Love Diary #24

(January 1952)

Cry, Beauty, Cry (Table of Contents: 1)

comic story / 10 pages (report information)

Script:

?

Pencils:

Mort Leav

Inks:

?

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Genre:

romance

Characters:

Sheila Copley; Bill Mahoney; Charlie Ford; B.J.; Martin Vann; Miss Thorne

Synopsis:

Sheila stands out in her small town because she’s 5 feet 8 inches tall and wants to be a movie star. Sheila wins a contest and goes to Hollywood but discovers her agent Charlie is a lecher and a cad and the contest was a fraud. Cabbie Bill is nice to Sheila; they fall in love but she refuses to give up her dreams of stardom. Sheila takes a job as a waitress and is later given a screen test by producer Martin, but does poorly. She prepares to go home but Bill shows up and proposes marriage. Sheila accepts.

I Tried to Buy Love (Table of Contents: 2)

comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script:

Bill Woolfolk

Pencils:

?

Inks:

?

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Genre:

romance

Characters:

Alice Chanler; John Larian; Eddie Chanler; Dick Rickard; Virginia

Synopsis:

John works in a garage to support his widowed mother and to pay his college tuition, and this stifles his social life. Later, when he is a successful businessman, he’s still unable to get find a girlfriend. His friend Dick suggests spending big money on his dates—this works, and John soon has attractive escorts. He falls for Alice and lavishes expensive gifts on her, but she turns down his proposal of marriage, saying a woman doesn’t want to be a possession. John realises his faithful secretary Virginia is the woman he’s been looking for all his life.

Indexer Notes

Writer credit by Martin O'Hearn.

Rare example of a romance comic story told from the man's point of view.

Secrets from a Love Diary (Table of Contents: 3)

text article / 1 page (report information)

Script:

Ray Mann

Pencils:

?

Inks:

?

Colors:

?

Letters:

typeset

Genre:

romance

[“Once again, Ray Mann brings you, the readers of Love Diary, a confidential problem from real life!”] (Table of Contents: 4)

Prescription for Happiness / comic story / 3 pages (report information)

Script:

?

Pencils:

Harry Anderson

Inks:

?

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Genre:

romance

Characters:

Ray Mann; Katherine M.; Beth; Larry; Grace; Sally; Jimmy Walsh; Ed; Andy; Joe; Barry

Synopsis:

Katherine and her friends Grace and Sally bemoan the lack of eligible men, since “so many fellows are off in the Army.” The three girls allow themselves to be picked up by three young men, who turn out to be lecherous creeps. Later, her married sister introduces her to a friend of her husband, and the guy turns out to be one of the boys. He thinks Katherine is “fast.” Katherine asks Ray Mann how she and her friends can meet boys and be popular, without giving “the wrong impression.” Ray puts the question to the readers of Love Diary.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 5)

Frankly Speaking / letters page / 1 page (report information)

Script:

Ray Mann

Pencils:

? (header)

Inks:

? (header)

Colors:

?

Letters:

typeset

He Couldn't Love Me (Table of Contents: 6)

comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script:

?

Pencils:

Harry Anderson

Inks:

?

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Genre:

romance

Characters:

Hal Edwards; Kathy Corwin; Dan Trigger

Synopsis:

Kathy goes on a winter vacation to a ski lodge and is attracted to handsome ski instructor Hal, who has a reputation as a woman-hater. Hal is alternately friendly and cold to her, and finally quits his job to get away. Kathy is nearly killed on a dangerous ski run but Hal rescues her. She learns Hal was wounded in Korea and feared he’d become an invalid, so he didn’t want Kathy to be burdened with him. Kathy says she’ll stay with him and Hal now has the will to recover fully.

Keywords:

Korean War; wounded veteran