Latino/Spanish Artists at Charlton: Demetrio (7) - Secret Romance 31

Charlton romance comics cannot be discussed without mentioning Demetrio. Demetrio Sanchez Gomez produced a fair body of work for Charlton, mostly war stories but at least 25 romance stories, as well as a few examples from other genres. Like other Hispanic artists working in American romance comics, his panels and pages have a kind of European flavor that distinguishes them from material produced by other mainstream comic artists. Charlton's romance line was a little more off-beat than DC or Marvel, not always in a weird way - the Spanish artists were part of something interesting that was going on at Charlton at the time. The following list of Demetrio's Charlton romance stories is compiled from the Grand Comics Database but includes additional stories not there identified but which I have in my collection. There are also several that I have not included here which look like Demetrio's artwork but on which I cannot find a signature. Note that there are very few Demetrio romance comic covers, and that the period during which his romance work was published by Charlton extends over three years, from late 1973 through late 1976. Some of the earliest posts on this blog presented six examples of Demetrio's romance stories, so I will update those in the next few weeks as Out Of This World gets into the Latino/Spanish artists working at Charlton from the late 60s through the mid-1970s.

Date	Title	#	Story	#pages	Cover
11/73	Love Diary	87	A Cause of Love	9	Y
9/74	Teen Confessions	85	Perfect Date!	9
10/74	Just Married	102	A Good Fight Is Fun	9	Y
11/74	Teen Confessions	86	Marry Me Soon, Darling	9
11/74	Love and Romance	19	Sweet Victory	9	Y
1/75	I Love You	110	From The Shadows	6
1/75	Secret Romance	30	Ring Twice	9	Y
2/75	Teen Confessions	87	Fabulous Fifties	15	Y
2/75	Time For Love	40	If You Love Him – Let Him Go	9	Y
3/75	Secret Romance	31	They Talk About Me	6
6/75	For Lovers Only	79	The Big Break	9
6/75	Teen Confessions	89	Running Wild!	9
7/75	I Love You	113	Discovered Love	7
7/75	Love and Romance	23	Don’t Pity Me!	6
7/75	Secret Romance	33	The Love Goddess	8
8/75	For Lovers Only	80	Love Above All	7
8/75	Teen Confessions	90	I Remember You	6
8/75	Time For Love	43	Romeo and Who?	6
9/75	Love and Romance	24	A Perfect Catch	6
12/75	Teen Confessions	92	A Night to Remember	12
1/76	My Only Love	4	I Learned My Lesson	6
2/76	Teen Confessions	93	Fast Cars and Faster Women	10
3/76	Secret Romance	37	Bus Ride Blues	6
6/76	I Love You	118	Choose Your Partner	8
9/76	Teen Confessions	96	Bulldog’s Grip	8

Demetrio's work looks different depending on the quality of the inking, just like everyone else's. The example presented below, "They Talk About Me" from Secret Romance 31 (March 1975) is short (6 pages) but with some sweet artwork. I wonder if Elizabeth Berube did the inking and/or coloring on these better Demetrio pieces - there's certainly some commonalities when these are compared with her own work. "They Talk About Me" below is a standard high school romance scenario, with the ex-boyfriend spreading bad rumors about the girl, and Prince Charming putting him in his place. Simple story but definitely cute. Note that the second panel on the splash page represents partial re-use of the art from Demetrio's cover of Love and Romance 19.

Next on Out Of This World, another Demetrio story of similar quality from the pages of Charlton's Secret Romance. As for what Demetrio is doing these days... check this out:

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/demetrio-sanchez.html

Examples of his non-romance work:

http://ilustradoresehistorietistasespaol.blogspot.com/2009/11/demetrio.html

Latino/Spanish Artists at Charlton: Demetrio (4) - Secret Romance 30

Well I did say that Just Married 102 is probably the most famous Demetrio Charlton romance cover but this one is definitely a contender, especially because it has the trippy, full-blown Steranko-style psychedelic bit on this gorgeous cover. This is a re-posting of a scanned story in the Romance Comics Reading Room, "Ring Twice" from the January 1975 issue of Charlton's Secret Romance.

Demetrio's stories seem to gravitate towards the wealthier, middle and upper middle class set. He certainly draws them like he's part of that scene himself. This one's about Bob, maneuvered towards engagement and pending marriage by his high school sweetheart, Carolyn Davies.

Carolyn sets up a super-trendy engagement party populated by lots of beautiful people apparently drinking electric Kool Aid! But Bob stands his ground when Carolyn tries to push him on the wedding date. He wants to be self-sufficient before they take that step, and Carolyn acquiesces.

Bob works for his uncle, who has noticed Carolyn's ongoing tactics to get her fiancee to the altar as soon as possible. Bob's uncle, Wyatt Forbes, needs someone to go to Puerto Rico to evaluate a new line of merchandise for their business, and he'd like Bob to be the one to deal with this account, AND it will give Bob a couple of weeks' breather from the pressure to get hitched to Carolyn. The paintings in the office building look like they're original Demetrios from his early tribute-to-Steranko phase.

Of course there's a beautiful girl waiting to meet Bob in PR, the lovely Rita Martin, whose family owns the business Bob's uncle has been purchasing from. Panel 3 looks like Demetrio took a lesson from Gene Colan here, with all the shading. Bob obviously likes Rita.

Rita gives Bob the VIP treatment appropriate for an important business associate, with everything well organized - food, entertainment, transport, accommodation - but there's a little more to it than simple business for Rita as well.

Demetrio draws a fabulous wrought iron gate on this page. Rita has made Bob realize how he really feels about Carolyn.

 Bob is forced to acculturate to the Puerto Rican way of doing things - they don't work 24/7 but lead a more balanced lifestyle. They're at another posh Demetrio style party but not, because they're really more interested in each other. Things are really warming up between Rita and Bob.

After work the next day, as promised Rita takes Bob to a lovely Puerto Rican beach where they snorkel in the clear water and sample the visual delights of a Caribbean coral reef. Bob's made his mind up to break off his engagement to Carolyn - he's falling head over heels for Rita, and the feeling's mutual.

 The two weeks over, Bob's life is transformed, Rita's on her way to NYC on the invitation of Uncle Wyatt, and yes, Carolyn will be annoyed, upset, but just as well Bob realized now that he wasn't in love with her, BEFORE they got married and started having kids. Having successfully averted a future broken home and the suffering any potential children would have had to endure, Bob looks like he's found a solid prospect in Rita. She's obviously smitten with him. It's going to be an inter-ethnic marriage, and judging by Bob's first experience of Puerto Rico, he's going to enjoy learning about his new wife's culture. The two families will also be united, which will hopefully be really good for business.

Gotta love Demetrio!

Latino/Spanish Artists at Charlton: Demetrio (8) - Secret Romance 37

The artwork in this 6-page Demetrio romance story, "Bus Ride Blues" from Secret Romance 37 (March 1976), is again of superior quality. We have a female protagonist taking a bus tour to forget about the guy she was going to marry until she found out he was cheating on her. At each of the stops on the tour she spies the same handsome stranger, each time with a different woman. She ends up falling for him, but his explanation for those other women doesn't match the visuals - he's a salesman, and they were all clients!? He has his arm round beautiful female clients!? I have a hunch the heroine is going to find herself being cheated on again eventually, but at the end of the story she's still blinded by love, which should have been the title of the story I think. Anyway, there are some nice panels, and I don't want to take away from the beautiful Demetrio art. The idea was good, but the way it was resolved was rather implausible, in my opinion. Perhaps there was some miscommunication between the writer and artist of this story - from when I spoke to Joe Gill, the prolific Charlton writer a year before his death, he talked about the Spanish artists that Charlton was getting work from by mail - he rarely if ever got to meet some of the artists working for the company in the late 60s/early 70s period. Anyway, here's the story - another of the better Demetrio pieces:

Salesman? Clients?

Some nice panels, I think you'll agree - layouts too. But customers!?

Latino/Spanish Artists at Charlton: Demetrio (2) - Just Married 102

Just Married, as its title suggests, has stories about newlywed couples, a somewhat different angle from most romance comics. Usually romance comics look at the process of acquiring that permanent relationship, and once that has happened they take their leave. This Demetrio story ("A Good Fight is Fun", October 1974) is about a young couple going through an intense period of dyadic adjustment. This is post-women's lib, so there is a new egalitarian dynamic to the relationship, and the story touches on some of these issues. This is probably the most famous Demetrio cover, and my copy is damaged. If anyone can send me a large scan of a pristine cover I'd appreciate it.

The story starts on the honeymoon, with gender equality high on the agenda. The new husband seems to be having trouble letting go of his patriarchal conditioning. We're also seeing the random flowers and psychedelic patterns characteristic of Demetrio's interpretation of Jim Steranko's romance comic style.

 
On page 2 Kevin and Ruthie Martin, clearly a middle class couple, are dealing with commitment and trust, but we also see that Ruthie isn't afraid to retaliate physically when she feels slighted.

 
The power struggle is getting a bit out of hand until Ruthie sees the injury she's inflicted on her husband's face, Hopefully they'll work things out a little more calmly from here on.

One battle ends with a reminder about equal sharing of household chores, then another starts when male chauvinism rears its ugly head on the tennis court.

Kevin's assumptions regarding male superiority are going to have to be addressed. This woman isn't going to give up without a fight.

Ruth makes her point to Kevin (maybe) but in the changing room the issue is clarified, at least for the reader - marriage is about teamwork in an equal partnership.

Kevin hits back by withdrawing some of those perks women enjoy when they play the submissive, feminine role. The story seems as if it might be written by a traditional heterosexual male wanting to point out flaws in feminism.

These arguments have reached a crucial point. Are these two able to negotiate their way beyond it, share in compromise, and reach a positive and mutually acceptable understanding about their relationship?

The story ends with a marriage counselor's dream come true. Kevin does get the point, and Ruth realizes she might have been a little harsh in her interpretation of Kevin's behavior, although from his admission it's clear that his attitudes stemmed from his upbringing in a home with traditional gender roles. The conclusion that can perhaps be drawn from this one is that heterosexual marriage can still have romance and be rewarding with the new status quo where the gender role playing field has been leveled.