For Love Alone (1969)

Well, I like boys who don't wear their Christmas ties in the summer.

Today's story is from the June-July 1969  issue DC's Heart Throbs. DC's romance comics were the best of the best in the post-code era, and I think you'll notice the change from Charlton's low budget wackiness right away. At DC, the plots make sense, the artwork is highly skilled, and the comic is actually competently printed: the wildly miscalibrated screens and mystery blotches that plague Charlton comics are absent here. 

Contrast this simple little story of an ordinary girl with a commonplace problem to the bizarre things that befall Cleo Manson in my last post. Here instead of being pursued by banditos, our heroine Roseanne is just too shy to find herself a boyfriend, and her married sister and brother-in-law try to help her by setting her up on a date.


Judging by the squeaky clean dorkiness of the husband that Beth hooked for herself, I think Roseanne is justified in her fear of being set up by her and I suspect that her "shyness"  is at least partially invented. God knows what kind of nerd is going to walk through that door.



I don't know the reason for it, but the guys in romance comics always look 15 years older than the girls, even when the characters are supposed to be the same age. I don't know if David is supposed to be older than Roseanne, or if he's just prematurely aged like all men in the 60's. Was it all the smoking and drinking and playing poker with oversized nudie cards? Maybe they sold frowning kits in the back of mens' magazines because it was impossible to get ahead with a smooth, unlined face.


Wait, why was Roseanne going to the square dance in the first place if she didn't like to dance? Oh, I bet she was a blast to bring to dances, making everyone awkward as she skulked around the edges of the crowd. At least she's coming out of her shell now, as evidenced by that pink panel - monochromatic panels always signify hormones. Lots of hormones.


See? That green panel is sizzling.


This is the second time David's shown up with a kind of gold bar on his jacket pocket, is he wearing a name tag? Maybe it's the pin he wears as a member of the DIRTY GIGOLO SOCIETY.


David's getting more lined with each page, but Roseanne doesn't care, she greens his panel and how. 

The panel where Roseanne runs away weeping with her eyes closed is a DC story staple, along with the sexy monochromatic panels, sadder-but-wiser endings and dream sequences.

Now that I have the blog settled I'm going to be posting on a Mon - Wed - Fri schedule, and we'll see how that goes. So, look for a new post and a new poll on Friday.