Friday, January 15, 2021

CoronaVirus Comics CRACKED "O'Meagre Man"

Much like Blacula, The Omega Man is one of the few 1950s-1970s genre films...
...that didn't have a "straight" comics adaptation!
For those under-40s who don't "get" the dated punchline, the final reveal shows the leader to be the primary character of the politically-incorrect 1970s TV series All in the Family.
Illustrated by John Severin (with an assist on likenesses by his sister, master caricaturist Marie Severin), this story from Major Publications' Cracked #100 (1972) is the only adaptation and only spoof of the movie, which itself is the second movie adaptation of Richard Matheson's novelette I Am Legend!
(The first was 1964's Last Man on Earth, starring Vincent Price!)
All three versions specify that a virus kills most of the human population and mutates almost all the survivors into creatures (ghouls/vampires/zombies depending on which version you're watching)!
Note: two of the three cinema versions specify that the disease is man-made!
(The original novella indicates it's a natural mutation of rabies and carried by animals!)
In the Will Smith movie, it's called the "Krippen Virus" and was intended to destroy cancer cells.
In the Charlton Heston flick, it's nameless biological weapons used by Red China and the USSR in a border conflict which gets out of control!
In the Vincent Price movie, the plague's cause is unspecified.
Plus, the lead character in all three movies is an MD!
Last Man on EarthDr Robert Morgan (Vincent Price)
Omega Man: Dr Robert Neville (Charlton Heston)
I Am LegendDr Robert Neville (Will Smith)
BTW, Heston's character, Robert Neville, is a US Army MD, who creates a serum from his own blood, which Dutch (one of the unaffected young survivors who's also a medical student) can utilize to keep the others from "turning"!
Trivia: The Simpsons did their own satire of the 1970s movie as part of the annual Halloween "Treehouse of Horror" series...

OK, it's more "inspired" than an actual satire, but it is funny!
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(But not the 1960s Vincent Price adaptation.
That one, you can get here...)

Friday, January 8, 2021

Sensation Comics DR PAT "Operation Cupid"

She's the doctor who fights both disease and crime...

...and every once in a while, cures heartsickness!
This never-reprinted tale from DC's Sensation Comics #98 (1952) hits all the now-standard editorial requirements for a Dr Pat story:
1) Performing a medical feat that most believe a woman couldn't do!
2) Capturing a criminal!
3) Solving a romantic problem!
What more could you want to start off the New Year?
The First Female Doctor to Have her Own Strip Will Return Next Month...

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The First Newsstand Comic Dedicated to the Medical Profession!

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Xmas in the Emergency Room YOUNG DOCTORS "Dr Tom Brent: Christmas Comes in August!"

You have no idea how few medical-themed Yuletide comics stories there are...

...until you try to find one...and end up with a tale that's the victim of terrible printing!
This never-reprinted tale from Charlton's Young Doctors #6 (1963) unfortunately shows off the terrible printing Charlton Comics was famous for.
The publisher didn't utilize the printing companies literally every other comics publisher used.
Instead, to save money, they printed on old, second-hand presses.
But these presses had been constructed to handle cardboard and plastic packaging, not the much-thinner paper used for comics!
As a result, their comics had an amazing amount of smearing and off-register color, as you can see from the first page.
It's a shame, because the art by penciler Joe Sinnott and inker Vince Colletta deserves a better presentation!
BTW, Young Doctors was an anthology title featuring tales of all the MDs who had their own Charlton books, including, of course, Dr Tom Brent, Young Intern!
We're taking next week off, but we'll be back after New Year's Day!

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

THE NURSES "Heroine in White" Conclusion

...Don't you love it when the cover blurb tells you all you need to know?
Let's dive back into the action...

Written by Paul S Newman (no, not the actor) and illustrated by Jack Sparling, this never-reprinted tale from Gold Key's The Nurses #3, (1963) handled the matter of a nurse performing surgery with discretion (by all but ignoring it).
No penalty!
Not even a reprimand?
Well, it was 1960s TV, right?

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Wednesday, December 9, 2020

THE NURSES "Heroine in White" Part 1

Decades before NBC's Nurses...

...there was CBS's The Nurses, a prime-time TV show popular enough to support a comic book series!
Can a nurse perform surgery on a patient?
Will there be consequences, either personal or professional?
What if the patient dies?
Can she be accused of malpractice...or practicing medicine without a license?
The answers to these, and other questions about this never-reprinted story from Gold Key's The Nurses #3 (1963) can be found here...
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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...