Sweetheart Diary #55

A young woman clutches her diary and gazes out from the foreground of this November 1960 Charlton romance issue, her expression caught somewhere between longing and quiet determination — her handwritten entry reading "I'm going to make every effort to make him fall in love with me and take him away from Liz." Behind her, a couple embraces near a curtain while another woman in a yellow dress looks on, setting the scene of romantic rivalry that the featured story "Love Must Last" promises to deliver. The cover, penciled by Joe Sinnott and inked by Vince Colletta, has a polished, emotive quality that captures the emotional world of early '60s romance comics at their most compelling — and the Turkish Taffy–sponsored car giveaway at the bottom is a delightful time-capsule bonus.