Brides in Love #36

Few romance comics dared to plant their story squarely in front of Divorce Court's towering doors, but this 1963 Charlton issue does exactly that. The cover — penciled by Dick Giordano and Joe Sinnott, inked by Giordano and Vince Colletta — frames a tense, wordless moment: a woman in a red dress stands with hands clasped behind her back while a man in a dark suit presses his hand against the massive courthouse doors, the weight of the scene palpable before a single page is turned. With the teaser promising "a story more moving… more true to life" in the "Day of Divorce," written by Joe Gill and drawn by Joe Sinnott with inks by Vince Colletta, this is heartfelt early-'60s romance comics storytelling at its most candid.