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The EC Archives
The EC Archives: Modern Love
The complete EC series Modern Love collected here, contains stories of forbidden love, betrayed lovers, and strange romances!
Collects the complete Modern Love series #1-8, this volume features--in fully remastered digital color--the work of comic book greats Al Feldstein, Bill Gaines, Graham Ingels, Wally Wood, and more!
Collects the complete Modern Love series #1-8, this volume features--in fully remastered digital color--the work of comic book greats Al Feldstein, Bill Gaines, Graham Ingels, Wally Wood, and more!
272 pages, Hardcover
Published December 24, 2019
8 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Al Feldstein
368 books48 followersAlbert Bernard Feldstein was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satirical magazine Mad. After retiring from Mad, Feldstein concentrated on American paintings of Western wildlife.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 4, 2020
While i am not a fan of this type of comic I enjoyed these just due to the amazing artwork that EC never failed to produce in their comics. Incredible talent no matter the subject. Recommended
January 18, 2020
This collection contains the entire 8-issue run of E.C.'s Modern Love, from 1949-1950. If you've only read the more mainstream, or "safer," publications from DC or just the particularly weird ones from Yoe Books, this is particularly interesting, as not only do all the stories predate the CCA and Seduction of the Innocent: The Influence of Comic Books on Today's Youth debacle, but they also have a few stories where the writers make no bones about the fact that the characters had sex off-screen. Not the stuff of Young Romance: The Best of Simon and Kirby's Romance Comics or Showcase Presents: Young Love, Vol. 1!
As a cultural medium aimed at women and primarily written by men, mid-century romance comics are particularly interesting, and within the overall oevre of the romance novel, these stand out as potential sources of such terrible tropes as "abusive boyfriend = he loves you" and "cross-cultural marriages don't work." These eight issues are a snapshot of the attitudes of the times, simultaneously horrifying and entertaining, and if you're a fan of Golden Age comics but have been avoiding the romance genre, they really are worth reading.
Now what we need is someone at DC (which owns Charleton Comics' catalogue, unless I'm mistaken) to release some of the post-code series in a full collection. Career Girl Romances, which ran in the 1960s and 70s, is another amazing piece of the genre puzzle.
As a cultural medium aimed at women and primarily written by men, mid-century romance comics are particularly interesting, and within the overall oevre of the romance novel, these stand out as potential sources of such terrible tropes as "abusive boyfriend = he loves you" and "cross-cultural marriages don't work." These eight issues are a snapshot of the attitudes of the times, simultaneously horrifying and entertaining, and if you're a fan of Golden Age comics but have been avoiding the romance genre, they really are worth reading.
Now what we need is someone at DC (which owns Charleton Comics' catalogue, unless I'm mistaken) to release some of the post-code series in a full collection. Career Girl Romances, which ran in the 1960s and 70s, is another amazing piece of the genre puzzle.
December 20, 2020
This is a compilation of sorts of a number of golden age romance comics. Being a huge fan of comics from this era, I expected to find at least some of the best stories in here, but wow, not only were they not good, many of them were downright dumb and maybe even some of the worst stories I've come across. Some had terrible endings, made no sense at all, or were just plain ridiculous.
Also, the artwork, which looks to have been touched up somewhat, was just ugly most of the time, with weird colouration (e.g. in some stories, everyone has yellow skin - and no, they aren't Asian). Spelling mistakes are rife.
If you enjoy '50s-'60s romance comics, I would suggest skipping this and instead going straight to comicbookplus.com and browsing their archive - it's completely free!
Also, the artwork, which looks to have been touched up somewhat, was just ugly most of the time, with weird colouration (e.g. in some stories, everyone has yellow skin - and no, they aren't Asian). Spelling mistakes are rife.
If you enjoy '50s-'60s romance comics, I would suggest skipping this and instead going straight to comicbookplus.com and browsing their archive - it's completely free!
August 1, 2020
Well, I am not even sure where to begin...
While reading this collection of 1950's EC romance comics, my reactions ranged from pure, unchecked laughter to nose curling disgust, but I couldn't stop reading them.
Although I would have been okay if I never read them, I do appreciate the sneak peak into the past. From the characters' reactions towards interracial marriage, social decorum, and blatant sexism, the comics reveal a lot about the 1950's lifestyle... and how far, hopefully, Americans have come as a society.
I kept asking questions like: Did this really happen? Do people still become upset about interracial marriages? Was society really okay with men forcing themselves on women?
One interracial marriage was doomed, because the local town couldn't do business with a couple like that. The men, in some of the comics, forced themselves on women. The women, consequently, "give in" to the forcefulness of the men and instantly fall in love. In one comic, which was really nose curling, the man appears to rape her (not clear, though) and she falls in love with him anyway and decides his actions are due to his shyness. Pah. In one comic, it is clear that a woman becomes pregnant outside of marriage and marries a guy who isn't the father, which saves her from shame.
True, love comes with sacrifices, jealousy, forgiveness, fights, and make-ups, so if you decide to read this collection, buckle up for a whirlwind of emotions.
While reading this collection of 1950's EC romance comics, my reactions ranged from pure, unchecked laughter to nose curling disgust, but I couldn't stop reading them.
Although I would have been okay if I never read them, I do appreciate the sneak peak into the past. From the characters' reactions towards interracial marriage, social decorum, and blatant sexism, the comics reveal a lot about the 1950's lifestyle... and how far, hopefully, Americans have come as a society.
I kept asking questions like: Did this really happen? Do people still become upset about interracial marriages? Was society really okay with men forcing themselves on women?
One interracial marriage was doomed, because the local town couldn't do business with a couple like that. The men, in some of the comics, forced themselves on women. The women, consequently, "give in" to the forcefulness of the men and instantly fall in love. In one comic, which was really nose curling, the man appears to rape her (not clear, though) and she falls in love with him anyway and decides his actions are due to his shyness. Pah. In one comic, it is clear that a woman becomes pregnant outside of marriage and marries a guy who isn't the father, which saves her from shame.
True, love comes with sacrifices, jealousy, forgiveness, fights, and make-ups, so if you decide to read this collection, buckle up for a whirlwind of emotions.
September 15, 2020
Yikes.
If I had to re-title the Modern Love comic book collection, I think I'd call it Rape Culture 101. Rape culture, in simple terms is anything that normalizes and excuses sexual violence against women, and furthermore, places blame upon the victim. Modern Love is rife with examples of men forcing themselves upon women, either for a kiss or presumably sex, and the man is continually held blameless while the woman takes the shame upon herself. To go one step further, Modern Love paints these unwelcome advances as not only acceptable, but romantic and desirable.
The primary message here seems to be that of correction and submission. In almost every case, it's a man who schools the woman and then grants "forgiveness" after she has corrected herself and submitted to her proper role.
All of this is more disturbing when considering the creators, middle-aged men, were writing these stories for an audience of teenage girls.
Entertaining? On some level, yes, if you enjoy soap opera romance. A little disturbing? Yup. An interesting look at the culture of the times? Yes, that, too.
If I had to re-title the Modern Love comic book collection, I think I'd call it Rape Culture 101. Rape culture, in simple terms is anything that normalizes and excuses sexual violence against women, and furthermore, places blame upon the victim. Modern Love is rife with examples of men forcing themselves upon women, either for a kiss or presumably sex, and the man is continually held blameless while the woman takes the shame upon herself. To go one step further, Modern Love paints these unwelcome advances as not only acceptable, but romantic and desirable.
The primary message here seems to be that of correction and submission. In almost every case, it's a man who schools the woman and then grants "forgiveness" after she has corrected herself and submitted to her proper role.
All of this is more disturbing when considering the creators, middle-aged men, were writing these stories for an audience of teenage girls.
Entertaining? On some level, yes, if you enjoy soap opera romance. A little disturbing? Yup. An interesting look at the culture of the times? Yes, that, too.
November 3, 2021
Of all the comics that EC published, I'd guess the romance lines they ran were of the least interest to the EC Addicts. Which is a shame since these are a hoot to read. The initial issues are pretty standard stuff, but as EC stretches it's wings into what would become the New Trend of horror comics and what not, these stories get more and more cynical. The final story is full blown meta, using romance comics and it's creators (actual creators, they even rib a kayfabe Simon and Kirby) as a satire or the rampant industry copying that happened with their horror titles. It all adds up to a really fun read.
March 5, 2023
I'm a minority view, but for me E.C. Comics has never lived up to their legend. This has a couple of interesting stories (one about a woman working as a dime-a-dance babe to support her mom) but mostly they embody a lot of stock tropes. In one, a guy tricks a woman into staying out overnight with him, knowing it will destroy her reputation so her fiance will dump her — but she falls for the guy anyway. I gave up after four issues.
February 23, 2022
The stories are ridiculous even by EC standards, and tend to the excessively wordy. The bigger problem, though, is the modern coloring that emphasizes the errors in anatomy. It does highlight how much impact Al Feldstein had on our perception of the era however. Many visual satires of the 50s draw straight from his style here.
September 27, 2020
I love graphic novels and have even found appreciation in most comics. However, I could not get on board with this one. Give me a strong female who doesn't fall in love in a day over these plot lines any day!
February 18, 2023
Classic artwork. However, the story-lines and characters are quite cookie-cutter and not always the most interesting, especially in more modern times. Worth a checkout from the library.
March 21, 2023
Just like whenever observing the mating rituals of a species, it is critical to know when to turn away. ;)
January 3, 2024
The stories are dated and silly, but the art is timeless.
February 6, 2023
Perhaps five stars is unjustifiably high, but in some ways this is the most essential volume of any real EC collection. The very foundation of nearly all the crime, horror, and even sci-fi stories of EC is almost always some romantic situation gone wrong, and there is something incredibly pure about reading the "straight" romance by those exact same artists. Around issue five, with one of Feldstein's most beautiful covers, is where it stops being cornball tropes (enjoyable in their own right) and starts getting sweaty and personal. The lead character looks a lot like how Feldstein draws himself. Issue six is where we start getting stories (especially from Ingels) that feel like they are about to be scarier than anything in the horror mags - and I wouldn't blame anyone who says they still are! The "fake" happy endings are still more revealing and disturbing than almost any art that tries to be "real". This stuff genuinely shocks, now, today.
September 28, 2020
I read this collection of comics from the ‘50s for my Master’s Degree class, Adolescent Literature. These comics were ready by teenager girls with themes of adult romantic love. From men mentioning spanking to literally punishing girls with spanking to men coming onto women clearly with intention of raping them to women’s reliance on men to save the day, this series of comics beats you over the head with toxic masculinity as an accepted, ordinary part of life. It also pushes against women working outside of the home and self-reliance of women. It depicts men as pigs interested in only sex. And, it shows unrealistic “love at first sight” stories of love which the comic claims are based on true stories.
February 8, 2023
Simultaneously hysterically funny and enragingly sexist, these comics are the product of thier time. I am glad that I didn't grow up during that era of sexual assault and casual misogyny.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews