Cinderella Love #1 (1950) — confusingly cover-numbered #10 — is the debut issue of an influential Golden Age romance series from Ziff-Davis, riding the wave of Cinderella mania sparked by Disney's 1950 animated classic. Though it shares no characters with the Disney film, the comic embraces the rags-to-riches romance fantasy at the heart of the fairy tale. Its stories follow working-class heroines drawn to seemingly out-of-reach men: Elly falls for the poverty-stricken artist Clay (who turns out to be secretly wealthy), Joan is forbidden to fraternize with a handsome resort guest, and a former waitress turned society reporter reconnects with an old college rival. Rounding out the issue are non-fiction features on real-life fairy tales, including American women who married foreign royalty and the romance of FDR's son James Roosevelt.

The book carries a fascinating creative pedigree. It was edited by Jerry Siegel, the co-creator of Superman, who oversaw Ziff-Davis's comics division; written in part by John A. Keel, decades before he became famous as the paranormal author of The Mothman Prophecies; and features a painted cover by Ogden Whitney, later celebrated for the cult character Herbie. Ziff-Davis was known for its glossy painted covers and aspirations to a more "highbrow" comics line.

Today Cinderella Love is a notable romance title on two counts: this original Ziff-Davis incarnation, and its later, even more famous St. John run celebrated for Matt Baker covers. The Ziff-Davis quirk of starting the numbering at #10 makes this debut a favorite footnote for collectors. As a public-domain romance classic with an all-star hidden creative team, issue #1 remains a rewarding discovery for genre historians.