Angel Love #6 (1987)

Angel Love #6 (January, 1987)

"the search for Mary Beth, part II"

Creator/Writer/Penciller - Barbara Slate

Inker - John Wm. Lopez

Letterer - Bill Yoshida

Colorist - Bob Le Rose

Editor - Karen Berger

Cover Price: $0.75

Still doin' that Angel Love thing.  For those interested, Reggie and I will probably be discussing this series (particularly the first issue) on next-week's Cosmic Treadmill segment of the Weird Science DC Comics Podcast (Episode 88).

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We open with Angel on the phone with hard-boiled Detective Levy who she has hired to locate her sister, Mary Beth.  Levy's search hasn't turned up the elusive MB, and so he suggests Angel take out an ad in "that Personals magazine" that may draw her out of the woodwork.  Angel thinks this is a boffo plan, and with renewed hope ends the call.  Outside the police station, special attention is being placed on some campaign flyers for a "Maureen McMeal" who is running for office... hmm...

Days later, Angel confides in her pal pregnant Cindy about the ad she placed in Personals.  She reads what she'd written in there... and Cindy is disappointed to find she used the truth... why, you'll never find her that way!  She suggests Angel zazz it up a bit, maybe ad that their mother is already dead... and that she's seeking Mary Beth to give her her share of the million-dollar inheritance!  Yikes.

Back at the pad, our Wendy is practicing lines for her birdie audience.  She is reading from a twisted version of Hamlet by Henry Shakespeare... er, Henry William... er, whoever the hell wrote it.  

Angel enters with her copy of Personals... one particular ad catches her attention... it's vapid and dopey... and yeah, it's Wendy's.

Two days later, Angel decides to check the mailbox... by now, if Mary Beth was going to write back, it may just be in there.  In the mailbox there is a literal crap-load of letters!  All for Wendy... so Angel figures it may be time to zazz up her ad the way Cindy suggested.

Later that afternoon, Wendy is filing her missives.  She's even got her file cabinet categorized... including a drawer labelled "H.T.B." which in doing my research either means "hate the b*tch" or "hard to believe"... Wendy clarifies that it stands for "Husband to be".  One letter really catches her eye... one from an Alexander Henry Applebottom III... who she thinks is real H.T.B. material... because he's fabulously wealthy.

She calls and gets a hold of Henry's butler, and when passed along to the man... er, boy... himself, they make a date for Friday at 7:30.  Yup, Wendy just made a date with a child.  We learn that casa Love is located at 19 West 106th Street... which if Google maps is to believed looks like a pretty decent neighborhood.

That Friday night, Wendy's all done up for her big date while Angel warns her that she may be headed out with a real "sex maniac"... which, hell... could be true?!  The doorbell rings and, dun dun dunnnn... the tot is hot to trot.  A very silly scene.

Later on that night, Angel meets up with pregnant Cindy, who announces that she is going to be married!  I guess Angel called that one.  She asks Angel to be her Maid of Honor, and she accepts.  Upon returning home, Angel sees a line of people wrapped around the block... all leading to her front door.  This is where she learns the important life-lesson of not advertising a million-dollar inheritance through the sleazy personals magazine!  Wonk wonk wonkkkkk... to be continued.

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A much more lighthearted issue that last time.  A lot of fun to read... I was pleasantly surprised to see that the heaviness of the overarching storyline hasn't weighed down the humor this book can bring.

Now, really Angel... offering a million bucks to whoever can read in New York City was a fool move.  Guess I can forgive it... she is really at her wits end here.  This type of Personals magazine is something I have zero experience with.  I can speak for their ubiquity or wide circulation.  Perhaps this really would have been the best way to try and find somebody back in the day.  It's almost like a creepy Craigslist "missed connection" type of thing though, ain't it?

The Wendy and her jail-bait husband-to-be bits were funny... and of course, would not fly today.  I'm glad it was played for laughs rather than anything icky.  The way she's written, I'm doubtful Wendy would have the first clue either way.

I was saddened to see in the letters page that I'm not the target audience for this book.  No!  In fact, this book is targeted at girls between 11 and 18.  Whoops.

Gotta mention... I love the cover this month.  This busy street crammed full of detail is a real treat.  It's almost Where's Waldo level of detail.  A lot of fun, and definitely would have popped out on the newsstand.  Overall, still having fun with this one... sadly, we've only got two issues (plus a special) left in the pipe.

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Letters Page:

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Interesting Ads:

Angel Love #5 (1986)

Angel Love #5 (December, 1986)
"the search for Mary Beth, part 1"
Creator/Writer/Penciller - Barbara Slate
Inker - John Wm. Lopez
Letterer - Bill Yoshida
Colorist - Bob Le Rose
Editor - Karen Berger
Cover Price: $0.75

Okay, playtime's over... check out that cover.  Things are about to get real.

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We open with... oh wow, Wendy's back in her nurses outfit... and we get the reappearance of Rose... ya know, the bird she almost got killed!  I never thought that would be mentioned again.  There's a point in the continuity column for sure!  It's scary that Angel Love has tighter continuity than contemporary Marvel!  Anyhoo... enter Everett... who's got this really weird love-hate thing going on with Wendy.  He's always in her space... yet he's always mad at her.  Dude, you may wanna talk to somebody about your issues.

Today he's mad that Wendy's still playing nursy to the birdie.  When his attempts at reasoning fall on deaf ears, he goes and tattles to mommy... er, Angel.  Dude, really... don't you have a girlfriend... and a home?  He talks Angel into confronting Wendy about her current avian obsession.  This intervention is immediately dismissed by Wendy because, ya see... this morning... the bird smiled at her.  Angel's reaction is almost "Cocaine?!" level.

Later on, Angel's back in the studio trying to summon Halo... but forgets to doodle on Halo's... halo.  She is interrupted by this series' plot-advancement tool... a ringing phone.  It is a Dr. Chin from Scranton, and she's got bad news.  Angel's mom is in a bad way... but, she won't tell how how bad over the phone.  That's kind of a crappy thing to do, Doc. 

So Angel packs a bag and prepares to go Pennsylvania-bound.  She is overcome with guilt over having left her mother to seek her fortune in New York's art world.  Her mind wanders for the entire trip, only compounding her guilt.  With nothing else to do, she prays that God spare her mom.

Meanwhile, we watch Rose watch All My Children, and run poor Wendy ragged with her requests for treats.  As Wendy goes to fetch some grubs, Everett wanders in and finds the bird doing her calisthenic exercises.  A-ha!  As Ev reads the riot act to a tiny baby bird, Wendy wanders back in just in time to see Rose slump to the ground.  Jeez, Everett... I'm no fan of lying birds either... but get a grip, pal.

In Scranton, Angel is sitting at her mother's bedside.  Mom seems totally at peace with whatever outcome she faces.  Angel's adamant that her mother doesn't give up hope.  Dr. Chin enters, and we learn that Mrs. Love has Acute Leukemia... and is not responsive to any pharmaceutical intervention.  She offers Angel a sliver of hope... they will need to perform a bone marrow transplant.  Angel is quick to offer herself up as a donor.  Angel is lead to Chin's office, and has her blood drawn to see if she would be a likely candidate for the procedure.

Back in the city, Everett has bird-napped poor Rose, and has taken her to the park.  Once there, they run in to Rose's sisters!  They get excited and do their best Sister Sledge impression as Everett smugly walks off... job well done, jerk.

His smug walk lasts just long enough for him to return to the building... where he is met by...

Back in Scranton, Angel is sleeping.  She is dreaming of the doctor happily sharing the news that she is the perfect bone marrow donor.  Too bad that it's just a dream.

Dr. Chin breaks the bad news... Angel's down... but she ain't out!  There's another blood relative she can shake down for some marrow... the storyline-titular Mary Beth.  We learn that Mary Beth had run out on the family some time earlier... so this will likely be no easy task.

Back in the City, Wendy is sobbing at the loss of her birdie.  The thing of it is... Rose knew how good she had it being waited on wing and talon.  She brings the family along, and before we know it they've made themselves at home.  I do love how theatrical Wendy is here... "I vant to be alone!", awesome.

We wrap up this chapter with Angel returning to the city via bus.  We learn that Mary Beth escaped to New York some fifteen years ago.  I guess I'll spoil it... not that I've read ahead, but it's on a cover.  Mary Beth is Angel's sister.  It's a big city... this ain't gonna be easy.

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As we enter, what I figure will be our second act of Angel Love... things start getting real.  Angel's got some actual non "bubblegum" problems rising to the surface in regard to her mother's illness.  From the covers yet to come, I think this arc may play us right to the end of the series.

I really appreciate the juxtaposition between Angel's non-acceptance of the news and her mother's having already made peace with it.  It's such an odd generational thing.  My family has recently gone through something quite similar.  My wife's grandmother was diagnosed with an aggressive (but easily surgically treatable) cancer in her foot.  This would be her second go-round with the disease, and she initially decided against the procedure.  My wife and I couldn't wrap our heads around it... but my in-laws understood, and accepted her decision.  She ultimately came around, and is currently cancer-free (and alive!).  It's just so eye-opening that a person can make peace with a situation like this.  Perhaps we (relative) youngsters are a bit too selfish in situations such as this.

I'll come right out and say, I'm not one'a those guys who will say "pull the plug" on me.  I don't wanna die.  Hell, plug me into as many machines as you gotta.  Have children jump up and down on my chest to keep my heart beatin' and lungs blowin'... so, I guess maybe I'm not in the right frame of mind to understand such things... maybe one'a these days I'll get it.

The Wendy scenes were fun, but she's starting to veer from cute to cartoony... or maybe that's cartoony to cartoony-er.  Still enjoyable, but perhaps a hair too silly.  Then again, it may have been written as especially so to take a bit away from the heavy Angel bits.  Also, Wendy's drawn as though she's a cyclops in one panel.

terrifying!

Overall, still pleasantly surprised with this series... really glad I lucked into it.  If you happen across it in the cheap-o's, I'd definitely recommend giving it a flip-through.

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Letter Page:

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Angel Love #4 (1986)

Angel Love #4 (November, 1986)
"Chemistry"
Creator/Writer/Penciller - Barbara Slate
Inker - John Wm. Lopez
Letterer - Bill Yoshida
Colorist - Bob Le Rose
Editor - Karen Berger
Cover Price: $0.75

Man I'm glad I was able to finally track down issue #3 of this series.  Now, I can actually finish it.

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We open with Angel returning home from a date with a fella named Mike.  She's surprised to see Everett and his lady-love Lola (who we see for the first time in the Angel/Wendy apartment, and is far less angry than I thought she'd be) going at it hot 'n heavy on her couch.  On a nearby chair a pair of cockroaches were engaging in some heavy petting as well!  We get some clarity on Everett's situation... turns out his A/C is still on the fritz.

They ask Angel how her date went, and she shrugs... ya see big Mike don't make her toes wriggle... and if she doesn't notice chemistry from the very start... it just ain't gonna happen, cap'n.  Everett's all, ain't no thing... look at Lola, you think she turned me on right away?  This obviously and justifiably strikes a chord in Lola... and the two start bickering back and forth.

The hub-bub is broken up by a ringing phone.  Why, it's Mike!  Angel hops on the line, and is... dumped.  Mike tells her she's not his type... and he thought it best to tell her that straight away, rather than have her waiting for a call that wasn't gonna come.  Ruh roh... doesn't he know Angel's gotta think for forbidden fruit?  Now she's nutso-crazy over him!  Ev and Lo kinda give each other the eye... and they split, leaving Angel to her fantasies.

The next night at the rollerskate restaurant, Angel spills the beans to her friend pregnant Cindy.  She tells her she's madly in love with a dude who don't wanna see her.  Cindy's all... just try harder... just like her man Jeff did.  Ya see, she didn't want Jeff at all to start, but his persistence (and knocking her up) kept him in her life!  Oddly enough, there is no mention of the pregnancy here.

So Angel decides to run to the pay phone and give ol' Mike a call... and gets beaten down again.  He just doesn't feel "it" with her.  She doesn't rock his socks... and the fact that she was probably watching him like a hawk to make sure he wasn't doing lines of coke at any point during the evening was probably a turn-off.

Angel is heartbroken... re-enter, pregnant Cindy.  She tells her it ain't over yet... now it's time to kick it up a notch.  Send the man flowers!  Cuz, ya know... all dudes dig that!

Well, that's the bridge too far for Angel... why, just imagine... sending a dude who told ya flat out he doesn't want you around a bouquet of flowers?  That's ridicu... er, yeah... that's exactly what she does...

Back at the pad... oh boy, it's Wendy time!  She is being coached by Everett on how not to make Angel feel bad about her previous boyfriend, coke-head Don... which she instantly fubars, and mentions as Angel enters the room.  Angel's all, "it's cool, Don is history"... which Wendy, bless her, believes.  Everett interjects that Wendy probably believes in the tooth fairy too... and you know exactly where this is going...

After Everett leaves in a huff, the phone rings.  It's Mike... again!  He was so touched by his floral gift that he wants to give Angel a second chance.  They set a date for that evening, and Angel and Wendy celebrate... with Wendy having perhaps the line of the issue here.

Staying with Wendy for a bit... she decides to give a call to her mother, to see if in fact, she is the tooth fairy.  Yeah, you knew this was coming.  The news that her mother IS the tooth fairy hits Wendy like a ton of bricks, even causing her left eye to lose its color!

Later that night, Angel returns from her date... to find Ev and Lo still going at it... and the cockroaches getting to second base... which I would have to assume is thorax-related.

Again... Angel claims not to have felt any chemistry for big Mike.  This time Lola offers up that Everett is kind of a schlub and didn't do it for her at first either... but look at them now, pawing at each other on the neighbor's couch!  As they argue their way out, the phone rings... it's a Mike phone call hat-trick!  This time, however, it is Angel who lets him down gently.  All's well and good until the next morning, when...

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We seem to be entering into sitcom mode here... or maybe it always has been.  Either way, this was the first issue that actually felt like one to me.  A much more shallow experience than the prior three issues, however, perhaps it is just serving as a break in the seriousness as we appear to be entering into our first (and last) multi-part storyline "The Search for Mary Beth" with issue #5.  Judging from the cover of next issue... and after reading last issue, it was probably a smart move by Ms. Slate to place this relatively harmless and silly issue here.

Still really enjoyed this.  In reading some of the feedback on the letters page, one writer said they were smiling the whole time they were reading it.  I can say without any irony, I am in the same boat... this is just so different... innocent, yet exploring adult themes.  Just really good (and fun) comics.  Not sure where this is heading... though I have a sneaking suspicion it's gonna get a fair amount darker.

I'm not sure where ownership on this series lay... either way, I'm pretty doubtful this will ever be re-released digitally or collected.  Way I figure, 2015's DCYou initiative would have been the perfect time to repackage this property... or at least just get it out of the filing cabinet to get some air.  With DCYou going the way it did, I fear that was likely the last best chance for Angel Love... at least via DC Comics.

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Letters Page (for real!):

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