by John | Feb 25, 2024 | Blog
Angela Knight
It’s always fun for me when writer friends pen a Last Kiss. Their gags are always expressions of their own personalities and humor. And they always surprise me.
Angela Knight, best selling erotic romance writer.
Best-selling, erotic-romance author Angela Knight went above and beyond, though. She also let me use the art she created for one of her books, Unmasked. (“Things get hot when heroes take off their masks — among other things!”)
Plus today’s Last Kiss turned into a bit of a collaboration. I wrote the opening caption. (“How do superheroes pay their super bills…”) So extra fun for me.
Like me, Angela has her roots in newspaper reporting and writing comics. Most notably, she wrote a three-issue, 1988 comic book series, CyCops for David Anthony Kraft’s company Comics Interview.
Best-selling New York Times Author
In 1996, Angela discovered small press publisher Red Sage, and realized her dream of romance publication in the company’s Secrets 2 anthology.
She published several more novellas and a novel with the company before going on to write for the Berkley Imprint of Penguin Random House. Books from her Mageverse and Time Hunters series hit the New York Times list. She was also the recipient of a Career Achievement award in Paranormal Romance from Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine
Angela lives in South Carolina with her husband, Michael, a detective with the Spartanburg City Police Department. The couple has two grown sons, Anthony and James Berg.
For more about Angela, check out her bio at https://www.angelasknights.com/about.html
↓ TranscriptSCENE: Two superheroes--one male and one female--pose in their skin-tight super suit. The woman is posed that her tush is prominently on display.
CAPTION: How do superheroes pay their super bills? Some squeeze coal into diamonds! Others become wealthy orphans! And the rest? They sign autographs and pose for photos at comic cons!
FEMALE SUPERHERO: Hurry up and take the photo, iPhone Boy! Holding my ass in this position makes my back hurt!
Art & Dialogue: Angela Knight angelasknights.com
Opening Caption: John Lustig
Art & Dialogue: ©2024 Angela Knight
Opening Caption: @Last Kiss Inc.
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by John | Feb 22, 2024 | Blog
Original Vintage Art & Text
Art by Vince Colletta from the story “Lucky Liz” in First Kiss #9, July 1959. (No link because the story isn’t online.)
↓ TranscriptSCENE: Woman sitting in the window seat of a plane. She's crying.
WOMAN (thinking): I knew he’d leave me! But I thought he’d wait...for a parachute!
1959 Art: Vince Colletta Color: Allen Freeman
Working without a Parachute: John Lustig
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by John | Feb 20, 2024 | Blog
Original Vintage Art & Text
Art by Charles Nicholas & Dick Giordano from the cover of First Kiss #25, April 1962. Charlton Comics. (No link to read the entire comic because it’s not online.)
↓ TranscriptSCENE: A male carpenter and a woman are kissing. In the background is a wooded field with some carpenter tools on the grass.
WOMAN (thinking): At last I’m getting nailed!
1962 Art: Charles Nicholas & Dick Giordano Color: Allen Freeman
Wood Be Stud: John Lustig
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by John | Feb 18, 2024 | Blog
In 2017, I was in Atlanta and one of the touristy things I did was visit the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. I’ve been to three presidential libraries now. The others were for two much high-profile presidents—Kennedy and Nixon.
Carter isn’t an easy man to summarize. His presidency was marred by the Iran Hostage crisis, “stagflation” and other issues. His 1980 re-election bid ended in a landslide loss to Ronald Reagan.
But Carter was far ahead of his time in terms of energy conservation and he actually accomplished a lot internationally. But his most enduring legacy is what he achieved after he left office. His humanitarian work, his diplomacy, his efforts to support election integrity internationally and negotiate major conflicts won him a Nobel prize in 2002.
He may not have been our best president, but he was definitely our best ex-president—and probably our kindest.
If you’re interested in touring Carter’s presidential library and aren’t going to Atlanta soon, you can take a virtual tour of the exhibits and building. Plus, there are my photos below.
The museum includes a life-sized reproduction of the Carter Oval Office. Photo by me. Click image to enlarge.
Of the three presidential libraries I’ve visited, Carter’s is the only one with Marvel Comics art! The art (signed by Stan Lee) is by John Tartaglione who drew many of the romance comics panels I’ve used in Last Kiss!
The guy in the goony hat—but great T-shirt!—is me on the serene, wooded grounds that are the exterior part of the Carter library. (Photo by my sister Lisa Lustig Hernandez.)
↓ TranscriptScene: Photo of a sunset.
CAPTION: “I have one life and one chance to make it count
for something...
"My faith demands that I do whatever I can,
wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long
as I can with whatever I have to try to make
a difference.”
--Jimmy Carter, now 99 and
in hospice for one year as of yesterday.
by John | Feb 15, 2024 | Blog
Original Vintage Art & Text
Art by The Vince Colletta Studio from the story “The Magic Perfume” in First Kiss #5, Sept. 1958. The story begins on Page 3.
Curious to see more? Click the link above to read the entire vintage comic book for free on ComicBookPlus.com.
↓ TranscriptSCENE: A man and woman are talking. (She has her eyes closed.) There's a starry night sky behind them.
MAN: So you’ll love me forever?
WOMAN: Oh, for sure! For Always! Forever! At least...for now!
1958 Art: Vince Colletta Studio Character Color: Dan McConnell
Forever Writing Gags: John Lustig
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