Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Heritage Sponsored, Marvel Comics, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Al Fass, Romantic Hearts

The Mystery of Al Fass on Romantic Hearts #1, Up for Auction

Romantic Hearts was a romance anthology comic, first published by Story Comics with cover and art by Walter Johnson and probably Leo Fass.

Romantic Hearts was a romance anthology comic, first published by Story Comics from 1951 to 1953  and then taken over and relaunched by Master Comics from 1953 to 1955 before it closed. Up for auction from Heritage Art Auctions is the first issue from the first run of Romantic Hearts #1.

Experiment with Love is the cover story with cover art by Walter Johnson, but a story drawn by Al Fass in which nurse Phyllis makes wedding plans with Dr John on his promotion, only for him to fall for wealthy socialite Valerie, break up with Phyllis and go into private practice. But when Valerie is badly injured in a car wreck, Phyllis saves her life while John develops a new surgical technique to allow Valerie to recover fully. Which sees John fall back in love with Phyllis… and public service medicine.

Artist Al Fass is a bit of a mystery, but he is believed to be Leo Fass, little brother of the prominent comic book artist and editor Myron Fass who, in the 1970s, was the biggest multi-title newsstand magazine publisher in the country. Leo is suspected as being the artist on a number of other books, which may have been attributed to Myron Fass, such as Crime Can't Win, Western Crime Busters, Sports Action, Captain Science and more. Al Fass also drew The Wooden Man in Adventures into Weird Worlds #6 from Atlas/Marvel Comics. It is believed that he was unable to work again in such a capacity after the Korean War. Leo Fass died in 2011.

Other stories in Romantic Tales #1 are by Bob Mack, Walter Johnson and more. Walter Johnson was an inker on Al Capp's Li'l Abner in the thirties, worked in comic books through Funnies Inc and later his own Walter Johnson Studio. Best known for drawing crime stories for Consolidated Book, D.S. Publishing, Lev Gleason and St. John Publishing as well as romance and westerns, including Real Fact Comics for DC Comics and Saddle Romances for EC Comics. He also wrote comics with Sol Harrison under the joint pen name Walter S. Hara.

Romantic Hearts #1 (Story Comics, 1951) Condition: VG-. Walter Johnson cover. The top staple is popped from the cover, the bottom staple is detached from the cover, and there is a 1" spine split at the bottom. Overstreet 2023 VG 4.0 value = $44.

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