Friday, December 4, 2020

Before NURSES...There Was THE NURSES!

...focusing on (what else?) nurses in a big-city hospital.
But it's not the first prime-time show to emphasize "Angels of Mercy" over the MDs!
Back in the early 1960s, during the "hospital series" fad that swept TV, there was...The Nurses (Note the "The" in the title) on CBS!
To quote the official series synopsis:
Alden General Hospital's relentless war against Death sees the nurses fight shoulder to shoulder beside the surgeons and doctors.
Their operating gowns get as blood stained, their backs ache as cruelly from the grueling hours, their watch over the patients is as continued and concerned.
But there is a difference between the men and women at Alden General!
For within the heart of each woman another war must be waged--the battle between her devotion to her highly-professional career and her woman's need for a man's sheltering love!
This is the story of two of Alden General's finest---one a wide-eyed young student nurse at the start of her career, the other a head nurse, an attractive but lonely widow in her thirties.
How each fought her own war is the story of...The Nurses!
The series was popular enough to generate a number of now hard-to-find collectibles, including a board game, paperback novel series, and a three-issue comic book, from which we'll present a story next week!
Note: the series was retitled The Doctors and the Nurses in its' third (and final) prime-time season before becoming a daily daytime soap opera with the same characters, but totally-recast!
That version...restoring the original title of The Nurses, ran another three years!
Amazing what you can learn on this blog, eh?

Friday, November 27, 2020

Sensation Comics DR PAT "Case of the Absent-Minded Doctor"

The first female doctor to have her own comic feature...

...starts on a new path...medical crimefighter!
So Dr Pat's a liar?
Considering a medico's reputation is one of their primary assets, staging such an outlandish event to capture criminals seems like a poor way to handle the situation.
(Though to be fair, any number of costumed crimefighters, both male and female, have done similar preposterous things!)
Obviously writer Robert Kanigher, penciler Carmine Infantino, and inker Frank Giacoia disagree with my belief!
I'm not sure why the creatives made this alteration to the series' concept, but it becomes the overriding them for the remainder of the series.
You can judge the results for yourself next month...
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The First Newsstand Comic Dedicated to the Medical Profession!

Thursday, November 19, 2020

Coronavirus Comics CINDERELLA LOVE "My Secret Yearning"

Beautiful socialite or dedicated lab assistant!
Who will win the handsome doctor?
It's a romantic triangle...created by disease!
Fran Matera illustrated this tale of desires, decisions, and disease from Ziff-Davis' Cinderella Love #7 (1952).
The writer is unknown, but it could be the book's editor Jerry (Superman) Siegel!
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Thursday, November 12, 2020

Sensation Comics DR PAT "Report for Romance"

OK, somebody has to come up with better story titles for this series!

Though the title is typical romance comics twaddle, the tale is anything but!
This never-reprinted story from DC's Sensation Comics #96 (1950) began a change in the strip's concept, as Dr Pat began using her medical skills and feminine wiles against criminals!
The romantic triangle involving both her fellow doctor and the reporter would continue!

Please Support Medical Comics!
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The First Newsstand Comic Dedicated to the Medical Profession!

Thursday, November 5, 2020

Coronavirus Comics SCIENCE COMICS "Theobald Smith and Texas Fever"

...but now it's time to (sadly) return to reality, where a pandemic continues to threaten our very existence!
Whether the anonymous writer of this never-reprinted tale from Ace's Science Comics #5 (1946) didn't know that or ignored it for expediency is unknown.
In addition, artist Warren Kremer left out Smith's rather bushy beard!
Texas Fever has been all but eliminated, thanks to Smith's pioneering work!
Next Week:
The Return of
Dr Pat!
Please Support Medical Comics!
Visit Amazon and Order...

The First Newsstand Comic Dedicated to the Medical Profession!

MY GREATEST ADVENTURE "Cure Our Robot Ruler--or Die"

Yes, This is a Weekly Blog about Doctors, Nurses, and Other Medical Personnel... Art by Lee Elias ...but nobody said the patients had to b...