Covered Re-run: The Great Bob Oksner and The Adventures of Jerry Lewis
on February 10, 2012 at 9:09 amJerry Lewis comics were some fun! I enjoyed doing this one-and re-writing the joke.
(originally posted Feb. 20, 2011 on pulpink.blogspot.com)
Jerry Lewis comic books? What the $#*%!? Who’s idea was this? I have no idea what the equivalent comic would be today-Jimmy Fallon comics? Will Ferrell? Somehow-the idea was more appealing than the comics–and well, that’s not saying much.
Will Ferrell comics? ( some comics publisher somewhere is rushing off to license that property, I’m just sure of it!)
But still, it held on for nearly 20 years! From 1952-1971, DC published a comic book starring Jerry Lewis, first as “The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis” and then, after the comedy team broke up in the mid- fifties, known simply as “The Adventures of Jerry Lewis”.
The comics could be amusing-but never quite LOL funny as they should have been. But–JL did have the good fortune to be drawn by the late, great Bob Oksner, whom I believe drew this cover-and had a capacity for caricature and a talent for drawing rather fetching women, as you can see in this example. Over the course of his long but reatively unsung career, Oksner drew many a romance comic, a whole lot of Bob Hope, Shazam!, Supergirl and any book that needed attractive women and recognizable celebrities. He had a rich line, and a spare, clean style that never felt restrained or minimal-sort of like a cross between C.C. Beck, Curt Swan and Dick Giordano. Coming across his work in a comic was a treat, because you knew you were in for an attractive, consistent package, if not an innovative one.
I enjoyed these comics in their day, mostly for their out and out silliness. They are a reminder of a period when celebrities were somehow simpler cultural constructions and mainstream comic books on the spinner racks at the drugstore included humor and an array of genres amidst the super-heroes.
When I was a kid both Dell and DC Comics, along with lesser brands, issued comic book versions of practically every popular TV show and movie franchise, from Roy Rogers to Tom Corbett, Space Cadette. There was a Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis comic book series until the movie team broke up, after which the Jerry Lewis title carried on. (They knew better than to try a Dean Martin solo series.) I sure preferred that wealth of variety in comics to the superhero-only stretch that followed.
Hi Howard! I know exactly what you mean! I loved the Lone Ranger comics, and the Gold Key TV show comics, like “Star Trek”. I really miss seeing something like “Jerry Lewis” out there, whether in the shops or at the grocery store. I’m happy and thankful to see Sergio Aragones has a book, and Bongo has the Simpsons. Maybe “Jimmy Fallon” comics isn’t such a bad idea!