From The Scoop: Forgotten Jerry Lewis Cover?

From the April 28 issue of Gemstone Publishing's The Scoop:

Every comic fan alive loves a crossover. How about a hidden crossover appearance with two of DC's funniest characters?

The crossover occurs on the cover of Buzzy #48. Famed comedian Jerry Lewis is seen on the TV screen as Buzzy tries his best to accommodate his girlfriend's need for a clean TV signal. Younger comic fans may not be able to remember the days when TV reception was limited to the strength of your antenna, but older fans will certainly smile at the memory of trying to get a decent signal out of the earlier sets.

Some may wonder how Lewis ended upon the cover at all. The cover date of April 1953 on the Buzzy issue actually answers the question. At the time, no one in the country was hotter than Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In addition, in 1952, DC had begun publishing a book featuring the duo. So, between the public awareness of the white hot comedy team, and DC's own publishing interests, a picture of Lewis' instantly recognizable face could only help Buzzy on the newsstand.

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were among the most successful comedy teams in the history of show business. Their popularity spilled out from the nightclub stage and into movies, television, radio and eventually, comic books. The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis first saw publication at DC with a cover date of July August 1952. At this point, the team was at the height of their fame. How did they get their own comic book?

DC had a long history of associating with the movies, radio and TV. Superman and Batman had both has strong showings as movie serials during the forties. The company had even published a couple of book's straight from radio, A Date With Judy (1947), Gang Busters (1947), and Mr. District Attorney (1948). In 1949, they began publishing Miss Hollywood Hills. The title featured a lot of Hollywood guest-stars. As the fifties came and the taste of comic readers began to change even more, DC had the Hollywoodconnections to search out something different so that readers would keep coming back to the newsstand.

In 1950 DC began one of their most successful Hollywoodtitles, The Adventures of Bob Hope. That same year they featured a photo-still from the movie, Destination Moon, on the first cover of Strange Adventures. So it is not out of the question that they would have gone after the most important comedy team of the day and offer them their own comic. The first issue of The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis saw publication with a July August 1952 cover date.

Few people could be prepared for the demands of celebrity that their "overnight" success brought. The pressures placed on the two of them were beyond intense. It can honestly be said that when they split in 1956, the only two men who could understand what happened were Martin and Lewis themselves. The problems faced by DC when they split were miniscule compared to what the men themselves, their agents, publicists, movie and publishing companies were faced with. DC's only problem was who got the book?

The answer seemed pretty reasonable. Almost everyone pegged Jerry as the one with the real future. (All except Jackie Gleason, who felt that Dean would emerge the greater of the two. He believed that Dean had the looks, the signing voice, the move presence and more). Besides, the figure of Dean didn't lend itself to illustrated wackiness any where near as well as Jerry's did.

The answer was fairly obvious, the book went to Jerry Lewis. It is also may be relatively easy to assume that Dean had little interest in keeping the title. So, with issue # 41, the book became known as The Adventures of Jerry Lewis. The first cover date under the new title was November 1957.

The book lasted a lot longer than many may remember. The final issue was #124 and it was cover dated May June 1971. That means the book had a nearly twenty year run. This is a pretty strong showing in anyone's book.

One of the ways the book lasted so long was crossovers and as well as strong cover artists. Issue # 97 saw Batman, Robin and The Joker make a guest appearance on a cover drawn by Golden Age great Dick Sprang. Neil Adams did the covers to #101, 102 and 103.

The Beatle showed up in #102 (but not on the Neal Adams cover to that issue). Superman had a crossover in #105 and the Flash was in #122. Issue #117 saw Wonder Woman helping Jerry.

These stunts may have helped Jerry outlast all the other DC show business comics. Bob Hope's comic only made to 1968.

How did Buzzy last when compared to Jerry? Not to well. But the character, who first saw publication in 1943, still proved to be a solid and memorable addition to the teen genre. Strangely, a full year separated his last two issues. The second to last one, #76 came out with a cover date of October 1957 and the final issue , #77, came out a year later on October 1958.

DC's long history of show business connections continues to this day. This summer will see the release of a new Superman move and last summer saw what many believe was one of the best comic book film adaptations ever, Batman Begins.

Given their success with comic book adaptations of film comedians, do you think that DC may have an Adam Sandler or Chris Rock comic book in the near future?

One last note. Many felt that Gleason's predictions for Dean came true when the films Some Came Running (1958 ) and Rio Bravo (1959) were released. Dean is amazing in each role. How many people could actually upstage Frank Sinatra or John Wayne without moving a muscle? It must also be noted that Frank was smart enough to let him do it again in the original Ocean's Eleven.

Lewis found great success himself, so maybe the real winner this time out was the fan.

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