I think the lead story was written with good intentions. It tries to present alcoholism realistically, but the overly-melodramatic dialogue and captions make the whole thing seem a bit foolish. I'll give them points for trying. By chance I recently read another alcoholic story from the same period, an episode of Captain Easy reprinted in Big Fun Comics. That story was low-key and earnest, and more successful. Alcoholics Anonymous played a big role. I guess the subject was on the public mind in the mid-1950s. I thought maybe the stories were inspired by the film Lost Weekend, but that came out in 1945 so probably not.
The art is definitely by John Rosenberger. Check out page 15 panel 5...a classic Rosenberger male head, including JR's trademark mouth, with a little elliptical opening drawn under the upper lip.
"The Little Spark" was stupid. Funny, when I saw the white shapes in the first panel, I thought they were smoke, and that the couple would be brought together by having to put out a fire. Wrong.
"How to Get Yourself Talked About" reminds me of Richard Hughes' weird stories. While the story is set in the present (i.e. 1954) the small town seems to exist in the 1920s or 1930s, peopled with grey-haired biddies gossiping over the back fence.
"Imitation of Love" is more a standard romance story. The gold-digger is able to dump her sugar daddy with a clear conscience when he finds his own true love. Doesn't entirely satisfy me.
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Topic: Week 194 - Romance 1950s Style (Read 2570 times)
