A Big Thank You + The Identity of Dr. Harold Gluck Revealed!

Dr. Harold Gluck comic books

Hey, everyone! I hope you had a great weekend, I know I sure did! Saturday I went to Wizard World Nashville as I had mentioned in earlier posts. It had been a while since I had been to a comic book convention, so it felt great to be back “home.” I just love, love, love all the energy and excitement that surround conventions! As promised, I spent the day looking for romance comics to buy with the money that you readers so generously donated for that very purpose. Though the convention was tons of fun, there was little to be had in the way of comic books (as I had feared!), particularly romance comics. So, I did the next best thing and camped out on eBay yesterday and purchased almost three dozen romance issues. I also stopped by my local comic book store this afternoon and found a few Charlton issues to round things out (the issues pictured). The orders should be trickling in over the next couple of weeks, and I can’t wait to share with you my finds! Thank you sooooo very much to all those who donated. It really meant a lot to know to what extent people enjoy and see value in Sequential Crush! I can’t say it enough -- best readers ever!!!

Issues I was able to purchase with your kind donations!

Falling in Love #75, #84, #114
Girls' Love Stories #90, #133, #134
Girls' Romances #158
Heart Throbs #121
Secret Hearts #95, #98, #118, #138
Young Love #59, #64, #83
Young Romance #138, #152, #153, #160
The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #2
My Love #33
Our Love Story #26
For Lovers Only #64
I Love You #88, #92, #110, #114
Just Married #39, #112
Love Diary #24
Love and Romance #1
Romantic Story #73, #88
Secret Romance #4
Secrets of Young Brides #4
Teen-Age Love #68

Advice columns romance comics

Not too much romance comic content to be found overall at the convention, but I was told an interesting tidbit from writer, Danny Fingeroth. We were discussing the romance comics and Danny told me that Dr. Harold Gluck (of Charlton advice columns, “Canteen Corner” and “Teenage Troubles”) was a substitute teacher at his high school. As Danny recollected hearing, Dr. Gluck was not only versed in the language of distraught teens, but fluent in Swahili as well.* Dr. Gluck also wrote a number of stories for various Western and Crime publications, a list of which can be found here. I really wasn’t able to find much more on Dr. Gluck after some cursory Google research, but small world, eh?! I just love hearing these kinds of stories at conventions! Thanks again everyone, and join me later in the week for another Halloween-themed post!

*Edited to reflect that Danny remembers hearing that Dr. Gluck was fluent in Swahili, and not that he necessarily had a doctorate in it as I previously stated. Further research needs to be done to learn more about this little-discussed figure in comic book history. Anyone up for writing the official Dr. Harold Gluck biography?!