Short Lived Comic Series #17 - True Love (Eclipse Comics)

It's funny - I was never a fan of romance comics at all growing up. Even as an adult, I pretty much shied away from any series that was more focused on romance than super hero action, supernatural/horror, or mystery.  But, in recent years, as I have gradually learned to appreciate a lot of the medical and soap opera-themed comics (from Charlton, Dell, and other non-mainstream publishers of yester-year), I have also developed a taste for some of these romance titles.  While at the huge flea market up in Mount Dora last year, I stumbled across this little two-issue series from Eclipse Comics, published back in the mid-1980s.  I picked them up based on the covers alone - magnificent art by Dave Stevens (issue 1) and Brent Anderson (issue 2).  What I did not realize, until I finally opened them up to read them recently, is that these two issues provided reprints of some much older work out of the '50s.

True Love may have only been two issues, but Eclipse provided comic readers with a great look at some of the amazing talents of days gone by.  The issues reprinted stories from New Romances, Thrilling Romances, Popular Romance, and Intimate Love, all of which were published under the Standard Comics imprint back in the 1950s.  With art by some very recognizable (today!) names such as Alex Toth, Vince Colletta, and Nick Cardy, the stories are definitely beautiful to look at.  The character's expressions literally come to life off the page, tugging at the emotions of the reader to feel what the characters are feeling.  The writers of the stories are not credited (which, as sappy as some of the tales are, I can imagine the authors may not have wanted their names attributed to such stories!), but the art more than makes up for what the stories lack in originality or depth.  The tales are very soap opera-ish in nature, with woman taking on the role of victims, swooning over the men they want or can't have, or the problems that they create for themselves, causing them to nearly lose the man they love.

Issue One features four short stories.  "Stars in My Eyes" tells the story of Ginny, who is unsatisfied with the mediocre life provided by the man she married, and she convinces him to take a higher paying job - but she quickly finds out that money isn't everything!  "Wrong Way to Happiness" finds young Sandy in love with a man who keeps pushing her away, thinking that no one should have to be burdened with loving a cripple - but she is determined to help him see that love can conquer all!  "Heart Divided" is the shortest of all the stories, at only three pages - but it actually packs quite a punch, as Marian's boyfriend feels like he is always competing for attention with her kid brother - but a near-accident involving the brother opens Brad's eyes! And "Chained to My Past" feels most like a soap opera, where Louise Carr has a secret in her past, a scandal involving her parents that could destroy all chance she has at happiness with her fiance, Todd!

Issue Two also features four stories.  "Blinded by Love" is the story of Debby Rainey and her two male friends, Paul and Lon.  She loves them both, but when an accident forever scars her face, she quickly learns that true love really is blind!  "Unwanted Love" features the unhappy Nancy, whose husband is taking a job that will take her away from the life she has always known - but when she tries to discover what life may have been like had she married one of her other high school sweethearts, she learns very quickly that the grass is not always greener! "Two-Timer" is actually an interesting tale of Marni, who is supporting her husband as he returns to engineering school to finish his degree - but in order to get a job, she must pretend to be single and soon finds herself entangled in a web of lies that could cost her not only her job, but her marriage as well!  And "My Other Love" rounds out this issue, with a story about poor Lenore who elopes with a man who her parents don't approve of - and after he dies, she finds new love, but can't face the fact that she has a secret marriage that could destroy everything!

As can be expected from stories like this, they all have happy endings, with the woman usually realizing the mistakes she has made, or in a couple of instances, the man coming to the realization that he has misjudged the woman who is so madly in love with him.  Most of the characters and stories are fairly stereotypical romance fare, with no unexpected twists or surprises - but "Chained to My Past" in the first issue and "Two-Timer" in the second issue actually provide tales that a bit more than two-dimensional and provoke the reader to think a little bit about what they would do in the same situation.

Again, the art is probably the biggest selling point for these two issues, as both the covers and the interior art are gorgeous to look at (and believe me, this is rare for me to say, because in most cases, I'm the person crying for more story in the comics and less focus on the art!).  It's almost a shame that they didn't continue this series of reprints, as it is doubtful the actual comics from which these stories first appeared can be easily found (and since the comics and stories seem to be in the public domain, from what I could find online). I would have loved to have seen what other big name artists offered their talent to these little-known romance titles of the past.

RATING:  8 broken hearts out of 10 for sharing some comic book history with fans who were not around to see them when they first came out.