Romantic Story #84

Charlton's Romantic Story #84 from September 1966 delivers the heartfelt emotional tension the series was known for, spotlighted here by cover art from Dick Giordano and Pat Masulli. The cover centers on a dark-haired woman in red carrying a tray to a bedridden man who cries out "Louise… Louise! How could I have done this to you? …I Love You!", while a large ghostly vision of a blonde woman — Louise herself — floats above, with a thought bubble reading "Why must he torture himself… why is he so blind that he can't see that she doesn't deserve him… and that I love him so?" It's a wonderfully charged image of longing, guilt, and unrequited devotion that captures the bittersweet drama interior writer Joe Gill was celebrated for.