I was reading True Brides’ Experiences #15 (as one does) when I noticed a massive amount of empty space in a word balloon, and assumed this was due the story being a pre-Code reprint, so I tracked down the original publication in First Romance Magazine #18 three years earlier.

Not only did the Code remove any dialogue which hinted at sex, but the nightgown worn by one of the women was made more modest, and her curves were mostly removed.

Plus the story’s title had been changed from 1952’s “Caught in the Night!” to 1955’s “Student Nurse.”

In addition to that, check out the way all the stories were retitled when published under the auspices of the Comics Code Authority. Three years later, and words such as “Temptation,” “Passion,” and “Wicked” were no longer acceptable.

Good thing no child ever read those words!

Found among late my late sister-in-law Ellen Vartanoff’s papers — two scripts written by Jack Miller for Young Love #82 (October 1970).

Miller wrote comics from the ’40s through the ’60s, including such titles as Deadman, Batman, Aquaman, Blackhawk, Jimmy Olsen, and many others. (more…)

Reading what my old boss Roy Thomas had to say today over at The Hollywood Reporter about Stan Lee and what’s come to be known as the Marvel Method reminded me I own a few things which I feel shed a small amount of light on the collaborative nature of creating comics when there’s no full script prior to the art —

Stan’s typed plot for a romance story intended to be titled “But One of Us Must Lose!”

Ross Andru’s pencils turning that plot into seven pages of art.

And then the published story, as inked by Jack Abel, which appeared in Our Love Story #17 (June 1972) under the title “When Love is Lost!”

Since so few plots remain from that period, and even if they do, the accompanying pencil art has rarely survived, I thought something could be gained from a comparison of Stan’s plot to Ross’s art to Stan’s final dialogue.

I won’t share all of Ross’s pencil art here, both because what I most want to point out is the altered ending … and because my scanner isn’t large enough to capture full pages of ’70s-era original art. Maybe someday I’ll share it all, but for now, here’s what I think matters.

First, Stan’s plot —

Though I’m fascinated by Stan’s direction to Ross that he should — “Always make sure most of the panels in a romance story show the heroine looking sad rather than happy. For some reason, girl readers want to read about people with PROBLEMS, not happy-looking people.” — that’s not the part that speaks most to the collaborative process. For that, I direct your attention to the ending.

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