Heart Throbs #127

Few romance comics capture the ache of a carnival night quite like this cover from DC's Heart Throbs #127. Penciled by Ric Estrada and inked by Vince Colletta, the image places a tearful young blonde woman — clutching a stuffed teddy bear — in the arms of a dark-haired man who leans in close, while her thought balloons confess she can't let the past repeat itself; in the background, another couple embraces against the warm glow of fairground lights and a distant Ferris wheel. It's a beautifully melancholy snapshot of 1970 romance comics at their most emotionally charged, and the featured story, "Choose Between Us!," promises exactly the kind of heartfelt, tangled love triangle the cover so vividly sets up.