Short Lived Comic Series #37 - The Nurses (Gold Key Comics)

Gold Key Comics seemed to have a knack, back in the day, for publishing comic books based on various television shows out at the time.  Adam-12, Lost in Space, Bonanza, Happy Days, Family Affair, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Star Trek, and many others (including my all-time favorite, Dark Shadows!).  Many of them only lasted a few issues, while some of them did manage to keep going for years.  One short-lived series that I was unaware of until recently only had three issues, and it was based upon a prime-time television medical drama that ran from September 1962 to May 1965.  It took me a bit of hunting to find all three issues of the series at reasonable prices and in fairly good condition, but I managed to finish the set recently and have been able to read it.

 

The Nurses is based upon the CBS television show of the same name, the story of which centers around a young nurse named Gail Lucas (portrayed by Zina Bethune) and her older nurse mentor, Liz Thorpe (portrayed by Shirl Conway).  This appears to be the only show that either actress starred on a regular basis, although they both made appearances in other episodic television shows.  The Nurses takes place in New York City at Alden General Hospital, which is said to have been patterned after Roosevelt Hospital in the Midtown West area of NYC.  The show ran for three seasons and boasted a total of 98 episodes, and it even had a crossover in its third season with a companion legal series called For the People (starring none other than William Shatner, of Star Trek fame).  Interestingly, after the nighttime drama ended, ABC picked it up and continued it as a daytime soap opera, using the same name and characters (although the actors changed) and which ran from September 1965 to March 1967.  This three-issue comic series is based on the original prime-time show.

 

The comics did not give credit to any of the creators (as Gold Key was wont to do), but from what I was able to discover online, Paul S. Newman wrote the stories in all three issues.  Newman (not to be confused with the actor) was quite the prolific comic writer, with his earliest work being in the late 1940s for Dell, DC, and Fawcett, later adding work at Marvel, Western Publishing/Gold Key, and a number of other publishers, continuing to write well into the 1970s.  The stories in the first issue appear to have been penciled and inked by Jack Sparling, who also has quite the resume of work for DC, Dell, Marvel, and Western Publishing/Gold Key.  The art for the second and third issues remain uncredited.  Each of the three issues contains two stories about the nurses, with Gail Lucas being the primary character, and her mentor, Liz Thorpe, being the only continuing supporting character.  The rest of the cast changes with every story.  Each issue also features a short, 4-page story starring the "Emergency Crew," which is comprised of two men - Jim Friendly and Carl Blaker - who get called into help rescue people before the paramedics and/or fire department can arrive.  These short strips were also written by Newman, with art in the first issue by Sparling.

 

In the first issue, Gail and Liz are confronted with an old country doctor, Dr. Dart, whose patient is brought to the hospital to be treated in "Call of Duty."  Dr. Dart is old fashioned in his ways and wants no one - no resident, nor nurses, no one! - touching his patient except him.  When Liz offers to take the crotchety doctor home on a rainy night, they get into an accident, and Dr. Dart is forced to accept Liz' help with the other driver, who has been seriously injured.  By the end of the story, the doctor realizes his views are antiquated and changes the way he thinks about the nursing staff.  The second story brings the nurses "The Problem Patient," an overly controlling and paranoid chairman of a multi-million dollar company who is afraid everyone is trying to take his job.  He does not believe his wife, his business partner, or even his own secretary - but it takes Gail's innocence and ingenuity to prove to the man his fear and paranoia are only hurting him.  The four-page Emergency Crew tale has Jim and Carl saving a young boy who has fallen down a well.

 

The second issue starts of with a doctor following in "His Father's Shadow."  Young Dr. Hartly seems to be a prodigy when it comes to surgery, showing expert skill after only a month of internship.  But Liz and Gail quickly learn his superb skill only appears when he is working with his father, Dr. Tyler.  When Tyler is not around, Harty is afraid of doing even the most minor of procedures.  It is only when faced with his father on the operating table that Hartly is able to overcome his fears.  The second story, "Give Me My Baby," finds the nurses dealing with a woman who is deathly afraid to have her sick baby taken to the hospital.  Her first child died in the hospital, and she is scared if her second child is taken to Alden General, he will die as well.  Gail must convince the woman that the hospital is the only chance her son has to survive.  The four-page Emergency Crew story takes Jim and Carl to the docks, where they must help keep a man who has had a heart attack from a nearby oil fire that, if it hits the oxygen tank keeping the man alive, could kill them all.

 

In the third issue, Gail becomes a "Heroine in White," when she assists a doctor that witnessed a mugging and brings the injured man into the hospital to save his life.  But the muggers are out for revenge, and when Gail helps the newspaper snap a picture of the doctor, the criminals run his car off the road and into a ravine - a car in which both the doctor and Gail are riding!e e (As you might guess, this is the story from which the cover scene was taken.)  Gail must use all of her training to keep the doctor alive until help arrives, and it is her identifying the men that puts them behind bars.  The final story teaches an injured model that "All Scars Don't Show."  Following an accident that left her leg injured and scars to her face, a model refuses to walk, even though her leg is fully healed.  Liz takes center stage and with the help of a photographer, convinces the model that photos can be retouched to hide her scars, and her modeling career can continue - giving her the courage to get up and walk and get back to her life.  The four-page Emergency Crew story finds Jim and Carl racing against time to save the pilot of a crashed airplane from live electrical wires that could kill him at any moment.

 

The first two issues feature photo scenes from the television show on the front covers, with mini-posters of the two main actresses from the show on the back cover.  What is odd about the back cover posters is that the first issue has a photo of Zina Bethune with her character name, "Gail Lucas" over the picture.  The second issue, however, features a photo of Shirl Conway, but instead of her character name over the picture, it has her real name.  There is no explanation why they use the character name on one and the actress name on the other.  The third, and final, issue has a painted cover art, with small photos of the two actresses in the upper right corner on the front cover, and the same painted art on the back cover, but without any title words or photos interrupting the art.  There is no credit given to the cover art, and I was unable to find any information on the artist online.

 

Each issue also features a one-page text story that provides information about various medical people and moments from history.  In the first issue, "Angel of Mercy" provides some information about Clara Barton; in the second issue, "Lady with the Lamp" recounts the story of Florence Nightingale; and in the third issue, "Early Hospitals" gives an account of how hospitals, as we now know them, came into being.

 

While the main stories are 12 and 13 pages in length, and are obviously very fast paced, they are actually very enjoyable and provide some well-written characterization, even though the individuals who appear in each story only appear once.  The art, while some might think is very simple and plain compared to today's comic art, works perfectly for the stories, allowing the reader to focus more on what is actually happening then getting "awed" by the "pretty art."  All three issues were published in 1963 (cover dated April / July / October, respectively), and it's rather a shame it did not continue, especially since the television show lasted another two years (before switching to a daily afternoon soap).  Based on these comics, I'm going to have to try and track down any episodes of the television show and see how they compare!

RATING:  9 unsigned powers of attorney out of 10 for some great drama, not always of the medical kind, and some entertaining stories that make for great reading!

Sara Lone - a Sumerian comics mini-series

It's pretty much a given that when I come across comic books with female protagonists published by independent comic book publishers, I'm going to pick them up.  I'm not sure if it's because I started reading Nancy Drew books at an early age and fell in love with the female sleuth, or if it's because from the moment I read my first comic book back in 1979 that I gravitated toward the female characters, such as Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Ms. Marvel (the original), She-Hulk, and later, Huntress, Power Girl, Black Canary, Hellcat, Night Nurse, Ms. Tree, Somerset Holmes, and others.  Or maybe it simply because the male characters seem to always be much more prominent on book shelves and comic book racks that I wanted to see more of the lesser publicized characters.  Whatever the reason, I do enjoy reading a good story about a strong female lead.  Heck, that may even be why I love horror films (slasher flicks) so much, is because 99% of the time, it's a final girl who manages to one-up the killer and survive at the end!

Whatever the reason may be, Sara Lone definitely caught my attention when I came across it in the Previews some months back.  I picked it up, unaware it was actually a French comic book that has now been translated and published here in America.  The story center around Sara Lone (whose real name is Joy Carruthers), a young woman who, after a fight with her father, runs away to New Orleans, where she eventually becomes a burlesque dancer.  When her father's body is discovered buried at a beach in Texas, his head separated from his body, the police pay a visit to New Orleans to inform Sara.  From there, circumstances spiral, as Sara's boss makes a play for her, and Sara knocks him unconscious, taking some of his money and a box that seems to be important.  A fellow dancer takes advantage of the situation, stealing the rest of the money from the safe and killing the boss, framing Sara for the murder.  Before Sara can be charged with the crime, however, a government agent steps in and whisks her away, taking her under his wing.  Of course, his protection doesn't come without a price...

Erik Arnoux crafts a very intricate tale with a number of players, secrets, and entanglements.  Set in the early 1960s, at a time when John F. Kennedy is elected President, the story involves some very dark, behind-the-scenes events involving the Cuba missile crisis, Lee Harvey Oswald, and a plot to remove a President who refuses to follow orders.  At the same time, it involves a sunken ship, a stolen treasure, and a cursed idol; it involves the racism of the '60s and the misogyny of that period; and it involves a woman's desire to live her own life on her own terms. The art is beautifully rendered by David Morancho, with soft colors that belie the dark nature of the story.   

The four issues cover a period of nearly four years - from the election of John F. Kennedy to the assassination of the President.  And while the comic tells the story of Sara Lone, it also tells a (fictional?) behind-the-scenes story of the events leading up to Kennedy's death.  The players on this chess board are definitely far from the cardboard cut-outs one might normally see in a story like this - Sara is running from the law, dealing with the death of her father, handling the day-to-day business of her father's fishing business, searching for a long-lost treasure that could save the company and the livelihoods of her employees, and learning to adjust to a new life as a pawn in a covert government operation.  Plus, she has to deal with the startling secret she learns about the man who has been "protecting" her for the past four years.  Meanwhile, Rip Vandoorne thinks he is simply using a woman that is an expert with a gun, unaware that his higher-ups have their own agenda that might not quite mesh with his; he is unaware that Sara has discovered the secrets of his past; and he is unaware that his own ethics and morals will soon create a conflict between his job duties and his own personal code, leading up to a double-cross that could cost both him and Sara their lives.

It's definitely a complicated story, but most certainly an enjoyable one.  I had empathy for Sara and the life she has had to lead, and I grew to appreciate Rip and the job he was trying to do within the confines of his superiors' orders.  While nothing in the story changes the historical facts of what actually happened in the real world, it does give the reader a sense of what possibly could have been going on behind closed doors (and on park benches and in secluded warehouses) that led up to that tragic day in November 1963.  And while the story reaches a logical conclusion, there is certainly room for more stories about Sara, which I would love to see one day.  Whether that will happen or not is a whole other mystery...

RATING:  9 hot dogs with double pickles and extra cheese sauce out of 10 for telling an out-of-the-ordinary comic story with excellent writing and gorgeous visuals!