Truer Than True Romance: Classic Love Comics Retold [Paperback]

Jeanne Martinet (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this creative partnering between the old and the new, Martinet (The Art of Mingling) writes contemporary love stories using the settings and illustrations from DC's romance comics from the 1940s through the 1970s. In Martinet's world, a 1950s story called "Loving the Wrong Man," originally involving an affair with a married man, might be rewritten as "Loving a Gay Man," for example. Others include "My Heart Said Yes, but My Therapist Said No!" and "Too Dumb for Love!" The collection is uneven, as some of the retellings work contemporary social mores into their fabric better than others. Still, this is a book with plenty of appeal for older teens and adults. A good purchase for libraries with strong humor collections. Stephen Weiner, Maynard P.L., MA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Martinet gave a grown-up gander to the romance comic books she devoured when she was a kid. Their artwork still seemed serviceable enough, but their scripts--in which slim, stacked, dewy-eyed ingenues always lassoed the loves of their lives, despite the wiles of bad-girl rivals--struck her as, well, dorky. So she rewrote them. What was "Stolen Dreams" became "I Hate My Hair" (our heroine has a supershort cut). "Love a la Carte" became "The Job from Hell" (the teary working-girl lead, one of a row of typists, moans about her boss: "Typewriters instead of computers! Why doesn't she just shoot us?!"). "Heartbreak," in which the love interest is first seen with his whole head bandaged, became "What Are You Saying?!" ("Mmph, mmph, mmph . . . ," in case you were wondering). In those and seven other stories, Martinet reacts to facial expressions, clothing, objects (like the typewriters), and even unusual colors in the drawings, which date from 1955-71, and creates hilarious, hip scenarios that view romance with the jaundiced eyes of experience and plenty of with-it wit. Mock advice columns, such as "Dee Pressen, Love Counselor," continue the stories' zaniness. It's just highly unlikely that any other book this year will be funnier. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823084388
• ISBN-13: 978-0823084388
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #198,765 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeanne Martinet, aka Miss Mingle (www.missmingle.com), is the author of seven books, including the recently published LIFE IS FRIENDS and the widely acclaimed THE ART OF MINGLING, which has sold more than 150,000 copies in the U.S. alone. Her books have been published in the UK, France, Italy, Germany, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Poland. She has been featured in such publications as: The New York Times, The New York Daily News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Newsweek, The U.S. News and World Report, Salon.com, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, TimeOut New York, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Playboy, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle and The Huffington Post. Martinet has shared her humor and mingling know-how on hundreds of TV and radio shows, including "The Today Show," "The CBS Early Show," NPR's "Morning Edition" and Britain's "This Morning with Richard and Judy."

Jeanne Martinet was born in Baltimore to a family of artists and musicians (her grandparents founded the Baltimore Opera Company) and has a B.A. from the University of Virginia. She has worked as an editor at E.P. Dutton and at St. Martin's Press. Since 1990 she has been a freelance writer and editor. Jeanne Martinet lives in New York City. (Author photo: Tony Ryan)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Romance and Laughter, June 17, 2001

By 

Paul Andrew (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Truer Than True Romance: Classic Love Comics Retold (Paperback)

This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. It actually made me laugh out loud. The author has taken those dopey old romance comics (beautiful color artwork, though) and completely transformed them with her hilarious new dialogue. So you have all this great old artwork from the era of "Leave It To Beaver" and "Gidget" beautifully mixed with dialogue that would be right at home on "Sex And The City." The effect is sort of like that Woody Allen movie "What's Up Tiger Lilly" or maybe "Mystery Science Fiction Theater" where she comments on the old stories and updates them at the same time. Pure genius! The romance columns are a riot too; my favorite columnist is Dee Pressen, who gives VERY pesimistic advice. Please turn this author loose on more romance comic book stories!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I LAUGHED AND LAUGHED, June 14, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Truer Than True Romance: Classic Love Comics Retold (Paperback)

This book is a hoot! Very funny story lines--certainly no more inane than the originals--but psychological twists and the author's penetrating satire make these updated versions all new, yet somehow eerily, uncomfortably (who, me?) familiar. Martinet works in many laughs and is a truly inspired advice columnist. The art is marvelous: When did men ever look this hunky, or women so sublimely emotive? Ahh, for the good old (bad old?) days! I loved this!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Took me back to the old days, July 12, 2001

By 

Sally Quick (Salem, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Truer Than True Romance: Classic Love Comics Retold (Paperback)

This was a delightful book, especially, if like me, you grew up on Love Comics. I read those probably from around 1958 - 1962. And, like the author said, that's why I'm screwed up about relationships today! Anyway, this book just made me laugh out loud through the whole thing. I especially enjoyed the one where the girl was in secretarial school, but it's been switched to a writing school, and she falls for the teacher. I loved the line of the main female character, "Doesn't she know we're all going to die"? That's what these characters needed to hear 40 years ago! Give up the scholop and get real! LOL I also liked that the author summarized the original plot, to put it into perspective for us. Very, very much fun, and the comics are beautifully copied, especially the men's blue hair, with their floating heads above the women's beds!