Secret Hearts #153

Secret Hearts #153 (On Sale: May 20, 1971), has a cover by Bob Oksner and Vince Colletta.

We begin with "The Secret" drawn by Jack Katz and John Celardo.

Edie feels ignored when her politician fiancee neglects her for his campaign, so she is vulnerable when her old boyfriend Roy comes back to town.

Next is "Hard to Handle" drawn by Winslow Mortimer and Vince Colletta. Georgie sheepishly admits to his buddies that he married a girl who knows how to handle him.

We end this issue with  "The Man I Love" drawn by Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs and reprinted from Secret Hearts #66 (1960). Arline has loved Michael since they were children but eventually, she realizes that it's really her friend Andy who loves her in return.

Edited by Dorothy Woolfolk.

Secret Hearts #152

Secret Hearts #152 (On Sale: April 6, 1971), has a cover by Don Heck and Frank Giacoia.

We begin with "My Father's Wife" by Jack Oleck and Tony DeZuniga. When Sherry's father remarries, she refuses to accept her new young stepmother and nearly drives her boyfriend away with her vicious attitude.

Next is "The Day I Fell in Love" by Robert Kanigher and John Romita reprinted from Falling in Love #59 (1963). Mary has wanted to be a successful actress for many years and has neglected her personal life to do so. This makes her unable to portray a woman in love onstage until she meets and falls for director Vincent May.

We end with "The Story of Karen" drawn by Jack Katz and Vince Colletta. Kathy is shocked when she begins to have feelings for another man while her fiance is away.

Jack Katz was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 27, 1927. He attended the School of Industrial Art in New York City and began his comics career in 1943 working in the C. C. Beck and Pete Costanza studio on Bulletman. Katz used a number of pseudonyms such as Jay Hawk, Vaughn Beering, Alac Justice, Alec Justice, and David Hadley.

From 1946 to 1951, he worked as an art assistant on various King Features Syndicate comic strips, working briefly on Terry and the Pirates as an assistant to George Wunder. 

Katz went to work for Standard Comics in 1951 doing horror comics, war comics, and some romance comics until the company went out of business. From 1952 to 1956, Katz worked as a penciler and inker at the studio of Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, working alongside Mort Meskin and Marvin Stein. A slow worker due to heavy detailing, Katz was let go and moved on to Timely Comics under Stan Lee around 1954 where he worked on war and horror comics, as well as Westerns. In 1955 he left mainstream comics to paint and teach art, both privately and for the YMCA in New York City. 

Impressed by Jim Steranko's Captain America, Katz reentered mainstream comics in 1969 penciling Sub-Mariner #17 and three other stories for Marvel, a few stories for Skywald, and four stories for DC, this being the first.

But Jack Katz is better known for writing and drawing The First Kingdom,  a 24-issue, 768-page graphic novel that took Katz 12 years to complete. The first Kingdom was published as a black and white underground comic book. 

Edited by Dorothy Woolfolk.

Secret Hearts #151

Secret Hearts #151 (On Sale: February 11, 1971), has a cover by Werner Roth and Vince Colletta. 

We begin with "Mother, Let Me Go" by Jack Miller and Lee Elias. Elaine avoids serious relationships because her mother constantly pressures her to get married.

Next, we have "The Loser" drawn by Ric Estrada and Vince Colletta. Rosalie reviews her failed relationship with Kent and realizes that she's better off without him.

We end with "Follow My Heart" drawn by Mike Sekowsky and Mike Peppe and reprinted from Secret Hearts #59 (1959). Tobey is torn between two men: one who's romantic and one who's responsible.

Edited by Dorothy Woolfolk.

Secret Hearts #150

Secret Hearts #150 (On Sale: January 7, 1971), has a nice cover by Dick Giordano.

We begin with "Memories of Love" a Table of Contents written by Len Wein and drawn by Gray Morrow.

Our first story is "A Scent of Love... A Breath of Hate" drawn by Frank Langford. This is the third of four DC romance stories drawn by the British artist. Cliff meets suicidal Judy, who is clearly running away from a bad relationship, but he is determined to make her fall in love again. Unfortunately for Cliff, he succeeds. I say unfortunately because Judy is a loon, plain and simple. That they end up together in the end, is frightening. Nice artwork though; Langford was pretty good.

Next, we have another one-page Beauty on a Budget by Liz Berube. 

We follow that with "Love Would Wait" drawn by Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs and reprinted from Falling in Love #71 (1964). When sister Lisa and her boyfriend Steve take Judy out on her 16th birthday, she falls for Steve. Every year, Steve, who is on the road most of the year, returns to take Judy out on her birthday, but he is always with her sister Lisa. Finally, one year, as Steve left, he asked Lisa to let him know if she finds another and he will not return the next year. Lisa starts dating Philip and decides to dump Steve. She writes him a letter and gives it to Judy to mail, but she does not, as she wants Steve to return. 

Things get serious between Lisa and Philip and they become engaged. As preparation for the wedding begins, Steve returns. Judy lets him know about Lisa and the letter she never mailed and Steve says he would have returned anyway, as the reason he asked Lisa to be sure about him was he was falling in love with Judy.  

Next is a one-page article illustrated by John Celardo entitled "The Aquarius Woman."

This issue ends with "No Home for My Heart" drawn by Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. Julie is on the train home from Hollywood where she went to make it in movies. A man is staring at her on the train, but she ignores him, trapped in her thoughts of the Hollywood casting couch she has been trying to avoid. Each of her auditions ended with the director hitting on her and her leaving before anything happened, but in her letters home she bragged about how she was getting breaks and making it big. 

When she returns to her hometown, her parents tell her how they have been bragging about her to their friends and she is bombarded by a long line of suiters, all of whom make a move on her, having heard of her success in Hollywood and knowing how things work there, they assume she is "easy."  Unable to stand it at home, she decides to return to Hollywood. 

While waiting for the train, she once again sees the strange man who was staring at her on the ride in, and he confesses that he was witness to her leaving a few of her "auditions" and had fallen for her. The two of them decide to go off together to try and make it in New York.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #149

Secret Hearts #149 (On Sale: November 19, 1970), has a cover by Dick Giordano.

We begin with our cover story, "David" by Gerry Conway, Alex Toth, and Dick Giordano. Nurse Irene Vickers is shocked when her ex-fiance David is brought into the hospital after a car accident, but she still mistakenly believes that David cheated on her with her sister Lois.

Next, we have "The Sagittarian Woman" an illustrated text article by Raymond Marais and John Celardo.

That is followed by "The Only Girl for Him!" by Len Wein, Win Mortimer, and John Rosenberger. When Adrienne and Peggy compare notes about their new boyfriends they believe that they are dating the same guy, but it turns out they are twins.

Next is a one-page gag strip featuring The Mis-Adventures of Penelope Potter entitled "The Hint!" drawn by John Celardo and Vince Colletta. Guy thinks that Penelope wants to be kissed, but she slaps him and says she wasn't hinting at that at all.

The next story is "A Shared Love!" by Joe Gill, John Celardo, and John Celardo. Pamela buys Ian's old roadster when he's low on cash, but when his fortunes change he wants the car back. He starts to date her and Pamela realizes that he can get the car back if they get married.

We end with "Don't Bet on Love" drawn by Jay Scott Pike and reprinted from Falling in Love #64 (1964). Vicki and her friend Inez wager to see which will be the first to date the new gas station attendant, who doesn't seem to notice either of them.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #148

Secret Hearts #148 (On Sale: October 6, 1970) has a  cover by Bill Draut.

The issue begins with a one-page table of contents and a poem, "Homecoming" by Len Wein and Gray Morrow.

The first story is "Love Is Not a Happy Thing" by Barbara Friedlander and John Rosenberger. Linda falls in love with Rick, an irresponsible hippie. When she is arrested at the scene of one of Rick's crimes, she refuses to give him up to the police.

Next is "Journey to Love" drawn by Jay Scott Pike. Kathy has run away to Europe to keep herself away from Howard, a cad that she finds inexplicably attractive, but she fears that he will come after her

We end with "Love Song in Blue" by Jack Oleck, Ric Estrada and Vince Colletta. Kelly starts to sing with her boyfriend Greg's band, but she thinks that Greg is jealous of her success.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #147

Secret Hearts #147 (On Sale: August 20, 1970) has a nicely designed cover by Dick Giordano.

This is a very unusual issue in that except for a one-pager that starts out the book, it is one full-length story. For romance books, that is a rarity. Also a rarity is the artist for this long story; a rarity and a treat. If you blinked, or didn't read romance books, you might have missed the entirety of his American comics career.

Now as to this one-pager, I have seen some people refer to this a the work of Gray Morrow, but it is not even close to the quality of Gray's artwork.

I have my guesses as to who this is, and it might be penciled by one person and inked by another. The figures are a little wonky if you ask me, but the inking is more than competent and may be hiding even more flaws in the original pencils. 

Our cover story is "Cry, Soul; Cry, Love," a 26-page heartbreak fest by Gerry Conway and Frank Langford. Doing a single, long story like this was unusual for DC romance books and was an experiment that would never be repeated in Secret Hearts. 

I don't know much about the story here, nor have I seen any of the artwork from this book, however, I do know that this is one of only four stories Frank Langford will do for an American comic company and this is the only extended story he will do.

A page from Langford's Doctor Who Holiday Special.

British comic artist Frank Cyril Langford was born Cyril J. Eidlestein in Stepney, London in 1926. He married Hilda M. Langford in 1953 and changed his name legally to Langford some time in the 1960s.

His earliest work in comics was in Roxy in the late 1950s. His highest-profile work in British comics was "The Angry Planet" (1963) in Boy's World, some pages of which are signed "Eidlestein", and the title strip in Lady Penelope (1966-69). From 1969 to 1973 he drew romance comics for DC. He also drew "Doctor Who" for Countdown, TV Action and the Doctor Who Holiday Special (1973), 

A sampling of Langford's Jack and Jill.

He went on to draw "The Persuaders" for TV Action, and the daily strip Jack and Jill, written by Les Lilley, for the Herald and Sun. "Jack and Jill" was a daily gag strip featuring a young married couple. Jack works in an office; Jill stays at home. In the strip's first week they discover "the Pill didn't work" and Jill is pregnant. The jokes are divided between his office and her pregnancy. Around strip #230 Jill has twins. 

Langford had a long-standing sideline in advertising strips, from ads for the W.R.A.C. in 1964 to Corgi Toys in 1979 to KP Outer Spacers in 1982.

Frank Langford died in Enfield, Middlesex, in the first quarter of 1996.

Edited by Dick Giordano.  

Secret Hearts #146

Secret Hearts #146 (On Sale: July 7, 1970) has a cover inked by Dick Giordano.

This issue has two longer than normal stories. We begin with "A Kiss to Light the Darkness" inked by Vinny Colletta and we end with our cover-story, "Wasting My Love on You." Not much else to say about this one.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #145

Secret Hearts #145 (On Sale: May 21, 1970) has a cover said to be by Bill Draut, but I see other hands at work on this.

We begin with "I Have Him Now" by Joe Gill and Bill Draut. Lenora schemes to take Calvin away from her cousin Sally, but when she wins and marries Cal, she finds that he's a compulsive gambler who only married her because he though she was richer than her cousin and he needed more money for gambling.

Following that is a one-pager entitled "Gemini Woman" by Raymond Marais and John Celardo.

Next is "Beware of a Frenchman's Kisses" by Joe Gill, John Celardo and people claim Nick Cardy, but I don't think so. Sure a few panels here and there (mainly page 4) have a Cardy look, but that is also a Celardo look, when he got a brushy and loose. Eleanor's Aunt Mary gives her a trip to Paris as a graduation gift and accompanies her as chaperone. While visiting a museum, her aunt bows out from dinner, telling her niece to no go to Chez Angelique, as the clientele is "unspeakable." So, of course, that is where she goes and when she gets there she finds a table waiting for her with artist Paul Rowan, from the museum, already seated. He said as soon as he heard her aunt tell her not to go there that she would of course show up.  After dinner they go to a café together and he walks her home. It is there that she learns that her aunt set up the whole thing.

We end with "I Didn't Want to Do It" by Jack Miller, Jay Scott Pike and John Rosenberger. When Darrell breaks up with Ginny, she hatches a scheme to get revenge on him by enlisting her friend, Felice, to date Darrell and break up with him after he falls in love with her. The plan goes well until  Felice actually falls in love with Darrell herself. Got to say that the artwork on this story is very good.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #144

Secret Hearts #144 (On Sale: April 2, 1970) has a cover inked by Dick Giordano.

We begin with "Run -- Heart -- Run" inked by Vinny Colletta. Next is "Meet You in Paris, Love?" pencilled by Murphy Anderson. We end with our cover-story, "Second Hand Love" drawn by Ric Estrada and Vince Colletta.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #143

Secret Hearts #143 (On Sale: February 17, 1970) has a cover that some think is penciled by Bill Draut (I think based on the guy in the background), though it looks more like Ric Estrada in the redhead's face and, no doubt, inked by Dick Giordano.

This issue begins with the eight-pager, "I Never Thought It'd End Like This"  written by Gerry Conway and drawn by John Celardo and Vinny Colletta. Marie is having a hard time adjusting to married life with new low-achiever husband John. She begins to manipulate things behind the scenes to insure his success, but one day goes too far.

Next is "Masquerade" written by Barbara Friedlander, drawn and lettered  by Alex Toth and colored by Neal Adams. Lynn blows all of her savings on four days at an exclusive resort, where she hopes to find a rich husband. Oh, I would love to see this one.

We end with "For Singles Only" also inked by Vinny Colletta. Dean comes to stay at a beachside motel where he meets Neva, the owner's daughter, but she is haunted by memories of her first love, an actor who died in a car accident. This story continues next issue.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #142

Secret Hearts #142 (On Sale: January 8, 1970) has a cover at least inked by Dick Giordano.

This issue begins with "Reunion." Anita meets her old boyfriend Tim at their high school reunion, but a series of misunderstandings still stand in their way.

That is followed by the eight-page continuing saga of "20 Miles to Heart Break" by Barbara Friedlander, Alex Toth and Vince Colletta which was reprinted in Young Love #125. Melanie's family is shocked when her sister Monica, the black sheep of the family, returns. Monica tells Melanie that she will see that Juan is acquitted of the false charges against him, and turns to their stepfather's brother John, the lawyer in the case. Juan wins the case and Melanie impulsively hugs him, to the horror of her mother.

Next we have the five-page "Rendezvous" inked by Vinny Colletta. Gina is meeting a boy she used to know, but now does not recognize him.

We end with "When Love Dies" which is drawn by Ric Estrada and Dick Giordano. Diana is sure that she will never fall in love again after Alan leaves her.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #141

Secret Hearts #141 (On Sale: November 20, 1969) has a cover by Bill Draut and Vinny Colletta. This cover is based on an unused piece drawn by Dick Giordano.

We begin with "20 Miles to Heart Break" by Barbara Friedlander, Alex Toth and Vinny Colletta and reprinted in Young Love #123. A hitchhiking Melanie accepts a ride from Juan Perez. During the drive they discuss how society would never approve of them being together due to their different races. They stop at a restaurant for dinner and decide to join other couples who are dancing. However, a fight breaks out when others object to them being together. Melanie runs out of the restaurant and is hit by a car. She wakes up back at her mother's house where she learns that Juan was arrested. This is the beginning of a multi-part series.

Next is a one-pager, "From Chipmunks to Love" by Barbara Friedlander and John Celardo in which two lonely people meet while they are feeding chipmunks in the park.

That is followed by the six-pager, "Joanna" by Barbara Friedlander, Ric Estrada and Frank Giacoia. Kelly wonders if her boyfriend, Carl, is still in love with his former girlfriend, Joanna.

Next up is "My Brother... My Rival?" a two-pager inked by Bernard Sachs. Bill keeps monopolizing the attention of the guys his sister brings home, and she begins to wonder if he is now her rival. Later tells her that he knows all of them and that none of them is good enough for her.

We end with "The Girl Nobody Loved" drawn by Winslow Mortimer and Vinny Colletta. Jan lives with self doubt, not believing that the handsomest and most interesting guys could possibly want to date her. To stave off the assumed rejection, Jan settles for the more ordinary dates.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #140

Secret Hearts #140 (On Sale: October 7, 1969) has a nicely done cover inked by Dick Giordano and penciled by, my guess is, Ric Estrada.

We begin with the 11-page "Half a Heart" by persons unknown. Doreen grew up loving Nelson, her older next-door neighbor, even though he never saw her in a romantic light. Doreen is devastated when he gets engaged to Elaine, but refuses to believe that she has lost him forever.

"I Stole His Love Away" by Jack Miller, John Celardo and Vinny Colletta. In this 7-pager, Leta fears that she has fallen in love with her mother's fiancé. Is it all a terrible misunderstanding?

We end with 8-pager "Lost in the Shadow of Love" which is penciled by John Rosenberger. Sheila is resigned to the fact that her friend Gloria will always attract the guys that Sheila likes.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #139

Secret Hearts #139 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has a cover by Dick Giordano and another great example of a through-the-legs shot, which I gotta say, I find sexy.

We began with "Not That Kind of Girl" by Joe Gill, Winslow Mortimer and Vince Colletta. Following her mother's advice, Rosalie is not very popular; she does not want to be known as that kind of girl. However, it is her aunt who helps her to loosen up a little and have some fun.

This is Joe Gill's first full writing credit at DC; he would have 15 more in a DC career that for the most part, paralleled the editorship of Dick Giordano. Joe came to DC with Giordano and had so far been relegated to writing the scripts based on E. Nelson Bridwell's plots for The Secret Six and a Marv Wolfman's plot for the Showcase #78 issue, featuring Johnny Double.

Joseph P. Gill was born July 13, 1919.  He came to do comics work through the prodding of his brother, Ray Gill, an editor at Funnies, Inc., which supplied comics publishers with stories and artwork. His work in the early days for Timely (now Marvel), was mainly uncredited, and is said to have started in the early forties, where he was one of the writers to work on Captain America after the departure of Simon and Kirby. In the late forties, Timely switched from super-heroes to teen comics and westerns, and Joe became one of their busiest writers. The work at Timely began to dry up when he fell out of favor with Stan Lee and by the early fifties, was working for Charlton, writing just about everything they published.

Besides writing 100 to 120 pages a week, Joe worked as a colorist as well. In fact, his final recorded credit is as one of the colorists on the small-press superhero comic Ebony Warrior #2 (June–July 1993), published by Ania. At Charlton Joe Gill co-created the superheroes Captain Atom, Peacemaker, and Judomaster. In 1975, Gill and artist John Byrne co-created the post-apocalyptic series Doomsday + 1, the first series-creator credit for Byrne.

Gill retired from comics for the most part in 1986 when Charlton finally collapsed for the final time. He passed away on December 17, 2006.

That is followed by "How Can I Tell Him the Truth?" by Jack Miller, Winslow Mortimer and Mike Esposito. Childhood sweethearts, Wendy and Richy, have always assumed that they will be married, but when Richy has to go away for a few months, Wendy falls in love with Peter.

We end with the 13-pager, "Hide from Love" penciled by John Rosenberger. Tom is pressured by his girlfriend, Gwen,  to give her roommate, Freya, a job. Things go badly when Freya falls in love with Tom herself.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #138

Secret Hearts #138 (On Sale: July 3, 1969) has a cover by Carmine Infantino and editor Dick Giordano.

We begin with the 6-pager, "How to Lose the Man You Love," penciled by John Rosenberger.  Liza's boyfriend, Paul, catches her with another guy. This starts her reflecting on their relationship and she realizes that she just doesn't actually love Paul. I guess that is a happy ending, so long as your name is not Paul.

That is followed by a reprint from Secret Hearts #41 "Lonely Lovesong." Interesting art credits on this reprint. Page 1 is by Tony Abruzzo and Bernard Sachs while pages 2-8 are by Sy Barry and Jack Abel. When Mary and Bill break up, Mary goes away on a vacation to get him out of her mind. However, she finds she can't stop thinking about him nd realizes she made a huge mistake. With sadness, she returns home and finds Bill waiting to apologize.

We end with "Reach for Happiness, Episode 29" which is written by Barbra Friedlander and/or Jack Miller and drawn by Jay Scott Pike and George Roussos. Continuing from the last issue, Karen almost runs away again when she can't decide if she should marry Greg, but when she mistakenly believes that he has been in an accident, she realizes how much she loves him. Richy and Joanie agree to wait until they have finished college to get married. Peggy finally gets Bob to set a wedding date for them. it almost seems like the "Happiness" they were reaching for, was defined as "Married."

Edited by Dick Giordano

Secret Hearts #137

Secret Hearts #137 (On Sale: May 20, 1969) has a cover by, well, if I had to guess (and since I don't know, I do), I'd say Ric Estrada and Dick Giordano.

We begin with "Forbidden Romance" penciled by Tony Abruzzo. Next is "Today's Heartbreak" a reprint from Secret Hearts #43 inked by Bernard Sachs. We end with "Reach for Happiness Episode 28" by persons unknown.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #136

Secret Hearts #136 (On Sale: April 3, 1969) has an unidentified cover, though this style sure looks familiar to me. Any ideas folks? Jay Scott Pike and Dick Giordano?

We begin with the seven-pager "Let's Pretend Kisses," drawn by Ric Estrada and Vinnie Colletta. Next is "Stars in My Eyes" a six-page reprint from Secret Hearts #37 drawn by Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs.

That is followed by a Cindy the Salesgirl two-pager by Barbara Friedlander, Winslow Mortimer and Dick Giordano. We round out the issue with "Reach for Happiness Episode 27" a fifteen-page episode, by Jack Miller, Jay Scott Pike and George Roussos.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #135

Secret Hearts #135 (On Sale: February 20, 1969) has a cover certainly inked by Dick Giordano and maybe penciled by him as well. This issue also begins a new logo.

We start with "Somebody Owns Me" drawn by Mike Sekowsky. That's followed by "All's Fair in Love" reprinted from Heart Throbs #56. We end with "Reach for Happiness Episode 26" by persons unknown.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #134

Secret Hearts #134 (On Sale: January 7, 1969) has a very nice cover by Neal Adams, I think the only romance cover Adams ever did. This is the last issue of Secret Hearts to us this logo.

We begin with "I Had to Run Away to Find Myself..." penciled by John Rosenberger. That is followed by "Not Even a Dream" which is reprinted from Falling In Love #29. We end with "Reach for happiness -- Episode 25."

Edited by Joe Orlando in his last issue as editor.