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Friday, June 07, 2013

Number 1380: Hated by an unfaithful wife

This issue of All True Romance (#2, from 1951), is notable for the stories being told from the man’s point of view. It’s no big secret that most love comics were written by guys, but this is the first one I’ve seen that appears to have been aimed at males. My theory, told several times in this blog, is that love comics could not have enjoyed the huge success they had in their first couple of years (late forties into the fifties) without having males buying them along with the target female audience.

This is a tale of adultery and divorce. Charlie, the husband, knows his wife, Gwen, is cheating, and she knows he knows. Everyone acts very civilized about the situation, but you can tell the wife’s lover is a cad because he wears a pencil-thin mustache. (His name, Dick, is also a clue to what he is.)

Beware of men wearing pencil-thin mustaches. They are wife-stealers and bounders.

Luckily there is Janet, a sweet young beauty contestant to ease Charlie’s suffering. And when the drama is finished, you can tell in the last panel they are in love because of all the little hearts swirling about their heads.

This looks like an Iger shop job, with some panels, especially of Gwen, that look to have been drawn either by Matt Baker or someone using his style. The quick-and-dirty print job is by some indifferent pressmen on a giant web press of the era. I have done my best to fix the scans.











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Although I hate to dissuade any Pappy's readers of the notion that in younger days I was a great lover, contrary to popular belief this is not a memoir of my affairs. For one thing, I was only seven-years-old when it was published.



7 comments:

Daniel [oeconomist.com] said...

As I recall, you didn't even complete writing the first volume of your memoirs until you were eight, and then there was the problem of finding a publisher, until you were introduced to Girodias.

Pappy said...

Daniel, when I was six my Dad caught me kissing the neighbor girl, Susie. He told me kissing caused babies, and I remember worrying about that. It slowed me down until I was at least six-and-a-half.

Alicia American said...

OMG that was quite a teerjerkar yo! OMG men R so weepery & ovar-sensative LOL OMG Pappy weR in Hollywood talking 2 a producerer-L8Y yo: http://tagamericast.com ❤♥OMG we luv u Pappy! XOXO

Brian Barnes said...

I love these romance stories, because it's usually interesting to see how they "stack the deck." This one is just utterly blatant.

My favorite part is our wife has been seeing her lover for weeks or months, and the one day after she leaves the husband she hates, she instantly realizes how horrible our mustached villain is, and yet tries to get the husband back with "I still don't love you, but I'll iron your socks."

The wife is terrible. Her lover is a transparent cad, the beauty queen is sweet and innocent and our husband is a man of action. Yes, we got it story writer!

BTW, the large panel on page 4 is a well known pose -- usually seen in more risky, shall we say, photos to show off a women's figure. That's why boys bought these!

Pappy said...

OMG, indeed, dear Alicia. Last week you girls were traipsing around construction sites in NYC in your high heels and now you're in Hollywood.

I wondered why they were having wildfires so early in the season in LA. Now I know it's because of you HOT American Girls!

Pappy said...

Brian, ever been married? People can act really strange in marriages, and actually I've known at least one married couple who went through much of what the couple in this story went through. I didn't mention it in the text because when I wrote it their story didn't all that pertinent. Maybe the scripter went through that sort of relationship or knew someone who did. The comic book story can wrap it up in a few pages, but my friends went for years stretching out the agony.

And I still believe men with mustaches are sneaky buggers, and that includes me. Women be warned.

Alicia American said...

LOL OMG Pappy its funy u say that cuz its like c-c-c-COLD hear yo http://twitpic.com/cw18lj <<C?