Friday, February 13, 2026

Best of True Love in the Emergency Room YOUNG ROMANCE "Full Hands - Empty Heart!" Conclusion

Art by Bob Oksner and Frank Giacoia
...Nurse Phyllis Carter and Doctor Allan Tate bond over working together in the ER, and a romance develops between the medical professionals.
But it's a romance with a complication the medical professionals never thought they'd have to deal with...
Wait!
The Doctor she's working with has just been murdered in fromt of her!
Even if she wasn't romantically involved with him...they can't let her sit down and rest?
She's clearly in shock!
I wouldn't want her near patients in her present condition!
Plus, wouldn't the police want to talk to her as a witness to the murder?
Speaking of that...has anybody restrained Johnny?
Written by Robert Kanigher, penciled by John Rosenberger and inked by Vince Colletta, this cover-featured story from DC's Young Romance #194 (1973) tries to jam a legitimate moral into the last few panels instead of giving it an extra page to play out in a more coherent manner.
Editor/writer Robert Kanigher was the most vocal proponent of racial equality in the DC editorial "Old Guard" of the 1950s-70s, scripting numerous anti-racist stories as well as introducing several Black characters into the DC Comics universe including...
...Nubia, the second ongoing character to bear the Wonder Woman title, as well as scripting this somewhat infamous Lois Lane story...
Though he meant well, Kanigher was rather heavy-handed, sometimes sacrificing plot logic (like the ending of "Full Hands, Empty Heart") to make a moral point.
Note: On some pages Phyllis (and other Black characters') skin is gray/purple and on some it's brown.
That's because on the pages showing her as gray, the color separators used the wrong combination of yellow, red (magenta) and blue (cyan) screens.
When the story was reprinted in Simon & Schuster's Heart Throbs: Best of DC Romance Comics (1979) trade paperback, the only editorial change was to correct the Black characters' skin tones.
All the other coloring remained the same.
Support Medical Comics and Stories
Visit Amazon and Buy...
Heart Throbs
Best of DC Romance Comics

(Which reprints this story)
Paid Link

Friday, February 6, 2026

Best of True Love in the Emergency Room YOUNG ROMANCE "Full Hands - Empty Heart!" Part 1

Since it's both Black History Month and almost Valentines Day...
..we thought we'd re-present a two-parter featuring a Black medical professional in a romantic relationship!
Note: On some pages Phyllis' skin is gray and on some it's brown.
That's because on the pages showing her as gray, the color separators used the wrong combination of yellow, red (magenta) and blue (cyan) screens.
To find out what happens next...
Be Here Next Week
for the heart-rending conclusion as well as some background about the writer of the tale!
Support Medical Comics and Stories
Heart Throbs
Best of DC Romance Comics
(Which reprints this story)
Paid Link

Friday, January 30, 2026

EERIE ADVENTURES "From Beyond the Grave"

This Week's Entry is Quite Short...

...but we selected it because it relates to our current extremely (in fact, dangerously) snowy weather!

The tale is courtesy of artist Bob McCarty and an unknown writer (possibly the comic publisher's editor, Jerry (Superman) Siegel!
Note: this never-reprinted short from Ziff-Davis' Eerie Adventures #1 (1951) is in black and white because it was used on the inside back cover of the comic, which most publishers in those days ran as b/w or two-color instead of four-color to keep costs down!

Support Medical Comics!
Visit Amazon and Order...
M.D.
Volume 1
The First Newsstand Comic Dedicated to the Medical Profession!
Paid Link

Friday, January 23, 2026

LINDA LARK: STUDENT NURSE "Let's Dance!"

Student Nurse Linda Lark is Settling In...
...to her job, but not into the hospital's social life...yet!
Writer/layout artist John Stanley and illustrator John Tartaglione take a slew of cliches and make them seem palatable in this never-reprinted tale from Dell's Linda Lark: Student Nurse #1 (1961)!

Friday, January 16, 2026

POPULAR ROMANCE "Heartbreak Moon"

Here's a Tantalizing Tale Loaded with...

...doctors and nurses, class warfare, childhood friends turned co-workers, medical moral dilemmas, ethnic discrimination, family dinners, and an extremely-odd title!









This tale from Standard's Popular Romance #27 (1954), illustrated by penciler Alex Toth and inker Mike Peppe, could be a storyboard for a medical TV show episode or a B-movie.
Sadly, the writer, who did a damn good job, is unknown!

Support Medical Comics and Stories
Visit Amazon and Buy...
Comics by Alex Toth: 1952-1954
Which reprints this story...but in b/w, not color!
Paid Link

Best of True Love in the Emergency Room YOUNG ROMANCE "Full Hands - Empty Heart!" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen... Art by Bob Oksner and Frank Giacoia ... Nurse Phyllis Carter  and  Doctor Allan Tate  bond over working together in ...