The Baker Has Left the Building

A crowded day for posts as we try to fit in a couple of Valentine’s Day-themed posts in before the big day. Tomorrow I’ll post my regular Time to Collect article.

Our pal Alex Sorensen just can’t leave well enough alone, the comments for his last post got him thinking so he went back to the drawing boards and re-jigged the thing for our pleasure. See his “Director’s Cut” version below.

The Most Valuable non-Matt Baker Romance Comics

Once More With Feeling.  So, here it is and something jumped out at me.  The oldest Romance Comic is Classic Comics 32 – Lorna Doone (A Romance of Exmoor), and I am placing it on this list due to its historical significance despite the Matt Baker cover.  It is dated December 1946, while Young Romance 1 is nine months later.

Similar to the first Horror-Suspense comics, which are also Classic Comics, this is a point of debate as many collectors tend to dismiss CCs and it is sometimes easier to follow the Legends than the truth. Simply put it is a comic and the story and cover are romance.

The #3 comic Teen-Age Diary Secrets 6 contains Matt Baker art but the photo cover of Marilyn Monroe in a sweater gives it position.

Covers now fall to LB Cole with 16, Al Feldstein 12, Unknown 8, Photos 6, Ogden Whitney 2 and 6 others with 1 each.

RankYearMonthPublisherTitleIss2023
        119555CharltonNegro Romances4  17,000
       219506FawcettNegro Romance1  15,600
       3194910St. JohnTeen-Age Diary Secrets6   14,100
       419539.5GilmorDaring Love1   13,800
       519503.5ECA Moon A Girl…Romance12   12,100
       6195110Orbit-WantedLove Journal10   12,100
       719549.5ACGLovelorn53   8,900
       819496.5ECModern Love1    7,100
       919541FawcettSweethearts119   6,800
      10195410.5ACGRomantic Adventures50    6,100
      1119507Comic MediaConfessions of Love2   6,000
      1219491.5ECA Moon A Girl…Romance11   6,000
      131950        3.5ECSaddle Romances11   6,000
      1419527StarConfessions of Love11    5,400
      15195010FawcettNegro Romance3    5,200
     1619533StarPopular Teen-Agers15    4,700
      1719499.5ECA Moon A Girl…Romance9    4,700
      1819504.5ECModern Love6    4,700
     1919537Lev GleasonLovers’ Lane35   4,600
     2019508.5ECModern Love8    4,500
      211950nnFiction HouseCowgirl Romances1    4,400
     22195110StarPopular Teen-Agers9    4,400
     2319524StarTrue-To-Life Romances11    4,300
     2419507Comic MediaHoneymoon Romance2    4,300
     2519545StarConfessions of Romance9    4,200
     2619533StarConfessions of Love4    4,200
     27195410StarTrue-To-Life Romances23    4,200
     2819548ACGLovelorn52    4,000
     29195211St. JohnAll-Picture All-True Love Story2    4,000
     3019509SuperiorModern Love  (Canadian)8    3,900
      3119479.5Prize/HeadlineYoung Romance1    3,900
     321953?StarTrue-To-Life Romances19    3,900
      3319527StarTrue-To-Life Romances12    3,500
     3419508FawcettNegro Romance2    3,500
     35194612GilbertonClassic Comics32    3,400
     36194912.5ECModern Love4    3,400
     37195011.5ECA Moon A Girl…Romance10    3,400
     3819537StarTrue-To-Life Romances18    3,300
     3919529StarPopular Teen-Agers13    3,300
     4019502AtlasVenus8    3,200
      411950          2SuperiorSaddle Romances (Canadian)10    3,200
     42195410StarPopular Teen-Agers23    3,200
     431957FallCharltonGiant Comics2    3,200
     441950nnFoxStrange Lovenn    3,200
     4519529StarTrue-To-Life Romances13     3,100
     46195111StarTop Love Stories5     3,100
     4719524StarPopular Teen-Agers11     3,100
     48194910.5ECModern Love3     3,100
     4919503SuperiorMy Life13    3,000
     50195411StarTop Love Stories19   2,900
Walter Durajlija
Walter Durajlija

Walter Durajlija is an Overstreet Advisor and Shuster Award winner. He owns Big B Comics in Hamilton Ontario.

Articles: 1826

5 Comments

  1. An absolutely brilliant idea to put this list together, hats off to whoever posted the piercing and thought-provoking comment that led to this list.

    “Unknown 8” – can you imagine this for superhero comics? Tells you something about the state of development of romance collecting.

    IF comic collecting continues, I think this and related genres are going to see a lot of issues pop. These books were throw-aways for decades. They are so hard to find in VF and above. I know Walt is sitting on a gold mine.

  2. As with all of Alex’s posts/comments, this one is rattling around in my mind.

    “Simply put it is a comic and the story and cover are romance.” Not buying this.

    These days we have a zillion GGA covers that could be classified as “Romance” – Campbell’s ASM #601 springs to mind. I don’t think this is what people are talking about when they talk about “Romance” comics. They are talking about YOUNG ROMANCE (first and foremost!), Girls’ Love, etc. & etc. They are not talking about some issue of Classics that happened to cover a classic romance novel.

    At most, CC #32 is a PROTOTYPE Romance comic – I know how much Walt likes prototypes – but if “The Hulk!” is not really The Hulk, then I think it makes perfect sense to say that Lorna Doone is not Romance. (Also inferior to Walker’s, I might add.)

    I am going to stick to my blue-chip approach and for ex-Baker, it has to have “Love” or “Romance” in the title to be considered for my Romance bucket. Sorry Giant Comics #2.

  3. My definition from the last post for a Romance comic was “……the comic must have a Romance cover without other obvious genres appearing” and I cited a few non-romance comics. My more recent “….it is a comic and the story and cover are romance” was more to support Lorna.

    So, ASM 601 is Super-hero. And I own Giant Comics 2 and that smooch cover with roses is romance.

    The thing with Classic Comics 32 is that if it is not romance then it is, well…Romance. I often place Literature as a description by the Classic Comics, but that is more a place mark for future when it is Sherlock Holmes or War of the Worlds which have obvious genres. But I will say Young Romance 1 started the anthology romance series with complete original stories and that is something.

    Unknown artists. As I go through almost all of Fox Publishing`s “My…..Love, Secret, Past, Thrill, Confession……(various titles)“ the covers are fantastic but there are no artists. If this ever gets figured out I think they would go for a lot more. I own My Life 10 and I wish I knew who.

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