Customer Reviews

Truer Than True Romance: Classic Love Comics Retold

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!!

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!

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!

What a great idea! This type of book reminds me of Mystery Science Theater 3000, as the author has rewitten the stories from old romance comics. I rarely laugh out loud at anything, but I couldn't help it, as the author was perfect in making funny lines match the characters expressions. "I Hate My Hair" was worth it alone!

Thank you Ms. Martinet for providing something I didn't even know I needed. This was an excellent book that was intelligently funny. I love a larf more than anyone and this came through for me.

I tried to read through the comics themselves and figure out the original plot (provided by Ms. Martinet) but couldn't figure them out. Good thing she did something even better. Reminds me of an old television show "Mad Movies" that I loved.

Can't gush more. Thank you!

This hilarious book made me laugh out loud with glee - The author captures the stresses of romance in the 50s - 70s and adds her own ascerbic wit and modern sensibility, incorporating our culture's penchant for psycho-over-analysis, consumerism and easy-fixes. The end result is a wonderfully refreshing "take" on the past and the future of romance. A must-read for Boomer gals!

This book has a simple concept - it's just the comics version of the "old movie with new dialog" game made famous by Woody Allen in What's Up, Tiger Lily?. It works brilliantly, thanks to observant and ruthlessly logical execution by Jeanne Martinet. This is one of the very few humor books that I have enjoyed reading numerous times.

Really funny rewriting of yesterday's romance comics. This book has more going for it than nostalgia for those who lived in this era and enjoyed these romance comics as teens & young women. Even if you have never read a romance comic in you life (and I haven't)this book will have you laughing uncontrollably. If you like the kind of sly silliness that Mystery Science Theater 3000 is famous for, you will probably like this book. I'm hoping the author will do a whole series.

This book takes existing romance comics of yesteryear and changes only the texts. The original comics are extremely static and feature few props or decors to play with (much like cheap soap operas). This is good in one way, because it allows Martinet to focus on the dialogs, which are turned into fairly bizarre exchanges, but bad on the other, because she doesn't have much to work with.
In the end, unusual as they are, most stories are still romances, if somewhat updated to this century. The result is funny but not laugh-out-loud hilarious.

Jeanne Martinet has written a very funny tongue-in-cheek retrospect look at the plethora of DC romance comics of the 1949's to 1970's. Leaving the artwork untouched, humorist Ms. Martinet literally rewrote the stories, and as a result has created new tales of "betrayal and heartbreak by providing all-new word balloons and captions for each story. In short, Jeanne Martinet has retold the stories. . .my favorites include "My Heart Said Yes, But My Therapist Said No!". . . "I Hate My Hair!". . .and "Ten Ways To Get Over A Broken Heart". I enjoyed this book, but wish the author would have included more stories.