Great Lover Romances #14
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeGreat Lover Romances #14 is a mid-run entry in Toby Press's flagship romance title, published in 1954 at the very peak — and twilight — of the Golden Age romance-comics boom that Simon and Kirby had ignited in 1947. As one of the later issues in a series that ran from March 1951 through May 1955, it stands as a document of how smaller independent publishers like Toby were still actively working the romance genre even as anti-comics sentiment was beginning to strangle the industry. The series as a whole helped define the house style Toby brought to romance: melodramatic anthology storytelling, Hollywood celebrity photo covers, and the recurring 'Dr. Anthony King' framing device that gave the title a distinctive pseudo-therapeutic voice unusual among its peers.
In "The Women in Our Lives...", sisters Sandra and Rena clash at the Academy Awards, setting off a chain of events that reveals long-buried jealousy and a painful past. Written and illustrated by Myron Fass, this 1954 story unfolds with emotional intensity, exploring the fragile bonds between siblings and the quiet toll of resentment. A 10-cent comic from a bygone era, it captures a moment of raw honesty in a world of glamour.
A bartender at the Blue Boar has witnessed three men wrestle with the women in their lives—Jeff Monroe, a traveling salesman whose wife's presence threatens his nerve before his biggest sale; Ralph Feder, a writer paralyzed by the pressure to match his bestseller's success while his patient wife waits; and George Alt, a mountain climber driven by a decades-old ghost while his newlywed bride looks on in fear. Each man carries a burden that only the women closest to them can see, and what happens when he finally confronts what he's been avoiding could change everything.
Lise Brent is a strikingly beautiful young woman whose looks have paradoxically isolated her—girls resent her, boys are too intimidated to approach her, and she's spent years friendless and lonely. When she moves to the city hoping for a fresh start, she finds herself working in an office where the other secretaries remain distant, though she develops feelings for her manager, Lou Mason. When the office girls invite her to work a "Kisses: $1" booth at a charity bazaar as a way to test her willingness to fit in, Lise reluctantly agrees, only to have Lou discover her there—and the encounter forces both of them to reconsider what they thought they knew about each other.
In "Flirting with Heartbreak," Laurie steps out of her shell to dance with Larry, only to embrace a whirlwind of romance that leaves her questioning what she truly wants. As her bold new lifestyle clashes with her quiet longing for real connection, she finds herself drawn to Dan—only to learn his heart belongs to someone else, and her past choices may have sealed her fate.
In the hushed glamour of the Academy Awards, rival sisters Sandra and Rena clash in a moment of explosive tension. Weeks later, a shocking act of jealousy erupts when Rena confronts Sandra with her boyfriend, Mike, setting off a chain of events that leads to arrest and revelation. Dr. King uncovers the long-buried truth behind their feud—deep-rooted envy from childhood that shaped their fractured bond. As past wounds surface, a fragile chance for reconciliation begins to unfold.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Toby Press was founded by Elliott Caplin — brother of Li'l Abner creator Al Capp — and operated from 1949 until 1955, when pressure from Fredric Wertham's 'Seduction of the Innocent' and the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency effectively ended the company. Great Lover Romances was among its core romance offerings, with stories and art credited across the run to workhorses like Jack Sparling and Myron Fass, and the series briefly bore the alternate title Young Lover Romances for issues #3–4 before reverting. By 1954, when issue #14 appeared, Toby was in its final productive year, squeezing out romance, horror, war, and funny-animal titles simultaneously before folding entirely the following year.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published in 1954 by Toby Press, placing it in the final active phase of the publisher's existence before it ceased operations in 1955.
- Part of a long-running anthology romance series that debuted in March 1951 and concluded in May 1955, spanning roughly 20 issues.
- The series was published simultaneously under the Toby Press banner and, for some issues, its secondary imprint Minoan (which used a Minotaur-head logo).
- Regular contributors to the series across its run included artist/writer Jack Sparling and artist Myron Fass, who provided the backbone of Toby's romance output.
- The series commonly featured Hollywood celebrity photo covers and comics biographies of screen stars — a hallmark format used to attract romance readers by bridging fan-magazine culture and comics storytelling.
- The recurring character Dr. Anthony King, a Hollywood psychiatrist, appeared throughout the series as a framing or starring figure, giving the title a recurring cast unusual for anthology romance books of the era.
- Toby Press founder Elliott Caplin had previously edited True Comics for the Parents Magazine Institute, bringing an editorial sensibility that blended entertainment with a veneer of moral guidance — visible in the 'love doctor' framing device.
- Issue #14 has not been identified in any currently indexed key-issue database (Key Collector, GoCollect, or comparable) as carrying a notable first appearance, landmark story, or special creative credit distinguishing it from the series' standard anthology format.
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↩ Reprints Great Lover Romances #8 (1953)
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