This torrid tale of the tanbark is drawn by Emil Gershwin, and art-spotter Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr puts a question mark beside the name Celardo as inker. According to some biographical information I read online, Gershwin, who usually didn’t sign his name, was a top illustrator, with rave reviews from Alex Toth. Further reading finds that Gershwin assisted Dan Barry on the Tarzan newspaper comic strip, and later John Celardo took over the feature. Some Tarzan-styled stuff is included in the drama, when David fights a lion. I wondered if Emil Gershwin was related to the famous Gershwin brothers, George and Ira. Emil’s daughter, Nancy, says the famous composers were Emil’s first cousins.
The story appeared in ACG’s Romantic Adventures #7 (1950).
Heck I'm straight but David is so manly I'd swoon into his arms, too! :)
ReplyDeleteI have to say normally these romance stories are pretty contrived, and this one was no exception but it worked. I was really drawn into it and the action (even though it was only minor at the end) was great because it was announced well (with the arrive of the lion pages earlier.)
I think a lot had to do with the art. It was dynamic and it was obviously somebody (as you point out) that had experience doing this kind of stuff.
BTW, still has the wacky part of almost all female-centric romance stories where the woman is the narrator and center of the story but does absolutely NOTHING. Everything moves around her and she just goes with the flow!
David should at least have yodelled “Tarmangani!” after slaying Numa.
ReplyDeleteIt's fairly common to reach for a fantasy that a person who has rejected or abandoned one not merely will reverse him- or herself, but will realize that he or she has always loved the person who was rejected or abandoned. Sometimes, this fantasy will prove true. But it doesn't speak hopefully about Marcia's propensity for fidelity that she could be in various ways intimate with another man while in love with David.
Meanwhile, of course, a very large share of those who force themselves physically upon others are perfectly sure of their charm, and perfectly wrong in that certitude. Our sense of ethics must be informed by our epistemic limitations, and to attack a woman whom one merely believes to feel a complementary desire is to attack a woman whom one should doubt has such a desire.
I think that JVJ nailed it...I can see Celardo here.
ReplyDeleteHm. Not only does he engage in problematic workplace misconduct at the beginning, but then, later, he sure does quite a lot to advertise the fact that he's knife fighting a lion even though there's a gun just laying there. I mean come on.
ReplyDeleteLovely art!
Mike, I like Celardo's artwork, which appeared in comics well into the '70s, when he was doing mystery comics for Gold Key. I like his bold inking, which was done to make sure it reproduced. Too many artists got too delicate with their ink lines, which, depending on the engravers and printers, would disappear during printing. Not Celardo's lines!
ReplyDeleteMr Cavin, well, you are describing an ACG story, where consistency, even in fighting lions, was not necessary.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your note.
Daniel, I love what you said: "Meanwhile, of course, a very large share of those who force themselves physically upon others are perfectly sure of their charm, and perfectly wrong in that certitude. Our sense of ethics must be informed by our epistemic limitations, and to attack a woman whom one merely believes to feel a complementary desire is to attack a woman whom one should doubt has such a desire."
ReplyDeleteA man who is much in the news said that he would grab women by the (private parts). Of course he is so charming no female could resist him. No need to worry about being rejected; they all want it!
Readers, just a note to tell you that one of the reasons I am slow getting to the comments is because I am now limiting myself in the time spent on my computer. I will only look at a screen for an hour at a time, then wait until my eyeballs can stand to take up the task again.
ReplyDeleteYour comments are important to me, and I read every one. Sometimes I don't respond because I can't think of anything to add to the conversation, and sometimes it is just because my time staring at the screen is used up.