by John | Jul 14, 2026 | Blog
Without romance comics, there’d be no Last Kiss. So am I excited to be on “The Looks of Love: The Evolution of Romance in Comics” panel?
You bet! I love good romance comics. (Sometimes I even love bad romance comics.) Romance is an under-appreciated comics genre with tremendous variety in themes and sub-genres. And often gorgeous art.
So please join me Thursday, July 23, at 9 p.m. in Room 29AB at the San Diego Comic-Con. The panel features a lively group of romance comics experts, pros and academics: me (John Lustig), Thomas F. Zahler, Sydney Heifler, Michael Dooley, Bruce Simon, Rand Hoppe, Jim Krueger and Jaime Hodge.
My Signing Schedule at Prism:
If, for some reason seeing me at the panel isn’t enough for you, please drop by Prism Comics (Booth 2144 in Hall C) during the week. My autograph schedule at the booth includes several with Last Kiss contributing writer Jenny Blake!
—Thursday, July 23, 1-2 p.m.: John Lustig with Jenny Blake & Michael Varrati
—Friday, July 24, 9-10 a.m.: John Lustig with Jenny Blake
—Saturday, 4-5 p.m.: John Lustig with Jenny Blake & Sarah Gailey
—Sunday, July 26, 11 a.m.-noon: John Lustig with Mike Pingel & Neo Edmund
Jenny Blake gets the Finger…Award for Excellence
I’m also thrilled to announce that during the con my pal and frequent Last Kiss conspirator Jenny Blake is receiving the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.
“As is always the case, the judges considered many nominations that were submitted to us and we picked two that stood out as the right choices,” chairman, writer and historian Mark Evanier remarked. “Both writers–the other is the late Martin Pasko–met our criteria of having generated a large and significant body of work that hasn’t received proper recognition and probably not proper compensation.”
Jenny wrote, and in some cases created, a number of DC’s and Marvel’s most unusual and interesting characters.
Jenny’s Panel Schedule Includes
—Transgender and Nonbinary Creators Stay Relevant and Proud,Thursday July 23, 2026 4:00pm – 5:00pm PDT, Room 9
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by John | Dec 16, 2025 | Blog
Curious to see more of the vintage art? Click the link to read the entire vintage comic book for free at:
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=29203
↓ TranscriptSCENE: Bored woman sitting at a desk with a book. Man snatches the book away from her in the 2nd panel.
TITLE: A Christmas Gift for Junior?
CAPTION: I wrote Disney comics for decades. So I’ve thought a lot about what makes a good story for kids. And I’ve come to the conclusion it’s the same thing that makes any story good. Never talk down to your readers. (Even if some of ‘em need booster seats.) And always write something you’d want to read yourself. It’s that simple. --John Lustig
WOMAN: This graphic novel is sorta dull! <Yawn!> but...I guess junior will enjoy it!
MAN: Stop! If it bores you, it’ll probably bore Junior! Then he’ll get cranky and crave thrills! By the time he’s ten he could be robbing liquor stores!
CAPTION: Don’t doom your child to a life of crime! Remember: good children’s books are ageless!
1949 Artist Unknown Young at Heart Writer: John Lustig
Original Art: From the story “The Man in Her Diary” in Glamorous Romances 42
Glamorous Romance 44_22_1-2_With WordBalloons.tif
by John | Aug 12, 2025 | Blog
More Last Kiss fun from Jenny Blake & Diego Jourdan Pereira!
Click the link to read the entire vintage comic book for free on ComicbookPlus.
by John | Mar 25, 2025 | Blog
More Last Kiss fun from Tony Isabella & Diego Jourdan Pereira!
Original Vintage Art & Text
Art by Matt Baker (and possibly inked by John Forte) from the Tiger Girl story in Fight Comics #50, June 1957. Published by Fiction House.
Curious to see more? Click the link above to read the entire vintage comic book for free on ComicBookPlus.com.
↓ TranscriptLAST KISS DJP.LK759_fight_lores
MAN: Way back in the Golden Age of Comics…
MAN: ...we didn’t go for the sexy stuff!
MAN: Before every manly fight, the artists would take…
MAN: ...an xacto knife and white-out to my nipples.
MAN: We didn’t want to distract our young readers…
MAN: ...from the kicking and the punching!
1957 Art: Matt Baker New Color: Diego Jourdan Pereira
Writer: Tony Isabella
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=21779
djp_LK759_Fight
by John | Dec 15, 2024 | Blog
Original Vintage Art & Text
Pencils by Dick Giordano (with inks by either Giordano or Vince Colletta) from the story “Letter from Long Ago” in First Kiss #6, Nov. 1958. Published by Charlton Comics.
Curious to see more? Click the link above to read the entire vintage comic book for free on ComicBookPlus.com.
↓ TranscriptCAPTION: “Our love was dying! Jim had stopped showering me with gifts! In fact…I think he stopped showering at all! He was always too busy...rushing off to work…staying late…and coming home later. I knew he was having an affair! Oh, how had we come to this? In the beginning, everything had been so perfect! He’d buy me wonderful gifts! Flowers! Chocolate! Key issues of Silver Age comic books! And now…nothing! Surely, our love was doomed! Or so I thought, until…”
SCENE PANEL #1: Man's hand holding an engagement ring out to a crying young woman.
MAN: Surprise! I’ve been working extra hours to buy you...this!
WOMAN: An engagement ring? But I thought…
SCENE PANEL #2: Man puts engagement ring on the wedding ring finger of the woman.
MAN: Oh, honey! don't be silly! You don't have to think ever again! You're marrying me!
WOMAN: OH...Of course, darling! But still...I can’t help wondering…
“If we return this ring…can you image how many great comics we can buy?”
1958 Pencils: Dick Giordano Inks: Giordano or Vince Colletta Gift Exchange: John Lustig
FK06_03_3-4Less Dialogue
