Venus #7

A golden-age gem from 1949, this issue of Venus: Goddess of Love promises "the World's Most Unusual Love Story!" — and the cover delivers on that intrigue with Venus herself, radiant in a sweeping red gown and floral headpiece, holding hands with a dashing man in a white dinner jacket while turning wistfully away, as if fate itself is pulling them apart. Don Rico's illustration captures that bittersweet tension beautifully, pairing elegant romance-magazine style with just enough longing to make you feel the ache of "The Romance That Could Not Be!" A wonderful snapshot of 1949 comics at their most dramatically heartfelt.