Media Medicine BEN CASEY FILM STORIES "Operation Tycoon" Part 1

Medical-Themed Shows Have Always Been Popular on TV...

One of the hottest shows on the air was Ben Casey, starring Vince Edwards as a handsome, but surly rule-breaking surgeon whose abrasive manner got under peoples' skins...but produced almost miraculous results!

The show was so popular that it produced two different comics from two different publishers: a regular-format comic book from Dell and this fumetti comic-sized magazine from Gold Key using photos from two episodes to re-tell the TV tales in "photonovel" format!
Remember, there was no internet and streaming services, no videotape/DVD/BluRay, or any other way to see TV series when you wished!
BTW, the show was filmed in black and white, so the b/w pix aren't a cost-saving measure by the publisher!
Most TV shows were filmed this way until the mid-1960s!

Let's begin our story, based on the first season episode "An Expensive Glass of Water"...

Will Ben Casey Buckle to the Will of Type-A Tycoon Walter Tyson?

Will Tyson Turn Chicken?

(Sorry, couldn't resist!)

Tune in NOW at Secret Sanctum of Captain Video to learn the Astounding Answer!

Besides the regular cast members: Sam Jaffee as Dr David Zorba, Bettye Ackerman as Dr Maggie Graham, Harry Anders as Dr Ted Hoffman, and Jeanne Bates as Nurse Wills, the guest cast included Chester Morris as Walter Tyson, and Neva Patterson as Miss Warren.

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FRONTIER DOCTOR "Storm Over King City" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

Dr Bill Baxter is told that his elderly uncle David Sheldon has been murdered!

But he left a will with a lawyer mentioning an inheritance of a gold mine, of which Bill will receive half.
The other half is to go to an orphanage run by Miss Mary Fuller.
However, to locate the gold mine and fulfill the terms of the will, Baxter must journey to Canada, where his uncle lived and died, and meet with Miss Fuller since both he and the lady each have only 1/2 of the map that leads to the mine.
What he doesn't know is that the criminals who murdered his uncle lie in wait to ambush him, steal the map along with his identification and little black bag, and pretend to be him.
They waylay the sawbones, who barely survives, but manages to get to a nearby RCMP station.
The doctor and policeman confront the imposter, who manages to bluff the Mountie into thinking Baxter is the imposter!
But when a medical emergency happens to a child at the orphanage, the fake doctor is forced by his confederates to attend to the deathly-ill patient...

This adaptation of the episode "Storm Over King City" in Dell's Four Color Comics #877 (1958) was illustrated by Alex Toth, whom Old West comics fans remember as the artist on the comics based on Disney's Zorro TV series!
The writer, however, is unknown, 
As for the 1958-59 syndicated TV series' protagonist...
Though he did not carry a gun, Dr Bill Baxter was not a wimp by any measure.

The medical man used his wits, medical knowledge, his fists, and, occasionally, other people's shooting irons, to aid those who needed help.
Rex Allen, who played Baxter, performed as a rodeo rider while in high school.

After graduation, he took up singing, first in vaudeville, then on radio, becoming a popular country/Western singers.

Like most of his contemporaries, he soon was doing Western b-movies as a singing cowboy nicknamed "The Arizona Cowboy", teamed up with comedy-relief sidekicks including Buddy Ebsen and Slim Pickens.

After a couple of dozen films, Rex tried to make the transition to TV with Frontier Doctor, but the show was cancelled after a single season.

But Allen made yet another transition, and became a successful voice-over artist and narrator, primarily for Disney film and tv productions.

TRIVIA:

Besides Frontier Cowboy, Rex had his own self-titled comic book series from Dell Comics that ran for thirty-one issues!

Allen was a cousin of Gunsmoke cast member Glenn Strange, who played bartender Sam Noonan.

Rex's son, Rex Allen, Jr., is a successful singer.

There's a Rex Allen Museum in Willcox, Arizona!

BONUS!

Here's the TV episode which was adapted into the comic story!

Note that the comic is based on an early draft of the script, so there are differences!

BTW, the "doctor" impersonator in the episode is played by Russell Johnson...the Professor from Gilligan's Island!

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Frontier Doctor

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FRONTIER DOCTOR "Storm Over King City" Part 1

A 1950s Old West TV series about a man who didn't carry a gun?

Yep, and this never-reprinted one-shot comic tale about an MD on the frontier is adapted from one of the broadcast episodes!

To Be Concluded
Next Friday

This adaptation of the episode "Storm Over King City" in Dell's Four Color Comics #877 (1958) was illustrated by Alex Toth, whom Old West comics fans remember as the artist on the comics based on Disney's Zorro TV series!
The writer, however, is unknown.
Note: We already presented another tale from the TV show-based comic HERE!
As for the 1958-59 syndicated TV series' protagonist...
Though he did not carry a gun, Dr Bill Baxter was not a wimp by any measure.
The MD used his wits, medical knowledge, his fists, and, occasionally, other people's shooting irons, to aid those who needed help.

Rex Allen, who played Baxter, performed as a rodeo rider while in high school.

After graduation, he took up singing, first in vaudeville, then on radio, becoming a popular country/Western singers.

Like most of his contemporaries, he soon was doing Western b-movies as a singing cowboy nicknamed "The Arizona Cowboy", teamed up with comedy-relief sidekicks including Buddy Ebsen and Slim Pickens.

After a couple of dozen films, Rex tried to make the transition to TV with Frontier Doctor, but the show was cancelled after a single season.

Undaunted, Allen made yet another transition, and became a successful voice-over artist and narrator, primarily for Disney film and tv productions.

TRIVIA:

Besides Frontier Cowboy, Rex had his own self-titled comic book series from Dell Comics that ran for thirty-one issues!

Allen was a cousin of Gunsmoke cast member Glenn Strange, who played bartender Sam Noonan.

Rex's son, Rex Allen, Jr., is a successful singer.

There's a Rex Allen Museum in Willcox, Arizona!

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Visit Amazon and Buy...

Frontier Doctor
2-DVD Set
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MAD HOUSE COMICS "Donna...She's a Doozy"

Prime-time TV in the early 1960s was filled with medical series...
...and someone becoming obsessed with them wasn't a rare situation...though perhaps not obsessed to the extent of this never-reprinted story's protagonist!

Was this one-shot from Archie's Mad House Comics #35 (1964), illustrated by Dan DeCarlo, meant as a "pilot" for an ongoing strip?

The use of the character's name as the story title instead of a medical-show pun would seem to indicate it!
BTW, the TV show titles in the story are variations on actual TV show titles.
Can you figure them out?
We'll give you two for free...
"Dr Ben Casebook" is Ben Casey, one of the major "heartthrob doctor" shows of the era.
"Ambulance 54" is "Car 54, Where Are You?", which was actually a police comedy!
Good luck with the rest of them...

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FRONTIER DOCTOR "Apache Uprising"

Decades before Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman, there was...

...in this one-shot comic based on a 1958-59 syndicated TV series starring former singing cowboy star Rex Allen.

Though he did not carry a gun, Dr Bill Baxter was not a wimp by any measure.

The medical man used his wits, medical knowledge, his fists, and, occasionally, other people's shooting irons, to aid those who needed help.

Rex Allen, who played Baxter, performed as a rodeo rider while in high school.

After graduation, he took up singing, first in vaudeville, then on radio, becoming a popular country/Western singers.

Like most of his contemporaries, he soon was doing Western b-movies as a singing cowboy, teamed up with comedy-relief sidekicks including Buddy Ebsen and Slim Pickens, and nicknamed "The Arizona Cowboy".

After a couple of dozen films, Rex tried to make the transition to TV with Frontier Doctor, but the show was cancelled after a single season.

But Allen made yet another transition, and became a successful voice-over artist and narrator, primarily for Disney film and tv productions.

TRIVIA:

Besides Frontier Cowboy, Rex had his own self-titled comic book series from Dell Comics that ran for thirty-one issues!

Allen was a cousin of Gunsmoke cast member Glenn Strange, who played bartender Sam Noonan.

Rex's son, Rex Allen, Jr., is a successful singer.

There's a Rex Allen Museum in Willcox, Arizona!

Both stories in this issue of Dell's Four Color Comics (#877) from 1958, were adaptations of tv episode scripts, illustrated by noted illustrator Alex Toth (though the adaptation scripter is unknown).

There's a kool page about Frontier Doctor HERE.

BONUS:

Here's the actual episode this comic story was adapted from.
Note: Due to the long lead time to create and print the comic so it would be available when the show aired, the story is based on an early version of the script, and no photo reference of the actors (except Rex Allen's Dr Bill Baxter)was available to Toth.
Also note that both versions of the tale emphasize the stupidity of the settlers' racism!

Support Medical Comics and Stories

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Frontier Doctor

2-DVD Set

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