Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Girls' Love Story Corrections from Joe Orlando's Records

Shortly after my posting on the Joe Orlando-edited issues of Girl's Love Stories, Robin Snyder emailed me:

Dear Martin,

Here is a mystery to ponder as you look over these additions and corrections: Girls' Love Stories lasted a long time without any support from the fans. How is this possible?

Mystery #2: This success story does not appear in The Wall Street Journal, Comics Journal and others and is barely, rarely or never mentioned in the histories of the comics? How can this be?

If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one in the media to report the event...does this mean it never happened?

Joe Orlando, like most editors, kept poor records and they are as reliable as those from any other editor. (Only Boltinoff kept accurate records as far as I can tell.)

I have an accounting of Joe's records. Many of your identifications match his. You and Nick Caputo know your names and ID.

But.

There are exceptions and I have noted them in the following.

I have also made a few additions for features you omitted.

Yours,
Robin


GLS 143 'Love Today' Mortimer pencils, Wood inks

I've reworked the list Robin sent into my format. Here are the additions, as well as the corrections with which I'm updating the post itself. Robin gives a number of writing credits for Barbara Friedlander and Carol Fein, neither of whom appeared in the post. "From Barbara Miles with Love" is the romantic advice text page. There are two separate "Dates" pages in #147.

SangorShop commented on the post with info from the records for #157, and I'll repeat that I certainly should have seen Ric Estrada's pencils even under Tony DeZuñiga's inks; Estrada lettered the title in his distinctive style, as he did for many of his stories. (The GCD got this credit mixed up with "For Love or Money" in #153, but that's DeZuñiga solo.)

Below this list, for the sake of completeness, are a few more credits Robin sent from the records that I'm not incorporating into the original post.

UPDATE: Scruggs on "Scrapbook of Tears" is, at this late date, just a tantalizing surname in the records, but a possibility would be Wilson Scruggs, whose syndicated strip "The Story of Martha Wayne" lasted from 1953 to 1962.

Girls' Love Stories credits added from Joe Orlando's records

Apr/69 142  From Barbara Miles with Love w: Jack Miller
May/     143  From Barbara Miles with Love w: Miller
Jul/      144  From Barbara Miles with Love w: Joe Orlando
He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not a: Vince Colletta
Aug/      145  From Barbara Miles with Love w: Miller
Oct/      146  Abandoned i: Mike Peppe
From Barbara Miles with Love w: Carol Fein
Nov/     147  Confessions w: Barbara Friedlander
The Ugliest Girl in the World w: Friedlander
From Barbara Miles with Love w: Fein
Dates 'n' Mates/Dates and Mates w: Friedlander  a: Ric Estrada
Feb/70 149  Forbidden Love w: Friedlander
From Barbara Miles with Love w: Orlando
Dates 'n' Mates w, a: Liz Berube
Confessions: Episode Three w: Friedlander
Apr/     150  Confessions: Episode #4 w: Friedlander
Her Secret Shame w: Friedlander  i: Nick Cardy
From Barbara Miles with Love w: Miller
May/     151  Beauty on a Budget w: Friedlander  a: Berube
Love Thief w: Miller
Confessions: Episode 5 w: Friedlander
July/     152  In This Issue w, a: Liz Berube
     Laura w: Friedlander
Confessions: Episode Six w: Friedlander
From Barbara Miles with Love w: Fein
Aug/     153  From Barbara Miles with Love w: Fein
The 3 Faces of Love w: Miller
Nov/     155  Will No One Trust Me Again? w: Miller
Scrapbook of Tears w: Friedlander  p: Scruggs
Feb/71 157  One Husband, Two Loves w: George Kashdan
Anatomy of a Romance w: Friedlander  p: Estrada
  i: Tony DeZuñiga
From Barbara Miles with Love w: Fein

The credits below, in my opinion, point out Robin's caveat about the reliability of the records. The evidence of the story itself shows that Win Mortimer penciled "Love Today--Cry Tomorrow" in the art above; note the brunette girl's face in both panels. Likewise the first episode of "Confessions" looks just like the other episodes--full art by John Rosenberger.

SangorShop recalls John Calnan as working for Murphy Anderson at one point; Anderson's getting the payment to pass along to Calnan would explain the latter's name not appearing in the records for these two stories in #155 and 157. The first "Uptight" in #157 is signed by Lee Elias.

Disputable credits from Joe Orlando's records

May/69 143  Love Today--Cry Tomorrow a: Wally Wood
Nov/     147  Confessions i: Colletta
Nov/70 155  Will No One Trust Me Again? i: Anderson
Feb/71 157  One Husband, Two Loves i: Anderson
Uptight (both pages) p: Win Mortimer  i: Jack Abel

4 comments:

  1. Martin,

    I've updated your corrections on the GCD.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nick,

    Sounds good! Since I missed a week posting due to laptop problems and then having to catch up on work, it struck me that a new post as well as updating the original was the best way to keep these from getting lost in the past.

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  3. Martin, take a close look at the panels you posted with this article from the supposed Wood story. I'd put money on that being Wood inks (with Jack Abel assist) over Win Mortimer pencils.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Exactly, Steven; I left my Mortimer/Wood attribution in the earlier post unchanged. I did just now edit this post from "these credits" to "the credits below" to make clear that my own mention of Mortimer and Wood disputes the record for Wood solo. I don't know if I see Abel or not--if he is assisting, of course he's another one Joe Orlando wouldn't bother noting.

    ReplyDelete