My Secret Life #20

Charlton's My Secret Life #20 promises the "daring, romantic, adult" drama its cover boldly advertises — and Dick Giordano's cover art delivers the tension immediately, showing a wide-eyed blonde woman being grabbed by a large, threatening hand while a stern-faced man in a suit and hat looks on from behind her. The tagline "Experiences Ripped from Life!" sets the tone for the kind of raw, emotionally charged storytelling that made romance comics a staple of 1957 newsstands. With Joe Gill writing and Giordano pulling double duty on both pencils and inks, this ten-cent Charlton offering has a sharp, confident look that suits its unabashedly grown-up subject matter.