Dell Four Color #1245- The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

The world's greatest detective returns in a pair of cases in this 1961 edition of Dell Four Color. First Holmes and Watson tackle the case of 'The Derelict Ship'. Inspired by the mystery of the Mary Celeste, a desperate man employs the sleuth to uncover the whereabouts of the gentleman's missing crew and its load of contents. After a 2-page short in which Holmes schools Inspector Lestrande on a case involving a early morning break-in and trio of suspects, the private eye goes face-to-face with the Napoleon of Crime, Professor Moriarty! A single-page article in the inside back cover of the book that details the methods of deduction Holmes would have used during the Victorian Era close out this issue. 

This was the second issue in less than a year that Dell would publish of all-new mysteries involving Holmes and Watson. Unfortunately, this issue, #1245, would be the last time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most beloved characters would grace the voluminous Dell Four Color series. The fan-favorite series stopped publication with issue #1354 in the Summer of 1962 after Dell's publishing agreement with Western Publishing came to an end.

The two main stories have been attributed to Paul S. Newman. One of Newman's most enduring claims to fame was as writer for the series Turok, Son of Stone. The writer crafted stories of the time displaced Native American warrior for an impressive 26-years. Paul S. Newman would later be credited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the 'World's most prolific comic-book writer' with over 36,000 pages of published work to his credit. 

The cover of this issue, along with Holmes' 1961 Dell debut, were painted by George Wilson; a prolific artist for both Dell, Gold Key and later Whitman. Wilson's beloved works included covers of comic book adaptations of popular 60's TV shows such as The Twilight Zone and Star Trek. 

Though interior art credits were not assigned in this book, a couple of websites claim to know who did the artwork. Mycomicshop.com, for instance, cites Bob Fujitani as the main artist. Fujitani must have really enjoyed working with Paul S. Newman on this project as the pair, along with editor Matt Murphy, would eventually co-create the sci-fi character Doctor Solar for Western's new comic imprint, Gold Key. 

None of these stories were adaptations of works by Sir Arthur. Though a radio series of the same name ran on the ABC radio network for over a dozen years decades prior, a quick rundown of the complete series shows that these whodunits are not from that mystery drama either. The content of this book was truly New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #22 (A Mystery) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Grimm's Ghost Stories #34

This Gold Key issue from 1976 features a story in which a newly married couple head to the bride's ancestral plantation home. There, the couple notice that the girl looks strangely like a lot like the painting of a family member who died in the pre-antebellum era. According to legend, the ancestor died mysterious overseas and nobody knows where she was buried. So the ghost of her paramour haunts the plantation, desperate to be reunited with his eternal love. When a series of near tragedies before the new groom, could he be targeted by the ghost of the spurned lover hoping to be reunited with this look-a-like bride?

If this sounds pretty complicated- it is. But the plot isn't the worst thing about this story. It's the cover. Now, I love the painted cover by Gold Key icon George Wilson. It alone is quite eye catching. However, it gives away a very important plot point. In this day and age, such a spoiler wouldn't fly. 

In this day and age, another thing that wouldn't fly would be the story itself. The overall setting of a former slave plantation and the devoted black servant that still serves in the abandoned home is rather racist. 

Will this cause me to burn the book? If you know me and my blog at all, I am a champion of free speech. Plus, I am married to a Jewish princess. So the answer is NO. If anything, as I consider myself an semi-professional comic book historian, I plan on holding on to this for the next time I might want to site something on an article on race in comics or something.

Overall, I wasn't too impressed. There was a back-up feature. But I can't for the life of me remember what it was about. And the one-page prose story about a legendary find of gold treasure in England was so poorly written. I am surprised the United State Post Office approved it for Gold Key's First Class mail requirements.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

The Twilight Zone #47

Based on the classic and oh so creepy anthology series from the 1960s. This 1972 comic from Gold Key is part of a long running classic series in of itself. Featuring cover art by fan favorite George Wilson, I thought that the monsters on the covers were giant plants, like corn, out for revenge against those who might enjoy their kernels of goodness. But the monsters are rather different in the book and made for a very creepy story.

I also felt that perhaps these monsters might have in some way been inspiration for the Graboids in the Tremors series. There's some very interesting similarities. So, while unlikely, it's possible.

The opening story was something else. It's of a thief who goes back in time to a period of knights and fair maidens. The criminal ends up switching places with a wizard and in typically ironic Twilight Zone fashion, gets his just desserts. I was totally on board with this element of the story. 

(WARNING SPOILER) However, when we cut to the wizard, he's nothing but bones and rags. Now everything I know about time travel thanks to decades of watching Back to the Future and Doctor Who tell me that the wizard should have arrived in 1960s in the exact spot he traded places with the crook- stuck in a high rise elevator. But he shouldn't have turned into a skeleton. Right? Or did I miss something here?

This being the silver age of comics, there was also a 1-page prose story included. These were required until right about 1980 for certain comic book titles to retain their first class mailing status. It was kind of a mess as well. Certain parts of the story didn't really add up. Sadly, much care was never done with those tales as they were begrudgingly done just to maintain the postage rates.

There's some quality Dell Twilight Zone issues. This isn't one of them. Only one story was really great. The other fell apart at the end. At least I only paid a buck for it. Some of these high grade Twilight Zone books can be very pricey.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.