The other day I was talking to a friend about literary influences when I confessed one of my dark secrets: love comics were a major influence on my early poetry. Yep. Love comics. My friend looked at me blankly. "What the hell are love comics?" I tried to describe them, but I didn't know where to begin. So I began asking other friends if they knew what love comics are. Turned out no one did. How could anyone not know what a love comic is? Did they ever wonder what Lichtenstein's paintings Drowning Girl, Hopeless, and Oh, Jeff . . . I Love You, Too . . . But were based on?
I grew up pedaling my fat-tired bike on summer days to a corner service station in Maine where I could buy penny candy and old second-hand love comics for a nickel each. On rainy days, my sisters and I read stacks of love comics, giggling over the best ones. Our mother was appalled. "What a dreadful waste of time!" she would say. Here's a quote from one called Swamp Flame:
What was the mystery of Mara King's strange life? Why had her father buried her alive in the depths of the Cypress Swamps, forbidding her even a glimpse of the world beyond the curtain of Spanish Moss? Mara never knew . . . until the day the rich and handsome Bob Westly wandered into the lost bayou and found her! Then, for the first time, she tasted the forbidden wine of Life and Love!!
Seriously! How could you resist?
No one can resist the wine, or the mead, the combination of aroma, spice, liquor, and pussy.
Posted by: Bobby Mitchell | February 16, 2024 at 05:23 PM
How cool! I didn't know they existed here! I did know they had them in Mexico, because I hung out in a beauty shop one day in the early 70's and read a bunch. The sense of dramatic romance seemed very important to people there. Thank you!
Posted by: Angela Ball | February 17, 2024 at 08:00 AM