PATSY WALKER "Great Idea!"

There used to be lots more to teen humor comics than just Archie and his friends...

...with every comics publisher from the late 1940s through the early 1970s doing them! 

Created by writer Stuart Little (no, he's not a talking mouse) and artist Ruth Atkinson, Patsy Walker first appeared in Timely's Miss America Magazine #2 (1944).

Redheaded Patsy Walker, parents Stanley and Betty, boyfriend Robert "Buzz" Baxter, and insanely-rich, raven-haired friendly rival Hedy Wolfe appeared from the 1944 through 1967 in various teen humor anthologies as well as several self-titled comics.

Trivia: Patsy Walker (along with Millie the Model and Kid Colt: Outlaw) were the only titles published continuously by Marvel from Timely in the Golden Age, through Atlas in the 1950s, to Marvel in the  Silver Age!

Patsy, Buzz and Hedy are all part of the Marvel Universe from Marvel's Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965) when Patsy and Hedy attended the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm!

Patsy later became the superheroine HellCat, and Buzz was revealed to be the supervillain Mad-Dog!

Patsy (and HellCat) appeared on the NetFlix series Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Defenders, played (at various ages from child to adulthood) by Rachael Taylor, Catherine Blades, and Audrey Grace Marshall, making her part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

(Note: she's called "Trish", not "Patsy" in the MCU)

Written and illustrated by the versatile Al Jaffee (before he moved over to MAD Magazine), this never-reprinted story from Atlas' Patsy Walker #36 (1951) promoted contributing to the charity created in 1946 by newsman Walter Winchell (best known today as the narrator of the 1960s TV show Untouchables) to honor his friend, writer Damon Runyon, who died of cancer!

The charity, now called Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, still exists!

DOCTOR DAN DAZZLER "Rumble..!"

We Close Out December and 2024 with Our Monthly Feature...

...about a young "interne" who may look too youthful for his own good!

Written by Carl Memling and illustrated by Norman Nodel, this second tale of Dr Dan Dazzler from Dell's Ben Casey #3 (1962) shows us a different visual for the character than his first appearance HERE!
In this strip, he's under 25, with a full head of blond hair, but in the previous strip, he looked like early-30s with receding brown hair!
I wonder if this was meant to be a feature about a group of doctors working at a given hospital like "Internes of Central Hospital" or somesuch.
But they decided, after the art was rendered, to just change the name and the captions and make several doctors just one doctor, with, easily, the silliest name they could think of!
But they didn't modify the art to give the character a consistent look!
It's just a theory, and we'll never know the answer.

We're Taking Next Friday Off, But We'll be Back on January10th, 2025!

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XMas in the Emergency Room WITHIN OUR REACH "Home for Christmas"

Our Yuletide Tale Involves a Hospital and Terminal Illness...

...but there's no involvement by the patients with a doctor or other medical practitioner!

This tale, written by Shair and illustrated by Eric Shanower appeared in the Yultetide-season charity benefit book Within Our Reach (1991) with proceeds going equally to AmFAR and Sempervirens.

Besides AIDS patients, the comic ran stories about the poor and homeless, undocumented immigrants, and the clinically-depressed, all set at Christmastime.
The one-shot was the final publication by independent publisher Star*Reach, which became a "packager" providing editorial and art services for other publishers through the 1990s.

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year

We're taking next week off, but we'll be back the week after New Year's Day.

M.D. "Point of View"

What If a Tragedy in Your Life Could Help Someone Else...

...but you didn't know who it was?

In the 1950s, transplant surgery had a lower than 50% success rate.
It was usually considered a last resort when all else had failed.
Add that to the idea that a recently-deceased loved one would be "mutilated" or "disfigured" by contributing organs for transplant, and the emotional reaction you see in this story, done before organ donor consent cards began to be issued, is understandable!
On an artistic note: if this was the notorious pre-Comics Code EC Comics, you can bet the tale would end with the kid sitting there with empty eye sockets screaming something like "DADDY??? WHERE ARE YOU??? I CAN'T SEE YOU!!!"

And "Ghastly" Graham Ingels would've done something like this...

But, it's not, and Ingels ends up presenting a kinder, gentler, happier conclusion in EC's M.D. #4 (1955)!

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M.D.

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Military Medicine FRONTLINE COMBAT "Combat Medic!"

Sometimes a Dedicated Medic...

...at the front is the only person standing between life and death for a wounded combatant!

And, sometimes, no matter your dedication and determination, and even if you follow all the correct procedures, your efforts just aren't enough!

This tale from EC's Frontline Combat #4 (1952), was written by Harvey Kurtzman and illustrated by Jack Davis (both WWII-era veterans, though neither saw combat).

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EC Archives

Frontline Combat

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Which Reprints this Story!

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