Short(est) Lived Comic Series #38 - Emergency Doctor (Charlton Comics)

Here's another one-issue series that should have had more issues.  It's a shame when you find a comic, you enjoy it, and you discover that it only had the one issue - and it seems that a number of the golden, silver, and bronze age independent companies (such as Gold Key, Dell, Charlton, and others) were infamous for this.  While I ignored the whole genre of medical comics (as well as romance comics) back when I was a kid, I have developed a new appreciation for these books as an adult.  I have discovered that they have some truly great art by some well-known comic artists who were just getting their start back in the day ... plus, the stories are actually pretty good, quite often episodic in nature like a daytime soap opera (in fact, Charlton published two short-lived titles that reprinted earlier work under soap opera names:  the five issue Soap Opera Romances and the three issue Soap Opera Love).  Alas, so few of those medical / romance titles lasted, and this one is certainly no exception.

 

Emergency Doctor was published in the summer of 1963, with the indicia indicating it was to be published on a quarterly basis.  While the title seems fairly generic, it actually refers to a specific doctor - one Dr. Jerry Starr, a resident doctor at the County General Hospital.  And, yes, if you look at the cover, you will see that his name is misspelled as "Terry" rather than "Jerry" in that caption under the title.  The cover art is allegedly by Dick Giordano, who was working at Charlton when this comic was published, so it the credit is potentially correct.  The cover depicts a rather dramatic scene of surgery being performed on a patient of indeterminable gender, which scene was taken from the second story in this issue to feature Dr. Starr and his faithful nurse, Anne Adair.  I find it amusing that the lower portion of the cover is taken up by an add for a contest being run by Bonomo Turkish Taffy, in which readers could potentially win "sensational prizes," with pictures of board games, a television, and a bicycle as what I am guessing to be potential prizes.  The details about this contest are in the middle of the comic, right across from a prose story entitled "Recluse Pattern" (whose author is unidentified and remains a mystery today).

 

This comic features two main stories starring Dr. Jerry Starr and Nurse Anne Adair.  The first 10-page story is titled "Fatal Holiday," and it opens with a scene of excitement and danger as the doctor is seen climbing a ladder to get into a burning building.  Readers are quickly taken back to the previous morning, when Jerry and Anne are preparing for the day ahead of them - the day before the Fourth of July!  From a drowning boy (who does not survive, which is surprising to see in a comic like this!) to a horrible car accident involving a pregnant woman about to give birth; from a child who burned her eyes to a gunshot victim who is bleeding out; from a man who swallowed his car keys to that final emergency of men trapped in a burning building - in which Dr. Starr must make a daring rescue that ultimately requires him to jump three stories before the building collapses - readers are given the reality of the lives of emergency room doctors and nurses, who are forever rushing to save one life after another!  Of course, there is time to sneak in a bit of romance, as Jerry more than hints that he would like to make Anne his wife!  Joe Gill is credited with the script for this story, and Norman Nodel is given credit for the art chores.  Gill is best known for co-creating Charlton heroes such as Captain Atom, Peacemaker, and Judo Master; Nodel is recognized for the large amount of work he did for Classics Illustrated comics.

 

The second story featuring Dr. Starr and Nurse Adair is another 10-pager that focuses more on romance than medical drama.  In "The Perfect Doctor's Wife," Jerry saves the life of a rather beautiful woman who turns out to be Sandra Rees, daughter of the industrialist Alvin Rees.  Mr. Rees is so grateful to Jerry that he offers to fund whatever dream Jerry has - which happens to be the establishment of small neighborhood clinics for the poor.  Before you know it, Jerry is swept into the world of the rich and powerful, and he finds himself drawn to Sandra (much to Anne's chagrin!).  Before the two can marry, however, Jerry learns exactly what it will cost him to marry into such a wealthy family, and he's unwilling to leave his desire to help other behind.  The story has a very strong lesson for its readers, and a happy ending for Jerry and Anne.  The last two panels feature an intercom page for Dr. Starr to report to surgery - and a final caption that reads, "He heard and he answered the call ... just as he does every time an ambulance rolls!  This is Dr. Starr, the Emergency Doctor ... and he's doing a hard, dangerous job ... and he loves it!"  Gill and Nodel are credited with the writing and art for this story as well.

 

In-between the two stories, there is a 3-page story that is a reprint from Sweetheart Diary (another Charlton title), issue 34 from July 1956.  The story is "Last Chance for Love," and it shows readers what could happen when a woman cannot make up her mind between two men that she would love to have for different reasons.  When she finally agrees to make a decision, it turns out both men walk away before she can decide!  There is uncertainty as to whether Joe Gill authored this tale, but the art chores are credited to Charles Nicholas (pencils) and Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio (inks), with lettering by Joe D'Agostino.  It's funny to think that an entire story can be told in three pages, when today's creators cannot seem to fit a complete story into just one full issue!

 

As indicated above, there is a two-page prose tale about a doctor at Mercy General Hospital who must take drastic action in order to convince a wealthy woman that she must eat in order to survive.  There is also a one-page comic strip at the end of the book titled "The Wilderness Scout," which provides some details about the life of Christopher "Kit" Carson.  The writer and artist are not identified, but online sources indicate Gill could have been the writer, and Maurice Whitman might have been the artist.

 

Overall, I would say this was a winning issue for me.  The two main stories kept my attention, with art that, while not exactly eye-catching by today's standards, definitely appeals to me as perfect for the content of the story.  The writing was a bit fast-paced, but Gill superbly integrates just enough of Jerry and Anne's personalities into the story that by the end of those first 10 pages, you feel like you know the characters, and by the end of the second 10-page tale, you are truly rooting for them.  I would have liked to have seen more stories with these two, but alas, that was not meant to be.

 

RATING:   9 cocktail parties in a hospital suite out of 10 for well-written and nicely drawn medical stories with just the right mix of drama and romance!

Hurricane Nurse - a Berkley orginal romance novel

I am not one for romance novels, but I happened across this book at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair a few years back.  I remember being curious about it, because with "hurricane" in the title, I figured it must have a Florida setting.  The price was a bit on the high side, so I passed it up.  The next year, I saw that the seller had the same book at the same price - meaning it clearly was not selling for the price he was asking, so I held off.  When I hit the book fair this year, you guessed it - the book was still with the seller, having not sold now for three years.  I made an offer, which the seller took, and I became the proud owner of a nurse / romance novel set in the southernmost part of Florida.  Now the question became - would I enjoy the book?

hurricane nurse (and yes, the title is actually spelled with small letters, not capitals) does not actually begin in Florida; rather, the reader is introduced to Betsy Stockwell and her father, Dr. Cal, in their hometown of Atlanta, where Dr. Cal is quite the famous surgeon at the local hospital.  When he has a serious heart attack, Besty is told her father must go someplace to convalesce where he can get plenty of rest and sunshine - hence, he is shipped off to Blue Heron Cay just off the Florida Keys (NOTE - there is no such place as "Blue Heron Cay," although, as we all know, the Florida Keys, and Key West in particular, are very real places).  Betsy, whose mother died when she was young and who is very close to her father (gee, what titian-haired detective does that sound like?), feels duty-bound to go with him, and thus, she must postpone her planned marriage to Dr. Paul Norbert, who is a bit hurt, but understands and promises to wait for her (yeah, like we don't already know that's not going to happen...).

Based on the title, I was expecting that once Nurse Betsy arrived in the Florida Keys, a horrific hurricane would come through, and she would be put to the test with her nursing skills helping out people injured due to the horrific storms that swipe through the area.  I mean, the cover gives the idea that in the middle of the storm, a shirtless man is carrying an injured woman to Betsy, so that she can administer first aid during the dangerous conditions.  The actual story, however, deals very little with the hurricane that does eventually come through - a hurricane that does very little damage.  There is a young girl who is injured when she crawls under her house trying to rescue her kitting just as the storm hits (this would be the young girl in the arms of the man on the cover - but in the story, the man is not shirtless, and Betsy is not outside waiting for him); but that is truly the only "drama" associated with the hurricane.

The main gist of the story is the hate/love relationship between Betsy and the island doctor who is watching over her father's recover, Dr. Mark Everett.  While Dr. Everett is congenial and friendly with Dr. Cal, he is aloof and downright rude to Betsy from the get-go.  She immediately resents the man to the point of almost hating him.  But, of course, as with any typical soap opera romance story, Dr. Everett has a secret in his past that, when Betsy learns what it is, paints the man in a whole new light, and she soon finds herself falling for him despite her fiance back home.  When Dr. Everett admits his own feelings for her after the hurricane, Betsy is torn, but she decides to remain true to Paul, and she returns home to Atlanta with her father after he is deemed fully recovered.  Of course, as can be expected, during her absence, Paul has fallen for Betsy's best friend, leaving Betsy free to back to Dr. Everett - but is it too late?  Has he already fallen prey to a bombshell vixen down in Key West, or does he still want to make her his wife?

Other than flying into the Key West airport, and brief mentions of Miami, there is very little detail at all about Florida, which was disappointing.  And the lack of any real hurricane drama also left me with a bad taste in my mouth regarding the book and its deceptive title.  The one part of the story I did rather find amusing were the residents of the Inn there on Blue Heron Cay where Betsy and her father stay.  The owner, Davanna (no last name), is a gruff woman who has a heart for starving artists who are trying to make their big break (but none of whom are talented, so that big break is likely never to come).  There was the "tall, thin, emaciated looking woman" named Mavis, who is a poet; the "short, intense, bald man" name Allan, who considers himself a composer; the "middle-aged, rather fluttery woman" named Gertrude, a self-proclaimed artist; and the "lank, bearded young man" named Slug, who has no job, no talent, and no patience for those who do work in the real world (pp. 34-25).  It's definitely a motley crew of residents, and it was somewhat engaging to see Betsy's first reaction to them, but gradually watch as she becomes not only accustomed to their idiosyncrasies, but eventually feels they are a part of her own extended family. 

With regard to the hurricane, Davanna makes mention that the hurricanes do not usually come through there until late September (p. 62); however, Florida's hurricane season is typically from June through November, with August through September being the "busiest" months.  And looking back at the hurricanes that went through the Keys prior to 1961 when this book was published, it seems most of them hit in September (making Davanna technically correct in her observation).  And when the eye of the storm reaches the Cay (p. 66), you gotta give Davanna credit, as she warns Betsy that the calm is deceiving, as the storm will come back with full force as soon as the eye passes over.  I just truly wish the hurricane had made a bigger impact in the story, to give some level of credence to the title.

 

The author is Peggy Gaddis,  who was rather popular back in the day with her nurse romance novels.  She was a rather prolific author, with a writing career spanning thirty years.  While she wrote a number of books under her maiden name of Gaddis, she also wrote under a number of pseudonyms, such as Gail Jordan, Joan Sherman, Carolina Lee, Georgia Craig, and several others (including some male names).  I do have a couple of her other books, so when I do get around to reading them, I'm hoping they will be a bit better than this one.

The cover art is painted by Harry Bennett, who provided cover art for a large number of romance, gothic, and mystery paperbacks over the years.  You can find out some of the artist's history at this website:  Harry Bennett - Artist.  And, coincidentally enough, I actually own one of Bennett's original paintings, which was used for a young adult novel called The End of Innocence, published in 1972.  I would love to track down the original art for hurricane nurse, as that cover is definitely much more dramatic than the story inside!

RATING:  6 battered, spray-stained yachting caps out of 10 for at least throwing in a bit of mystery surrounding the island doctor's past to provide some drama to the story.