Lady and the Von Tramp

by John | Sep 17, 2019 | Uncategorized

I’m exceedingly happy and proud to present the first Last Kiss comic written by my pal (and comic book legend!) Tony Isabella. I’ll be featuring Tony’s work about once a week for the next few weeks—and possibly longer if I can get him to do more!

Tony has been working in the comics industry since 1972, first as an editorial assistant at Marvel, but went on to write brilliantly for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Topps, Comico…oh, heck. Name a good comics company and chances are Tony wrote or edited for it. Among his creations are Black Lightning (DC’s first African America superhero,) Misty Knight and Tigra.

As to why I’ve asked Tony to contribute:

—I knew Tony would do a great job and I’m always looking for ways to expand the content and approach to Last Kiss and make it more fun.

—I’ve been struggling with a health issue for awhile and I’ve had to rely on re-runs of old Last Kisses a bit more than I’d like. I want to stress that I’m not dealing with anything life threatening. But I do go through periods when I have pain and fatigue problems that limit how much I can work. So having Tony contribute will let me keep to the same publication schedule with fewer reprints while I recover. And there’s the added bonus of having a new, fresh creative input and getting to work with someone I admire!

—Even after I do get the health issue resolved, I’ve got some book projects that have been on the back burner for way too long. So getting some help and eventually getting ahead on Last Kiss will let me finally get to those!

Original 1958 art and text:

Art by John Tartaglione from the story “To Stella with Love” from First Kiss #3, 1958.

Transcript:

SCENE: A man and a woman kissing.

CAPTION: Walt Disney’s Dating Etiquette

CAPTION: When reenacting the dinner scene from Lady and the Tramp, hold the kiss just long enough to savor the remaining sauce on your date’s lips!

CAPTION: If either of you burps, you’ve linguine too long!

1955 Art: John Tartaglione Color: Diego Jourdan Pereira
Guest Writer: Tony Isabella

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