Marvel Romance Redux

by Jeff Parker, John Lustig, Keith Giffen

Continuing the noble pursuit of taking funny old pictures and putting funny words on top of them! We've asked some of the funniest writers in comics today to look at the romance comics of yesteryear and put in some new dialogue that'll make us laugh! Unfortunately, the funniest writers were busy, so we had to settle on these guys. Hey, you get what you pay for! Collects Marvel Romance Redux: But He Said He Loved Me!, I Should Have Been a Blonde, Love is a Four-Letter Word, Restraining Orders are for Other Girls and Guys & Dolls.

Genres: Comics, Romance, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Graphic Novels, Humor

176 pages, Paperback

First published February 7, 2007

About the author

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Reviews

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I feel like maybe if you're going to make a collection of comics spoofing romance comics, which were made primarily for women/girls, it might be a good idea to include some female creators. Otherwise it feels a bit like you're devaluing romance stories for being traditionally feminine.
Also, with 1 or 2 exceptions, these stories felt less like good natured ribbing and more like "look how dumb romance comics were".

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this post-MS3TK/Pop-Up Video world we live in, is anything safe from being mocked and spoofed? No. Romance comics aren't so big these days, but apparently they thrived for a time. In addition to collecting some of these gems in Marvel Romance, Marvel has given us this bit of insanity. Here we have a number of classic romance comic stories rewritten by modern writers to have comical and bizarre spins. Innocent love stories become tales of contract killing, alien invasions, sinister magic, and other strangeness. The writers clearly enjoyed their works in this volume; and their enjoyment is contagious. Each story is a guaranteed laugh. The real treat for a comic book history buff like me is the Patsy Walker story. Comic writer extraordinaire, Peter David, takes an old tale of the snippy redhead before she became the demon-slaying Hellcat, and given it an appropriately Satanic spin.
I know that fans of the original romance comics might cringe at this treatment of the stories (and, truth be told, I'm a little worried about this happening to other comics I love); but I couldn't help but enjoy this collection.

[E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Few of the stories in "Redux" had plot lines, and reading each panel was like playing the Contemporary Art game: Name That Installation.

Then I re-read some of my real '60s and '70s Marvel Romance titles, and those plots were exponentially more bizarre. When the story "Masquerade" by Alex Toth (Secret Hearts, April 1970) includes the heroine (?!?) thinking "Gosh - If only he knew that Daddy runs a gas-station in Houston -! -And that my yacht doesn't exist, either! But what can possibly happen in four days for my white lies to have any lasting effect!?...." SPOILER: despite the warnings from his attorneys, they kiss passionately and declare their undying love.

Well, then I can totally believe that a character in "Redux" pins gerbils to the back of her dresses before she leaves for a date. The two story lines are both befuddling.

[Rebekah]

So a while back they had these comic book romance novels. I can only assume it was to appeal to the mysterious other sex. Well, hand those old comics over to some modern comic writers, blank out all the text and say "mad lib it dudes!" Ta Da! You get this weird collection of random sometimes chaotic visual storytelling.

[Brady Bonney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old romance comics...new words. Oh yeah.

Filling the gap Last Kiss left in our hearts.

Can't go wrong.

[Mike McDevitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Van Lente and David were my favorite contributors of funny/disturbing new dialogue.
I'm gonna have to stick to my guns when it comes to Kirby art: his 'sexy girl' is my 'frog'.

[Jenni · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, didn't like it at all. Lame stories and the dialogue were just...off.
In my own opinion, I couldn't see the humor in this. Sorry.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were quite funny, and some of them were kind of tedious.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting idea, poorly executed.