Marvel's attempts to conquer other genres as they had done so effectively with superheroes fell on hard times. My Love and Our Love Story were sprung on the population and featured stories written and drawn by the Bullpen stalwarts. Nonetheless, that old Marvel magic failed to ignite and transform the romance comic as it had done a decade earlier with the superheroes.
Above is a typically excellent Gil Kane cover for a 1974 issue of Our Love Story, near the end of the series.
Here we get a wonderful glimpse behind the scenes. Kane's pencils are robust and fully developed.
There was little left for inker John Romita to do, but he nonetheless leaves his distinctive stamp on this classic romance image of a beautiful woman pining helplessly for her errant beau.
The story appeared originally in 1969 under a equally lovely cover done exclusively by Romita for the second issue of Our Love Story.
It was reprinted the first time in 1971, with John Buscema offering up a cover, this one focusing on the face of the forlorn young woman. The guy this time seems more purely a cad, another staple of the genre.
One dandy little story, and three dynamite covers, all appropriate for this Valentine's Day. I hope you all treat your sweeties better than this slug.
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Sometimes the cover captions could make these love mags just fun to browse on the rack. "Hotline to Heartbreak!" is just brilliant. :)
ReplyDeleteThe modern comic book cover is so pristine, eschewing the blurb that the comics blend into a bland sameness. Comic book covers are ads primarily, not art. A good blurb can make or break a cover.
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those Kane pencils are absolutely beautiful!
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