I don't know who this cover artist is but it immediately
brings to my mind the modern comic artwork of Charles
Burns. At the very least Burns is highly influenced by the romance comic
style exhibited on this cover! Of particular note are the clean lines,
stylized lighting (or lack thereof) and people's eerie fish-like eyes. The juxtaposition of postwar
American innocence and naiveté against sexual drama and intrigue is also
worth mention.
This comic actually has an interesting publication history. It
was originally planned to be titled Love Letters, and the cover was printed
with the "Love Letters" title on a yellow field at the top. Inside, the indicia
also reads Love Letters #1. But prior to actual
publication/distribution the publishers discovered that another company had
already registered the name Love Letters for their comic, forcing them to
come up with another title fast. Rather than destroy the already printed
materials, they ran the covers through the printing press again, first
overprinting the offending "Letters" and yellow field with a heavy silver ink,
then overprinting the silver field with "Lessons" in red. Thus Love Letters #1
was transformed into Love Lessons #1.
It is interesting to note that the back cover of this issue has an ad for
several of the company's comic books, and the ad has a picture of this cover
with it's original "Love Letters" title.
