"Life Slapped Her Cruelly, Again And Again"

Michael Barson’s Agonizing Love collects romance comics from the forties and fifties and shows them off in all their overwrought — at least to the contemporary eye — glory. The young lady above isn’t the only one whose young heart gets bruised in this compendium — Barson shows us jealousy, lust, betrayal, and an amazing list of real love-comic titles, including “I Was Engaged To A Puppet” and “Suddenly — I Was Married.”

Okay, two more (not pictured, sadly): “Did I Give My Lips Too Freely?” and “I Spelled Ki$$e$ The Wrong Way.” Create your own!