Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Marvel Comics | Tagged: joe Sinnott, Romance Comics

Joe Sinnott's Secret Life In Sixties Romance Comics, Up for Auction

Before known for his Marvel comics work such as Fantastic Four, Joe Sinnott's contributions included Charlton romance comics among others.

Published Fri, 09 Feb 2024 11:47:09 -0600

by Rich Johnston

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Article Summary

Joe Sinnott's early work on 'My Secret Life' #43 is an example of his romance work.
Published by Charlton in '61, the issue showcases Sinnott's pre-Marvel romance art.
Stories inked by Sinnott and Vince Colletta, with various contributing writers.
Sinnott, famed for Fantastic Four, continued in comics until retiring in 2019.

Originally titled Young Lovers, and later Sue & Sally Smith, My Secret Life was a romance anthology comic published by Charlton Comics in the late fifties and early sixties, a copy of My Secret Life #43 is currently up for auction at Heritage Auctions, with first bids currently totalling $30, and is apparently the first copy of this issue the auction house has ever seen. Published in 1961, with cover art by comics legend Joe Sinnott, later of the Fantastic Four, inked by Vince Colletta with stories by the pair, as well as Joe Gill, Charles Nicholas, and Sal Trapani and edited by Pat Masulli.

The main story, Unwanted Love, sees Anne's sister die after making Anne promise to take care of her husband Hal and their baby. Ugly Duckling sees Joan reluctantly agrees to go out with her friend's cousin Bobby, but it turns out Bobby has changed greatly in the two years since she last saw him. Honeymoon for Four has Carol falls for widower Dean and his young son Bobby, but is she really over her own departed husband, Hal? Yup, every husband seems to be called Hal in this comic. The comic also contains short stories The Sun Will Shine and The Magic Chopsticks.

Working mostly as an inker, Joe Sinnott is best known for working on the Fantastic Four comic, from 1965 to 1981, first over the pencils of Jack Kirby and then beyond, working for 60 years at Marvel Comics, including notable runs on Avengers, Defenders, and Thor. Sinnott's art appeared on two commemorative postal stamps in 2007, and continued to ink the Amazing Spider-Man Sunday newspaper strip until his retirement in 2019. He died one year later in June 2020, at the age of 93.

My Secret Life #43 (Charlton, 1961) Condition: VG. Joe Sinnott cover and art. Water damage. The first copy we have encountered. Overstreet 2023 VG 4.0 value = $6.