Barf Bag Valentine, Part 2

by John | Feb 9, 2016 | Uncategorized

Art by Charles Nicholas & Sal Trapani from the story “Love Among the Stars” in FIRST KISS #15, 1960. Click image to enlarge.

 
Transcript:

PANEL 1, SCENE: Flight Attendant Jill and Captain Jack are talking inside the plane.

CAPTION: Jack was persistent, though! During the flight, he rushed out of the cockpit and cornered me…at a crucial moment!

JILL: But…people are eating! I’ve got to hand out the barf bags before it’s too late!

JACK: Let ’em use their carry on bags!

PANEL 2, SCENE: Jack and Jill are arguing as a passenger looks on.

JACK: I’ve got to know now! Will you be my Valentine?

JILL: Wake up and smell the coffee, Fly Boy! I can’t be anyone’s Valentine—not the way I cook!

PANEL 3, SCENE: Passenger asks Jill something.

PASSENGER: Stewardess, how about a gin and tonic?

JILL: Sure, I could use a drink!

PANEL 4, SCENE: Jill and Jack are talking again.

CAPTION: “I was sure Jack had given up, but later in the flight I learned how wrong I was!”

JILL: Y-y-you ate one of the meals I served? On purpose?

JACK: I love you, Jill! To prove it…I even had a second helping!

PANEL 5, SCENE: Jack and Jill talk.

JILL: Oh, Jack! Even the…Brussels sprouts?

JACK: Sure! Can’t you tell?

1960 ART: Charles Nicholas & Sal Trapani Color by John Lustig

FK15.2.2

Barf Bag Valentine, Part 1

by John | Feb 7, 2016 | Uncategorized

Click image to enlarge. Art by Charles Nicholas & Sal Trapani from the story “Love Among the Stars” in FIRST KISS #15, 1960.

This story first appeared in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1371, the 2000 Valentine’s Day edition. And, quite frankly, it revolutionized Last Kiss. Without it, I doubt there’d still be a Last Kiss today.

Last Kiss debuted in 1996 in the pages of Comics Buyer’s Guide. It ran haphazardly as an occasional feature using romance comic book covers that I rewrote—allegedly to make them funnier than the originals.

These faux covers ran through 1998. Then I got busy and moved on to other things—forever, I thought.

But in the summer of 1999, I ran into CBG editor John Jackson Miller and—to my surprise—found myself asking if he’d like a Last Kiss feature for the paper’s next Valentine’s Day issue. John said, “Yes.” So I whipped up this story. And Last Kiss was back in business.

The story along with the cover I created were so well-received that Last Kiss was offered a spot as a regular multi-panel feature…which I continued doing until CBG folded in 2013. But by then, Last Kiss had found a new and much bigger audience here and on other sites such as GoComics.

 
Transcript:

PAGE 1, PANEL 1, SCENE: A male pilot and a female flight attendant are talking outside a commercial jet.

TITLE: I WAS a Barf Bag Valentine

CAPTAIN JACK: Give up, Jill! It’s Valentine’s Day! And I’m so handsome I even turn myself on! Do yourself a favor…and kiss me!

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Jack, how sweet! I don’t know what to say except…

PAGE 1, PANEL 2, SCENE: Jill and Jack continue talking.

JILL: I’d rather run naked…covered in honey…through a swarm of bees.

JACK: Gosh! Who wouldn’t? Maybe we can go together sometime!

PAGE 1, PANEL 3, SCENE: Jill is alone.

CAPTION: “Then he handed me a Valentine…the big lug! I trembled as I read the card, but I refused to fall in love again! I couldn’t take the chance!”

JILL: Men are all alike! Sooner or later…Jack would want more than just wild passion and cheap thrills! He’d expect me to…cook for him!

1960 ART: Charles Nicholas & Sal Trapani Color by John Lustig

FK15_11Short & FK15.2.1