After more than a year since reading volume two, I figured it was time to delve back into the world of everyone's favorite actress of yesteryear - Mary Perkins, On Stage! As I was reading this third volume, it hit me - I am so glad that I'm reading these for the first time in these collected editions, because I don't know if I would have had the patience to wait day after day for each three to four panel episode (not counting the larger Sunday episodes) to reach a conclusion of one story and move on to the next. I realize I do that very thing with General Hospital (as I also did with Passions, Santa Barbara, and All My Children back in the day...); but at least with the television shows, you get a full hour (well, 40 minutes or so) of story - with only three panels a day, you can't move the story at too fast of a pace without making it not worth the effort. However, in this collected format, I have the opportunity to get the entire story in one reading without having to wait for just a small snippet of the story each day!
Volume Three of Mary Perkins, On Stage features strips from April 20, 1959 to June 12, 1960 (just a little over a year's worth of stories). This volume features an introduction by Joe Jusko, who is a rather famous artist in his own right, his art having graced covers of Conan and Vampirella, among others. I enjoy these introductions, because it's great to see how Leonard Starr's daily comic strip inspired other creators. Like Jusko, I much prefer comic art that is more realistic, rather than a lot of the stylized art that we see in today's comics and cartoons where people barely even look like people. Jusko correctly points out that Starr's art in On Stage showcased "facial expressions and body language [that] was flawless, projecting every emotion accurately and precisely, and the hair styles and clothing were always current and age-appropriate." (Introduction, p. 4) And like Jusko, I assumed Starr must have been extremely familiar with the theater world based on the detail and descriptions in his stories, but was very surprised to discover that Starr was not at all comfortable with the material he was writing! That definitely speaks volumes about this man's writing and artistic talents!
As to the storylines in volume three, we pick up right where volume two left off - the ghost on the set of "The Dryden Ghost" has been exposed, and now Mary, along the cast and crew, are headed to France where the film has been entered into the Riviera Film Festival. Only, so has a film starring Oola LaBelle, who is so beautiful and sultry that her lack of acting skills are always overlooked. Oola, however, is afraid Mary may steal her spotlight, so her agent does everything in his power to keep Mary out of the way - including leading Mary to believe he can reunite her with her true love, Pete Fletcher, who has been a political prisoner in a foreign country for too long now. Of course, things always have a way of working out for Mary, so not only does her film win in the festival, but she also learns that Pete will be released in just six months!
Starr always manages to end one story with a lead-in to the next big adventure, and as fate would have it, Mary has been offered a part in a play by the famous playwright, George Geeper. The only thing is, Cara Wayde has also been offered a part - to play Mary's sister in the new production! And Cara Wayde is an unscrupulous egomaniac who will do just about anything to ensure the play is all about her. An accident gives Cara the ammunition she needs to put Mary under her thumb and endear herself to the playwright, and before you know it, rewrites are happening on a regular basis that increase Cara's stage time and reduces Mary's lines to nearly none at all!
By the end of that production, Mary has lost her voice, so she is sent off to a private cabin in the countryside to recuperate - which, coincidentally enough, her next story begins! This is a fun little caper that has nothing to do with acting and everything to do with horrible dog trainer who has been abusing the animals - and one in particular is a famous dog that Mary easily recognizes and does everything she can to protect him from his vicious owner. And as Mary successfully sees Coppy placed in a loving home, Pete Fletcher receives his passport and is released, ready to be returned to the States.
The next story finally sees Pete and Mary reunited in Switzerland, where they finally get married (in a beautifully rendered Sunday edition), despite some concerns the doctors have regarding Pete's memory lapse and his unusual fear of nurses. Of course, as with any soap opera, happiness is never to last long, and soon enough it is revealed that Pete is already married - to a woman who was his nurse while he was held captive! Until the truth is fully uncovered, Mary is forced to live separate from Mary - which is when she happens to be swept off her feet (literally!) by good ol' Johnny Q! He, of course, helps her discover the truth about Anya Kapek, and it all culminates in an explosive battle.
Mary and Pete return to the States, where Mary finds herself a guest on Bud Birdie show - but the host is anything but confident, and he seems to be always nervous, fearful that he will not be loved and well received. Even his co-star, Tex McPrairie, and his announcer, Carl, can't seem to ever soothe Bud's nerves when it comes to making sure his show is a success. Circumstances lead to Mary becoming a permanent guest star on the show, but backstage, something else is going on - someone is leaking stories to the press that are not true, and it seems to Mary that someone is trying to ruin Bud Birdie!
The final tale finds Mary starting a new play, where she will be a substitute teacher in a school filled with tough students. What she doesn't expect is to find a couple of real tough kids who sneak into the auditions to avoid being caught by the police. Mary's heart feels for the two boys, so she convinces the director to bring them into the cast in the hopes they can offer authenticity. Chino and Tom readily agree, since it means a paycheck. Chino seems to be a natural, quickly learning lines; but Tom has a bit more hesitancy and freezes when it comes his turn to speak or act. But you can't always take the trouble out of the boys, as Mary and Pete soon learn, and the two boys ultimately have to make choices that will determine their futures - but will they choose right?
And as this volume comes to a close, it ends with a Sunday spread that hints of things to come - Mary receives a call from Pete's editor at "View" magazine with an urgent message for her husband; and at the same time, an elderly woman has shown up on the set, responding to the advertisement for a wardrobe mistress. How will these events play out? Guess we'll have to wait for volume four!
I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating - Starr's art is absolutely magnificent. His backgrounds are so detailed, so exact, that the reader feels like he or she is actually right there with Mary and her friends - whether it's the streets of New York City, or the newly furnished apartment for the Fletchers, or the countryside outside the cabin where Mary convalesces, or the backstage of her latest play - Starr provides the most minute details to make each panel as real as possible, and this, I believe, is in large part what led to the success of this strip for so many years!
RATING: 10 leftover steaks out of 10 for providing a thoroughly enjoyable ongoing drama that is engaging, beautifully drawn, and exciting as it is fun!
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