a no-brainer to top the list, I think it's one of Baker's best covers ever.

[Sqeggs]

16 hours ago, sacentaur said:

Here's my ranking for the True Love Pictorial (TLP) covers, and a reminder link:

https://www.comics.org/series/18749/

RANK

#1 - TLP #11

#2 - TLP #10

#3 - TLP #2

#4 - TLP #3

#5 - TLP #9

#6 - TLP #7

#7 - TLP #4

#8 - TLP #8

#9 - TLP #5

#10 - TLP #6

#11 - TLP #1 (photo cover)

My ranking:

10 (Loved this cover from the first time I saw it.  One of my top five Baker covers.)

11 (Obvious classic)

5 (All of Baker's fire-escape gal covers are great.  I picture him on a hot summer night in Harlem, in a similar situation -- hanging out on the fire escape outside his apartment.)

4 (Definitely a double entendre to modern readers -- who knows if Baker intended it?)

2 (Such a great central figure)

9 (Gets some extra point for being such a tough book)

8 (Originally intended as a WTR cover?)

6 (Needed a better caption)

3 (Like how he made the tree the banner for the title)

7 (Not that I don't like it; just the competition is sooo tough!)

1

 

[Robot Man]

What could be more romantic than running from the cops with your thug boyfriend?

Just came in the mail. The second to last one of these I need!

[szav]

4 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

What could be more romantic than running from the cops with your thug boyfriend?

Just came in the mail. The second to last one of these I need!

She looks more like a hostage than a girlfriend, but who knows, maybe they’ll develop one of those Stockholm romances...great copy of a killer book there!

[sacentaur]

4 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

My ranking:

10 (Loved this cover from the first time I saw it.  One of my top five Baker covers.)

11 (Obvious classic)

5 (All of Baker's fire-escape gal covers are great.  I picture him on a hot summer night in Harlem, in a similar situation -- hanging out on the fire escape outside his apartment.)

4 (Definitely a double entendre to modern readers -- who knows if Baker intended it?)

2 (Such a great central figure)

9 (Gets some extra point for being such a tough book)

8 (Originally intended as a WTR cover?)

6 (Needed a better caption)

3 (Like how he made the tree the banner for the title)

7 (Not that I don't like it; just the competition is sooo tough!)

1

 

Thanks Tony - it appears that I under-ranked TLP 5.

I also love TLP 10, the panel cover is a classic IMHO.

Looking at TLP 7 again, the composition is too cluttered, I would drop it a few spots in retrospect.

Regarding the TLP 3, I adore the layout and colors on this one (even though the scene depicted is rather trite). 

[RareHighGrade]

20 hours ago, sacentaur said:

Here's my ranking for the True Love Pictorial (TLP) covers, and a reminder link:

https://www.comics.org/series/18749/

RANK

#1 - TLP #11

#2 - TLP #10

#3 - TLP #2

#4 - TLP #3

#5 - TLP #9

#6 - TLP #7

#7 - TLP #4

#8 - TLP #8

#9 - TLP #5

#10 - TLP #6

#11 - TLP #1 (photo cover)

#1 - TLP #11

#2 - TLP #9

#3 - TLP #5

#4 - TLP #10

#5 - TLP #2

#6 - TLP #8

#7 - TLP #4

#8 - TLP #6

#9 - TLP #3

#10 - TLP #7

#11 - TLP #1

[Shrevvy]

4 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

4 (Definitely a double entendre to modern readers -- who knows if Baker intended it?)

Maybe I am being dense, but I don't get it. What is the double entendre?

[sacentaur]

37 minutes ago, RareHighGrade said:

#1 - TLP #11

#2 - TLP #9

#3 - TLP #5

#4 - TLP #10

#5 - TLP #2

#6 - TLP #8

#7 - TLP #4

#8 - TLP #6

#9 - TLP #3

#10 - TLP #7

#11 - TLP #1

Thanks Peter - another TLP 11 fan!  

Based on the feedback, I'm going to re-rank these:

#1 - TLP 11

#2 - TLP 10

#3 - TLP 9

#4 - TLP 5

#5 - TLP 2

#6 - TLP 3

#7 - TLP 8

#8 - TLP 4

#9 - TLP 6

#10 - TLP 7

#11 - TLP 1 (movie cover)

I am more comfortable with this revision - our man Matt did performed very well on this short series! 

Edited February 24, 2018 by sacentaur

[sacentaur]

1 hour ago, Shrevvy said:

Maybe I am being dense, but I don't get it. What is the double entendre?

Sorry, misread your question.

Edited February 24, 2018 by sacentaur

[comicnoir]

32 minutes ago, Shrevvy said:

Maybe I am being dense, but I don't get it. What is the double entendre?

The girl is saying "if Sue can get married, so can we". Is she referring to the girls marrying each other? (I had a female friend point that out to me, me being so naive and all).

 

32 minutes ago, Shrevvy said:

Maybe I am being dense, but I don't get it. What is the double entendre?

Edited February 24, 2018 by comicnoir

[Sqeggs]

The DS 30 on Heritage sold for a strong price -- $2,390.  Only a 4.5, but the highest graded copy of a very tough book.

[Sqeggs]

I thought the Crown Comics 6 9.4 went a little low -- $776.  Not one of Baker's best non-romance covers by a long shot, but still surprising that a 9.4 Baker of any variety didn't crack $1,000.

[Shrevvy]

On ‎2‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 9:51 PM, JvR11 said:

Which issues are you missing?

Out of the 62 Jumbo issues with Skygirl, I am missing around 20. They are:

Jumbo 68,69,71,74-78,80,82,87,95,107,108,110,113,117,118,121,123,129

There is a total of 370 pages of Skygirl material all of which is drawn by Matt Baker except the 6 page introduction story from Jumbo 68. That is by Alex Blum. There is a large amount of overlap with Ghost Gallery and ZX-5 by Jack Kamen (with a couple Baker stories) in these issues. I have also started mapping out those books as well. The Kamen interiors are pretty solid and worth being seen again by a modern audience.

[Shrevvy]

49 minutes ago, comicnoir said:

The girl is saying "if Sue can get married, so can we". Is she referring to the girls marrying each other? (I had a female friend point that out to me, me being so naive and all).

 

Can't say that I have ever read it that way. I haven't read the story the cover refers to, but I somehow doubt that was what the cover was going for at the time. Not sure I would include this a double entendre cover even if that was the meaning.

[sacentaur]

57 minutes ago, comicnoir said:

The girl is saying "if Sue can get married, so can we". Is she referring to the girls marrying each other? (I had a female friend point that out to me, me being so naive and all).

 

That would be pretty progressive for the times.

I thought it meant that the girls see their friend getting hitched, so they would go sleep with a man to entice matrimony. 

[Sqeggs]

1 minute ago, Shrevvy said:

54 minutes ago, comicnoir said:

The girl is saying "if Sue can get married, so can we". Is she referring to the girls marrying each other? (I had a female friend point that out to me, me being so naive and all).

Can't say that I have ever read it that way. I haven't read the story the cover refers to, but I somehow doubt that was what the cover was going for at the time. Not sure I would include this a double entendre cover even if that was the meaning.

You may well be right and we'll never know, of course.  A lesbian relationship was strictly taboo even in those pre-Code days, so the cover couldn't have been "going for it" in the sense that the typical reader would interpret it that way.  But to a modern reader, that interpretation does suggest itself.  Baker being gay makes it possible that he meant it as an inside joke.