Classics Illustrated #108 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Cover to 1953 First Edition.

Classics Illustrated examined the many Arthurian legends in this issue. While some of the collected works of Howard Pyle were used in an uncredited basis, the original authors of these 13th century, or earlier, tales have been lost over time. Many historians believe that there was a king, named Arthur. If that's true, he obviously was very successful on the battlefield and in jousting tournaments, hence the lasting appeal of Arthur's name over the past 800 or so years. The more victorious King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table were, the more fantastic their legends grew.

The story of the sword in the stone (and apparently also in an anvil) and how Arthur removed the sword unawares that such action made him the true monarch of England begins this issue. Arthur's reception of a better sword, Excalibur, from the Lady in the Lake, along with a magical scabbard that made him invincible when worn. His marriage to Guinevere and the reception of a massive round table that could seat 250 men. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, ...and the Red Knight, ...and the Yellow Knight, ...and finally the Black Knight. Those stories are all detailed in the first half of the issue. It's the establishment of Camelot, but I don't recall anybody calling it that in this book. 

The second half sees the eventual downfall of Arthur's Kingdom. But it's pretty PG.  Nowhere does Guinevere and Sir Lancelot hook up behind Arthur's back. Arthur's own incestuous liaison with Morgan La Fey producing an heir destined to destroy Camelot is absent too. Mordred does play his part in the death of King Arthur. But he's viewed more of an opportunist seeking the throne during a lengthy absence by Arthur. Nowhere is he revealed to be the bastard son of King Arthur.

Sir Lancelot does play his part in the downfall of Arthur's Kingdom. One of the lesser known legends tells of Lancelot coming to the defense of some men being attacked by robbers. Two of the men Lancelot kills are Knights of the Round Table! Their brother wants revenge. Lancelot refuses to apologize. Arthur is unable to take a side. Yet nobody points out that the supposedly noble knights were participating in activities that were less than chivalrous!

This issue was originally published in 1953; right in the middle of the Comic Book Scare. No way was Gilberton going to put all the adultery surrounding the legend of King Arthur. I'm surprised that they included Merlin the Magician. Though by the halfway point, he's a distant memory. 

My copy has a publication date of 1969; right as new owner Twin Circle was seeing the writing on the wall that the popular educational comic series' could no longer compete against DC and Marvel. Usually, older copies have an article in the back about the author. Perhaps because the story of King Arthur was more the product of centuries of folklore and epic poets there wasn't even a prose column about who wrote what and when. If ever an issue of Classics Illustrated needed such a piece, this was the one! Instead, you get a one-pager about the Lost Colony, another on the history of the Liberty Bell and an feature on  how baseball bounced back from the 1919 Black Sox Scandal.

You might think that those 3 articles were rather random. However, I learned that the original Roanoke colony was established on July 4th, 1585! The Liberty Bell has been an symbol of American independence from England, which we Americans celebrate every 4th of July. Lastly, baseball is America's past time. So, that all seems like a plausible game of 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon. Add to the fact that England was behind the settling of the Roanoke Colony and King Arthur is a figure of British myth and legend, you actually have an issue of Classics Illustrated that seems to at least make some connections throughout the book for once. You just have to really squint hard to see them!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars. 

Completing this review completes Task #27 (An issue of Classics Illustrated) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

One of Chandler's novels written towards the end of his career/life. Philip Marlowe has always been a cynical character (to be a private investigator in a mega-corrupt City of Angels, you really have to be as such), but here it seems that Chandler started to become that type of cantankerous old man who yells at kids to stay off his lawn. There are several diatribes at how society has lost its way. Quite a bit about how America became a super power after the second world war, producing terrible products sold inside of top of the line quality packaging. It almost read like a boomer who doesn't know how to stay quiet on social media 

That's not to say that I didn't love this 1953 book. There's several mysteries all intertwined and while I needed a dictionary to decipher many of the outdated references and lingo sprinkled throughout this book, I didn't get lost in the plot. In, fact I actually was able to solve most of the crimes before Marlowe did and I was pretty proud of myself for it.

Marlowe becomes friends with a cuckold veteran of WWII. His wealthy wife openly cheats on him while nobody is able to say a single bad thing about the guy. When the wife turns up brutally murdered, the guy takes the fall and flees to Mexico. Marlowe is arrested for driving the guy to the Mexican border. But the detective is soon released when news arrives that the fugitive kills himself.

Marlowe is willing to let things drop. But friends and acquaintances of the killer keep approaching Marlowe, warning him from looking further into the murder/suicide. Thus the P.I. has no option but to determine if his old pal did it or if he was framed. There's also concern that Marlowe's friend might not have actually pulled the trigger on himself but instead was made to look like it was suicide. 

Meanwhile, a publishing agent of a famous hack romance writer, is looking to hire Marlowe to keep the author, who's got a history of drink and violence, on track to finish his latest work. Marlowe doesn't do babysitting assignments. Normally, he'd turn the job down. Only the scribe has an alluring wife who's caught Marlowe's eye. Plus the guy has gone missing for several days now. So it appears that as much as Phillip wants to wash his hands of this crew, just like with the death of his friend in Mexico, he's got another mystery to solve whether he likes it or not.

I swear I have read this book before. When I was about 12, I read a couple of Philip Marlowe novels. I know that I read Lady in the Lake and I at least tried to complete Raymond Chandler's unfinished work, Poodle Springs, and hated it. There was just so many aspects of this book that were extremely familiar to me. Maybe that's why I solved many of the mysteries in here. 

It could be that I have seen the 1973 Robert Altman version starring Elliot Gould. I was a big fan of Altman's in the 90s and would watch just about anything he made. But after I finished this book, I went to Wikipedia, mostly to see who was cast in the roles. From what I gleaned, I don't think seeing the movie explains my feeling like I had read this book previously. The plot of the film differs too darn much from Chandler's work. 

I will admit that I couldn't stop picturing Gould as Marlowe. There's just too many lines that sound like they would have come from the M*A*S*H* and Friends actor's mouth. I had always pictured someone more plain as Marlowe, like a Montgomery Clift. But I don't think I will be able to anymore. 

There's only 4 Chandler novels and just an even smaller handful of short stories starring Philip Marlowe left. I really want to read them all. But I also don't want to rush through it and be left with nothing new. I've got Farewell, My Lovely already in my possession. But I will probably wait until closer to the beginning of summer to start it. I don't think it matters what order you read the Marlowe books in, although there were a couple of characters that have appeared in some previous stories. I just think that I like the older, post-war Marlowe the best. I don't know why because he gets away with insults and barbs that would end up in viral video fisticuffs these days. 

Oh what a simpler, grittier time...

Worth Consuming!

Rating 10 out of 10 stars.

A Classic TV Christmas- Advent 2017 Day 9

Today's classic Christmas episode is one of my all-time favorites. It's from the 1960s revival of Dragnet. Titled The Christmas Story, this 1967 episode is a remake from the original Dragnet series from the 50s. Not to mention, it was also a radio broadcast too! Other than the changing of the 1953's episodes title of The Big Little Jesus, the '67 episode used not only the exact same script but recycled some of the original actors from that first production as well. 

There's only a couple of days until Christmas and a church calls in Detective Friday (Jack Webb) and his partner Bill Gannon (Henry Morgan) to investigate a burglary. The church's nativity has been vandalized as the baby Jesus has been stolen. With Christmas Eve services hours away, it is vital that the statute be returned as soon as possible.

Over the course of Friday and Gannon's investigation, they interview a number of suspects including a choir boy and a vagrant. The choir boy was played by Barry Williams. Williams would in just a few short months be shot to international stardom as the eldest son Greg on The Brady Bunch. As for the vagrant, he was played by Bobby Troup. Troup may not be a very familiar name to you. But he's a household term here in the Madman household as Bobby Troup played Doctor Early on my wife's all-time favorite TV series, Emergency!

By the end of the episode it turns out that none of the usual suspects did it. Instead it was a little boy who took the baby Jesus. The little fella seems to have promised the Jesus statue that if he got a red wagon for Christmas, he would take Jesus out for the first ride. Apparently Christmas came early as the kid got his wagon and the baby Savior saw the City of Angels in a cherry red Radio Flyer. With the Jesus returned safely, no harm, no foul...

Other than the cool guest stars, one may wonder why this is one of my favorite Christmas episodes. It's because this actually happened. All of Dragnet's scripts were based on real stories taken from the LAPD police blotter. So sometime in a pre-1953 L.A. some kid asked a baby Jesus for a wagon and took the porcelain Christ for a victory lap when he got one! I just love the sweet oddness of this story!

Unfortunately, I can't find the 1967 episode for me to share. But I was able to find the full original episode. So, for my Advent present for you today, I present The Big Little Jesus from December 24, 1953. 

Enjoy and until next time- Merry Christmas!