The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #107 (2024 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

In the early 1950s, one of the hottest comedic duos in Hollywood was the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Having met a couple of years prior, Martin and Lewis became a team in 1946 on the recommendation of Lewis after another singer bailed from performing at the 500 Club in Atlantic City. Martin played the straight man, suave with the ladies and good in voice. Lewis was the comedic foil, doing slapstick and skits which hilariously interrupted Martin while singing. 

The two went on to co-star in 16 movies for Paramount. However, tensions started coming to the surface as Martin felt that the plots were becoming ever so focused on Lewis instead of a duo. 10 years to the day Martin and Lewis had first become a partnership, the pair broke up, never to speak with each other for another 20 years. 

Starting in 1949, National Periodicals/DC Comics began to license rights from some of Hollywood's top entertainment as characters in comic books. Matinee star Alan Ladd was first, followed by comedian Bob Hope. Ladd's book was more adventure focused and only ran for 9 issues. However, with the popularity of Hope's humor book, DC decided to continue with their experiment by nabbing Martin and Lewis in 1952, right at the apex of their comedy careers together. 

The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis ran for 40 issues from 1952-57. Though the pair split a year earlier, DC had a small backlog of stories starring both Martin and Lewis that needed publishing. As the inventory ran low, editor Larry Nadle renegotiated terms with Jerry Lewis to restructure the comic book to focus solely on his comedic exploits. With issue #41, the series was retitled The Adventures of Jerry Lewis. 

As just a solo act, Lewis would occasionally pair up with some of DC's biggest and brightest stars including Superman and the Flash. Even the villains would get into the act as Lex Luthor and the Joker were notable guests in the re-branded series. In the 1960s, the cast would grow to include a rapscallion nephew named Renfrew, a bewitching housekeeper named Witch Kraft and a straight man foil named Uncle Hal. No relation to Jerry, Uncle Hal was actually the headmaster at the Genghis Khan School for Boys where Renfrew and the other rowdy youths of Jerry's hometown were enrolled. 

In this issue, Jerry plans on taking his nephew on a cross-country road trip during Spring Break. Renfrew tricks his uncle into letting him take his entire class on the trip which prompts Jerry needing to borrow one of the buses from Renfrew's school. Meanwhile, Uncle Hal's deadbeat brother has come to town along with his bookies. Owning thousands of dollars, Hal is forced to pay down his brother's debt. This results in Hal having to make deliveries of counterfeit cash all across America while acting as chauffeur for Jerry's bus full of rowdies. However, not wanting to be caught with the phony money on his persons, Hal feigns injury, tricking gullible Jerry into make a series of madcap deliveries all the while being trailed by Treasury agents and that pair of bookies.

Included at the end of this issue is a letter from Jerry to his fans. It's doubtful that Lewis actually wrote this article himself. It is more than likely that an assist to the comedian wrote down a number of Lewis' jokes which were relevant to this issue's theme of travel and vacation. 

Though there are no credits to this issue, the DC wiki credits Arnold Drake with writing the script. Artist Bob Oksner penciled and inks both the cover and interiors.

The Adventures of Jerry Lewis would continue until June, 1971 with issue #124 being the finale. The cancellation of the series had less to do with the popularity of the title and more with DC rebranding. By the following year, DC's entire line of humor books would be cancelled in favor of more superhero and horror themed books.

Completing this review completes Task #32 (A Fictional Story About a Real Person) of the 2024 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Surprisingly funny and well plotted.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Plastic Man 80-Page Giant (2024 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

When a heist goes wrong, safecracker Patrick 'Eel' O'Brian is shot by a nightwatchman, doused with chemicals and left for dead by his gang. O'Brian awakens in a monastery, shielded from the authorities by the parish monks. As he recovers, O'Brian learns that the chemicals he was showered with seeped into his wounds giving him super-stretching abilities. Seeing a chance at redemption, Eel dons a red rubber suit and dark sunglasses to become Plastic Man! His first mission- to bring his double-crossing former gang members to justice!

Plastic Man debuted in the first issue of Police Comics. The creation of Jack Cole, Plastic Man was one of Quality Comics most popular characters until the publisher folded in 1956. Plas along with properties such as the Polish flying ace, Blackhawk and the war anthology series G.I. Combat was soon absorbed by National Publications (D.C. Comics). While the war books were immediately added into National's print line-up, it would be another decade before Plastic Man would return to store shelves. However, it would be the funny man who got the last laugh. 

After two brief attempts to reintroduce Plastic Man to readers, the former Eel O'Brian made the transition to TV. From 1979-1981, Plas and his son Baby Plas made Saturday mornings fun for youngsters as part of ABC's The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Hour. Produced by Ruby-Spears, an impressive 112 episodes aired over 5 seasons. By the end of the 80s, both Blackhawk and G.I. Combat would be shelved while Plastic Man would enter the 90s as a full-fledged member of the JLA. In 2003, artist Kyle Baker revamped Plastic Man for a new generation in a cartoony series that produced 20-issues. Baker would win numerous Eisner awards as well as a Harvey for his innovative look at the hero.

As a promotional tie-in for the Kyle Baker's series, DC released a super-sized special starring Plas. Based on the 80-page specials of the 60s and 70s, this volume is presented as a lost collection of Plastic Man's greatest adventures. Along with his debut appearance, fans are introduced to faithful sidekick Woozy Winks, a small time crook who thanks to a swami who life Winks saved, is blessed with amazingly good luck. A Dial H for Hero adventure from the House of Mystery, has Robby Reed turning into Plastic Man as he battles a villain that uses bombs made of bright light. Arnold Drake and Gil Kane mark Plastic Man's official return to comics in his debut DC series which replaces Woozy Winks with a nebbish teen pet store owner. Woozy then returns in caper in which the rich and powerful have their minds switched with hamsters in the finale penned by Steve Skeates and art by Ramona Fradon.

After the Kyle Baker series ended in 2006, Plastic Man would return to TV as a recurring character on Cartoon Network's Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Plas would appear in a number of comic miniseries over the next 15 years including Flashpoint and a segment in the newsprint inspired Sunday Comics. Plastic Man's most recent appearances in the DC universe saw him in a new black and white costume as part of Mister Terrific's super team, the Terrifics.

Completing this review completes Task #20 (An 80-page or larger giant) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.