Lonely Hearts Ep. 17: Kill Your Boyfriend - Romance in the 90s

After love in the 80s, love in the 90s, with Grant Morrison's Kill Your Boyfriend as the prototypical romance comic of the era. What made romance so hard in that decade, and why were we so keen on mixing it with crime stories? And in Romance Comics Theatre, we go back in time to the early 50s for an altogether different criminal love story, "I Was a Border Racket Girl!" Which story feels most dated? You make the call!

Listen to Episode 17 (the usual filthy filthy language warnings apply) by clicking HERE!

You can play the podcast using the player supplied there or by right-clicking “download”, choosing “Save Target/Link As”, and selecting a location on your computer to save the file (48 MB).

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Highlights from Kill Your Boyfriend #1 by Grant Morrison, Philip Bond and D'Israeli:

Are there times when you positively want to shoot your boyfriend?

Are there times when you can actually justify it to yourself?

Our heroine reinvents herself for the first time, and the return of the famous red dress.

The story ends years later when our heroine has assumed every name-checked role.

Highlights from "I Was a Border Racket Girl!" (Fawcett's Sweethearts #107, Jan 1952, art by Bob Powell):

When Amy is with René, it's smooth sailing.

When she's not, things go very wrong.

Credits :
"Comic Book Romance" (Theme for Lonely Hearts Podcast) by Johnny and the Jokers.

"Here's to the Losers" (End theme for Lonely Hearts Podcast) by James (Vic Fontaine) Darren.

Relevant teaser clip from "Pulp Fiction" by Quentin Tarantino, starring Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth.

Additional audio:
Romance Comics Theater Music: "Siente mi amor" by Robert Rodriguez, from "Once Upon a Time in Mexico".

Bonus clips from: "Cancion Del Mariachi (Morena De Mi Corazon)" by Los Lobos with Antonio Banderas, from "Desperado"; "The Splendour of France" by Organ 86; "Series 8 Recreated", Doctor Who Theme arrangement by Gwylock1; "Border Racket Girl", lyrics and music by Marty Léger.

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