Sham Comics Presents: The Adventures of the Nerdly Boyz (A Parody of Adventures of the Dover Boys)

So what exactly do you call a parody of a parody?  Well, over a year and a half ago, I picked up and read a reprint of an old 1950s comic titled Adventures of the Dover Boys, which was a parody of sorts of the old Stratemeyer series, The Rover Boys.  The story was actually well done, considering when it was published, and I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure.  Sadly, it was only a one-off comic, with no other issues of this title ever being published.  Thus, you can imagine my surprise when I'm thumbing through Previews a couple of months ago and saw a comic that sported the same exact cover as the Adventures of the Dover Boys!  Needless to say, it caught my attention, so I looked a bit further at the advertisement.  Published by Source Point Press, the comic was titled Sham Comics, and this second issue of the series presented a story titled "The Adventures of the Nerdly Boyz."

If the title of the comic itself was not enough to give away the fact that this was going to be pure parody, the cover dialogue more than confirms it!  Similar in nature to the MST3K comic series I recently read and reviewed, this series appears to take old comics (likely those in public domain) and while maintaining the original art, reworks all of the word balloons, thought bubbles, and text boxes to create an entirely different story!  And as the text on the cover proudly proclaims, "What is the idol's secret? You may never know because nothing like this actually happens in this issue!"  

The story of "The Nerdly Boyz and the Riches of the Wango Bango" provides readers with a hysterically new story involving Spud and Pud Nerdly, who are touted as identical twins (although Spud is ten months older than his brother and has a different mother).  They live with their father, Colonel Horatio Nerdly, and their doting housekeeper, Eudora Graybush.  Taking over the role of the villain is the colonel's former partner, Professor Basil Ratburn, and his son, Dickie.  The comic is represented exactly as the original, including advertisements at the end of some of the chapters (although these advertisements are not real and will certainly make you giggle, if not laugh out loud!).  And while the story is not overly vulgar, there are definitely some more adult moments (such as the 24-karat gold dildo in the shape of an ear of corn, the racist remarks of Mrs. Graybush, and the blunt use of the "f" bomb).

Tim Fuller is identified as the "rewriter and designer" for the comic, and while I'm not familiar with the name, I have to give him some high praise for his ability to create an entirely new story from an existing comic.  What was originally written to show two very smart, quick-thinking, and adventurous young men has been changed to show two inept, ridiculously incompetent, and unbelievably lucky nerds.  In fact, the re-write brought out some things that I never noticed when I read the original Dover Boys tale, such as the full-on lip-lock of Pud (Tim) and Mrs. Graybush (Aunt Martha) on panel three of page 10!  How in the world did I not catch that in the original comic?  Then there's the guy who shows up on page 29 of the story and immediately gets killed when he runs off with the treasure!  He appeared way back on page 7 for just a few panels and is not seen or heard from again until the end of the story - a fact that is quickly pointed out by Spud on page 30 (and which, again, I did not really catch when I read the original Dover Boys comic!). 

The rewritten story follows Spud and Pud as they go on a treasure hunt to steal the gold from the Wango Bango tribe of natives.  They are rescued by a doctor and his assistant ("Freebird!"), who join on the hunt.  Of course, they encounter the natives and have to rescue poor Freebird from being sacrificed as a virgin (although, as she so bluntly tells them, they are barking up the wrong bush!).  From smelly farts in the tunnels to an ancient butt plug as the last remaining momento of their treasure hunt, the Nerdly Boyz share an adventure that will undoubtedly make you laugh!

I'm all for a good parody, and this comic was a GREAT parody!  I'll be keeping on eye on this Sham Comics series to see what they'll be making fun of next!

RATING:  10 talking red Buddhas out of 10 for proving just how much fun a really great parody can be!

Adventures of the Dover Boys - an Archie Comics One-Shot (1950)

As a huge collector of children's mystery series, while I may not collect ALL of the series that were put out back in the day, I still recognize the names of many of those series - particularly those published by Edward Stratemeyer and his Stratemeyer Syndicate.  One of the earliest series he published was The Rover Boys, written under the pseudonym of Arthur M Winfield.  The series was published from 1899 to 1926 and originally featured the three Rover brothers - Tom, Sam, and Dick.  And the whole reason I mention this historical information is to give you some background on why I ordered from Amazon this reprint comic from UP History and Hobby (whose website, www.goldenagereprints.com is no longer viable, as a quick search brought up a message that indicates the owner of the website failed to pay invoices for the domain use, and thus, it was suspended).  Oh, and what would that reprint comic be, you ask?

Adventures of the Dover Boys #1, published in 1950 by the same company who was publishing Archie Comics and all of their related titles.

A few interesting things to note about this particular comic.  The story itself is actually 30 pages of story and art, with very few ads (being pretty much the last two pages of the comic, as well as the inside and outside of the back cover).  The story is broken up into six chapters, each chapter varying in length from 4 to 6 pages - and each chapter ends with a cliffhanger note, as well as a third-of-a-page advertisement for a various Archie comic title (such as Archie, Wilber, Super Duck, Suzie, etc.) - only the first and last chapters have no ad at the end.  The comic is also not numbered, per se; rather, with no issue number on the cover, the publishing information located at the bottom of the first page merely labels this as "Adventures of the Dover Boys, 1st edition, published by Close-Up, Inc., 420 DeSoto Ave., St. Louis, Mo."  No future issues were specifically planned, although the last panel of the comic, after the story ends, gives out the call: "Adventure-lovers! Would you like to see more breath-taking stories about the Dover Boys? If so, drop us a postcard right away and cast your vote...and we will get right to work on another jam-packed yarn of deep mystery and intrigue!" Thus, we can only be left to guess that not enough readers wrote in to request further adventures, as no second issue of the comic was ever published.  There is no specific credit given to the creators of the comic, although research reveals that Harry Lucey provided the art for the book (nothing I could find revealed the author of the story).  Unlike today, many comics in the past did not feature credit boxes, listing the writers, pencillers, inkers, letterers, etc., so trying to locate the creators for offbeat titles like this is not so easy.

Anyway...getting back to the comic story and the characters.  The inside front cover gives readers the necessary information they need to know about the Dover Boys and their supporting cast so that whey they are dropped into the story on page one, they don't have to worry about tons of exposition to bring them up to speed. The Dover Boys are Dan and Tim Dover (instead of Tom and Dick Rover...), who are 18 and 17, respectively, with dark brown and blond hair, respectively (similar to Frank and Joe Hardy). Their parents disappeared on an expedition, so they are living with and being raised by their Uncle Bill Dover and his wife, Martha.  Silas Croombs is the town miser, and his son, Claude, is a thorn in the Dover Boys' side.  And with this information, readers are ready to read the first comic adventure of the Dover Boys, "The Dover Boys and the Treasure of Death."

The mystery centers around an ancient Inca treasure for which their Uncle Bill was searching.  He came back to obtain more funding, and Silas Coombs pretends to be interested in sponsoring the trip (but in reality, was simply tricking Bill into drawing the map for him so he could find the treasure for himself!). As with your typical children's series book, each chapter ends with a cliffhanger, and this comic is no exception - as Uncle Bill is attacked by a shadowy figure and the small part of the Inca treasure he had brought home is stolen! Needless to say, the Dover Boys are soon on a trip to Peru to continue their uncle's search for the lost treasure. Their plane is nearly shot out of the sky, they and their guide are attacked by tribesmen, the daughter of a university professor in the jungle searching for the treasure is kidnapped and readied for sacrifice, the boys are captured and must face down the Indian chief, and they race against time to avoid being killed in an exploding volcano! All the while, they must avoid and stay ahead of Claude Coombs and his cohort in crime, Mike Foster.  Unlike your standard children's mystery, however, the comic is not afraid to show some of the characters being killed (I won't spoil the fun by revealing which ones); but, otherwise, it is a very clean-cut, fun-filled adventure that reads very much like a fast-paced mystery that might have been put forth by the Stratemeyer Syndicate or one of its competitors.

The art is not too bad - with backgrounds that are fairly simplistic and not overly detailed, and colors that are vibrant while the Dover Boys are in their hometown, but which darken when they head into the jungles of Peru. Some of today's comic readers might find the characters a bit roughly drawn, but for me, I liked the standard art of having people look like people (unlike some of today's comics, where the artist's "style" renders people who look far from human at times).  The artist had a pretty good handle on expressions, such as Tim's shock on page 5 when his Uncle is stabbed, or the boys' glee when they are told they can head down to Peru on page 9 - although I think Tim's shock/surprise on the middle panel of page 18 is probably the best in the entire issue!

An interesting side note - while searching for some information on this comic online, I discovered that this comic is not the only version of "The Dover Boys" out there.  Apparently, WB's Merrie Melodies cartoons did their own "Dover Boys" take on The Rover Boys series back in 1942 with a cartoon short called The Dover Boys at Pimento University or The Rivals of Roquefort Hall. The title of the cartoon is interesting, as a lot of series books back in the early 1900s had double titles like this, so it gives it an even strong feel of one of the children's mysteries of that era.  The cartoon was closer to The Rover Boys books, as it featured three brothers: Tom, Dick, and Larry, who attend Pimento University.

I wish the demand had been enough for Archie comics to do a follow up, or even several follow-ups, to this one adventure of the Dover Boys.  Having my two favorite things (comic books and children's mystery) come together like this is always a true joy for me!

RATING:  10 craters of a live volcano out of 10 for everything that makes a children's mystery book exciting, only in comic book form!