*Romance: Almost all Baker, but whichever way you look at it, these twelve beauties from St. John publishing show the 1950’s romance boom at its finest! All but one featuring covers or artwork – usually both – from the superlative Matt Baker, definitive ‘Good Girl Artist’ of the 40’s and 50’s, these densely-plotted tales of love and betrayal – the majority from the pen of the under-rated Dana Dutch, an unsung hero of the genre –  often carried surprisingly adult themes of the time – including infidelity, adultery, and unscheduled pregnancy – in among the more innocuous fare, but Baker’s exquisite control of the characters’ body language and facial expression meant that the stories always came across as sympathetic rather than sleazy. There are other artistic surprises as well, such as stunning work by Ric Estrada (I know, right?), and the cover of Teen-Age Romances #29, the only non-Baker issue in this update, features an absolutely lovely cover by an artist we haven’t been able to identify. From the top, the new additions are: the ‘showcase’ title Blue Ribbon Comics #4 (left), ‘being’ Teen-Age Diary Secrets; Teen-Age Romances #27, #29, and #42: Teen-Age Temptations #7 (right) True Love Pictorial #2, #7, #8, #9, #10 and #11 (all but #7 across the bottom row here); and Wartime Romances #8. In a variety of grades and prices; as always, full details may be seen in our online catalogue. For many years the romance genre was disregarded by collectors, and never in the UK in any significant quantities, but now these have very much come into their own, and Matt Baker’s work is regarded as the top of the heap!