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Reference Books
Romance Comic Books
Romance comic books were very popular with American girls, teens, and women during the 1950s-1970s. They told romantic stories that were similar to those told in popular novels, television, and radio. The BPCL has a large collection of romance comic books in our comic book collection.
Click here to browse romance comic books in our collection.
The BPCL also includes many teen romance comic books from this era.
A few of our longest running romance comic books include:
- Our Love StoryNo. 1 (Oct. 1969)-no. 38 (Feb. 1976)
- Young RomanceNo. 1 (Sept.-Oct. 1947)-no. 208 (Nov.-Dec. 1975)
- Teen Confessionsno. 1 (Aug. 1959) - no. 85 (Sept. 1974?)
Romance in Pulp Magazines
Pulp magazines were popular and affordable fiction periodicals in the 1890s-1950s. Many titles were dedicated to specific genres, such as adventure stories, detective and mystery stories, westerns, science fiction... and, of course, romance.
The BPCL has one of the largest collection of pulp magazines in the world, including a large collection of romance pulps. You can browse the titles of our romance pulp magazines here.
Romance in Contemporary Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga
Romance stories can be found in lots of manga, contemporary graphic novels, and other comics. Here are some helpful ways to browse for romance in the BPCL's holdings of manga, graphic novels, and other comics:
Subject search for "Interpersonal relations -- Comic books, strips, etc."
Genre search for "romance comics"
Here are a few of our popular holdings:
Project : Romantic: an anthology dedicated to love and love stuff by ISBN: 9780977030422
Toradora! (Manga) by ISBN: 9781934876947
Whenever Our Eyes Meet... by ISBN: 9781975357580
Romance Movies
The BPCL has a great collection of movies and TV shows on DVD -- including romance. Members of the BGSU community with a valid BGSU ID can check out DVDs from the BPCL's for a few days.
Romance Comic Books in Online Databases
- Grand Comics DatabaseThis link leads to a search of series titles in the romance genre from the 1930s-1970s. The Grand Comics Database is a valuable resource for exploring comics information in any genre.
- Digital Comic MuseumThe Digital Comic Museum is a rich resource for finding and reading/downloading public domain comics, many from the mid-20th century. Search for "romance" to browse many romance comics!
Pulp Magazines @ Museums & Libraries
While BGSU's collection of pulps is stellar, there are great collections at other libraries as well.
- Library of Congress
- CSU East Bay University
- Kentucky Digital Library - link to their finding aid for the collection
Need Help?
3 Ways to Contact Us
We're on the 4th floor of Jerome Library.
Email us at bpcl@libanswers.bgsu.edu.
Call us at 419-372-2450.