DC 100-Page Super Spectacular No. 5 - LOVE STORIES

Comic fans who remember comics of the '50s, '60s, and '70s will remember the "romance" craze that littered the comic racks at the local convenience stores and newsstands.  Pretty much every publisher out there (with maybe the exception of Gold Key) was publishing romance comics, with titles ranging from Young Romance to Our Love to Teen-Age Romance to Career Girl Romance to Secret Hearts and so many more.  DC Comics, who is most famous for Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman put out their fair share of romance titles during that period, and in fact, they held out the longest, with their comic, Young Love, being the series that closed out the genre.  In the early 1970s, DC published a line of 100-Page Super Spectaculars, which was not necessarily a regular ongoing series, but rather, an oddly numbered series of reprint titles featuring Weird Mystery Tales, World's Greatest Super-Heroes, Superman, Batman, Our Army at War, The Flash, Superboy, Justice League of America, Tarzan, and others.  The numbering was hard to follow, since there were no issues 1, 2, and 3; rather, the series started with issue 4 (being the Weird Mystery Tales issue), and with issue 7, it was published as part of the regular line of series (issue 7 being Superman #245, issue 7 being Batman #238, and the like).  While I do have several of the super-hero related issues, issue 5 is the specific issue that is the focus of this post.

 

DC 100-Page Super Spectacular: Love Stories is not an issue of which I was aware.  To be honest I was not aware of the separate 100-Page Super Spectacular series until I got this issue and began looking into it.  But at a local comic convention last year, I obtained a copy of this particular issue from a comic dealer I know, because he was aware of my love of romance comics. The issue is a bit worse for the wear, with a part of the cover torn (although the missing piece does not really affect the cover art, nor are any words missing), some tears here and there, and a few stains on some of the pages throughout the comics - none of which affects its readability.  The less-than-perfect condition does not bother me in the least, since I get the comics to read and enjoy them, not to worry about their value (although when I went on line to research this particular issue, I was absolutely SHOCKED to discover what this issue sells for!).

 

The issue is a mix of new stories (prose and comic) and reprints (from previously published romance titles from DC).  Like most comics of that era, the stories do not give credit to the creators, so I had to turn to the Grand Comics Database (GCD - Love Stories) to uncover names of the writers and artists, if known.  Turns out some pretty big names in comics contributed to this issue - Bob Oskner provided that fantastic cover (100 Page! The Biggest Love Mag Ever! the cover cries out), and the work of great artists like Tony DeZuniga, Win Mortimer, Jay Scott Pike, Vince Colletta, Art Saaf, John Romita, John Rosenberger, Bernard Sachs, Ric Estrada, Wally Wood, Morris Waldinger, Norman Nodel, Mort Drucker, Bob Lander, and Mike Sekowesky graced the interior pages (all ad-free!).  And the back cover is a rather unique, almost psychedelic, word-free art by Charlie Armentano - who also provided a similar style cover to a sister title, DC's Super Giant #S-21 - Love (1971).  It's interesting to note that Oskner's cover has a young couple almost kissing, while Armentano's back cover has the young couple fulfilling that desire by actually kissing - perhaps a commentary on the stories inside, which always open with hesitancy or lost love, but always end with a happy reunion and that all-too-important true love's kiss.

 

The first comic story, "How Do I Know When I"m Really in Love?" and the fifth tale, "The Wrong Kind of Love," seem to be the only non-reprint comic stories.  While there are a few prose features scattered throughout the issue, all of the remaining comic stories are reprints from Young Love (1967), Girls' Love Stories (1962), Girls' Romances (1953, 1960, 1964, 1968),  and Heart to Heart Romance Library (1958).  The stories range in length,the shortest being 6-pages and the longest being 24-pages (a two-part tale titled "Made for Love," each chapter being 12-pages).  One thing I thought was rather humorous (in my opinion) was the two-page spread titled "How to Look Fabulous" by Ted Long, described as the "hip" hairdresser from the Today Show. "He's the gentleman who helps to prettify Barbara Walters," the first paragraph reads, "and other stars for the camera ... and he's quite a doll himself!"  Interestingly, I could not find any information online to verify whether Ted Long was an actual hairdresser or not (although I did find a Ted Gibson, who is a more recent hairdresser for the Today Show and other television shows).  The spread features a photo of Long, with four illustrations by Morris Waldinger that depict young women applying make-up, exercising, enjoying a steam treatment, and simply walking home with a courteous gentleman.  I would be curious to know how many girls read this article and took these tips to heart!

 

While a number of the stories are typical romance comic fare, there are a couple that stood out to me as I was reading them.  One was "My Sister Stole My Man," reprinted from DC's Girls' Love Stories #91 (December 1962).  It features a young woman whose sister is in a wheelchair following an accident.  Ellen feels she will never have love while stuck in a chair, so Jane convinces her boyfriend to encourage her - not realizing that as he spent more and more time with Ellen, he would come to love her and ultimately leave Jane for her wheelchair-bound sister!  An unusual tale where the heroine (Jane) not only does not win her love in the end, but instead, willingly gives him up for her sister, thinking to herself in the last panel, "I'll find love again - a love that will last!"  Written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by John Romita, the Grand Comic Database indicates the pencils and inks for this reprinted version were "extensively revised" to update hairstyles and fashions, and even the lettering is revised to change emphasis in the narrative.

 

Another not-so-typical story was "The Other Girl," also written by Robert Kanigher and with art by Bernard Sachs.  This story was reprinted from DC's Girls' Romances #70 (September 1960) and features an African-American cast, which is surprising considering the era in which it was first published. Although, being in the last decade of the civil rights' movement, perhaps the creators (and even DC, as the publisher) felt it was only appropriate that such diversity be portrayed in their comics.  Whatever the cause, I was actually happy to see a story with a Black cast.  The story centers around Donna, who happens to spot through a restaurant window her boyfriend (Peter) getting cozy with another woman!  She immediately burns all of his letters and pictures, gives away every gift he ever gave her, and breaks off all the friendships that tied her to Peter.  But getting him out of her head is not that easy - everywhere she goes, something reminds her of the love they shared - the beach, the art gallery, the theater, and even the park.  And to make matters worse, while Donna is suffering over the loss, Peter has been out dating dozens of new girls ... but, of course, in the end, love wins out, and Peter returns, admitting he did everything he could to forget her, "...but it was useless.  I just can't stop loving you!" he exclaims as he pulls her into a passionate kiss for that final panel.

 

One story, which may be said to be somewhat standard romance fare, turned out to be my favorite of them all because it somewhat reminded me of my mother's own story.  "The Wrong Kind of Love," which is one of the two originals stories in this issue, was written by Robert Kanigher and penciled by Ric Estrada, with inks by the legendary Wally Wood.  The story is about star-crossed lovers Linda and Kenny.  They are so much in love, but Linda refuses to allow Kenny to meet her family.  It turns out Linda's family is rather well-to-do, and as Linda's mother puts it, Kenny is "from the other side of the tracks," reminding Linda that "He's not our kind, dear!"  No matter what Linda says, she cannot convince him that Kenny is a great man, despite his lower class status.  It is not until Kenny rescues Linda from a collapsing bridge and saves her life that her parents give in, finally admitting, "We didn't understand ... but we're learning!"  My mother told me that as a teenager, there was a boy she liked in high school; however, her mother refused to allow her to date the boy, saying "he is from the wrong side of the tracks."  My grandparents even drove my mother to the boy's house and showed her where he lived to emphasize their disdain for him.  Unlike the story, my grandparents never relented, and my mom never got the opportunity to date the boy - who later went on in the '60s to be in a somewhat famous singing group (but don't ask me which one, because I can't recall now...)

 

Overall, the issue was thoroughly enjoyable, and whoever chose the various stories to include deserves some praise.  No two stories are alike, and they offer a great variety of scenarios and characters, as well as some truly beautiful artwork.  As indicated above, my issue does have its mars (see image of the the cover to my copy of the issue to the right), but that in no way detracted from my savoring each and every story (although, I will admit, I just skimmed over the text articles, as I was not overly interested in make-up tips, love letters, or to hear how girls met their boyfriends!).  I am truly grateful to John Neville for sharing this issue with me, as I doubt I would have ever learned about it, let alone found it at a price I could ever afford, on my own.  This particular issue definitely has its special place now in my collection of romance titles, and it will always stay at the head of the stack!

 

RATING:  10 couples kissing in a soap commercial out of 10 for a collection of tantalizing love stories with some of the most beautiful art to grace a comic page!