The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis

The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis is the title of a celebrity comic book published by DC Comics and featuring the popular team of comedians Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. The series ran for forty issues from 1952 through 1957,[1] at which time the title was renamed The Adventures of Jerry Lewis due to the real life breakup of the team.[2]

Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #1 (1952).
Publication information
PublisherNational Periodical Publications, an imprint of DC Comics
ScheduleSemi-monthly
FormatOngoing series
Publication date1952-1971
No. of issues124
Main character(s)Jerry Lewis
Dean Martin
Creative team
Written byArnold Drake
Cal Howard
Artist(s)Bob Oksner
Neal Adams

The series continued as a Jerry Lewis solo title for issues #41-124.[3] The new series featured Lewis in a variety of humorous situations. Infrequent guest stars included Batman,[4] Bob Hope, Lex Luthor, Superman,[5] the Flash,[6] and Wonder Woman.[7] Notable artists who worked on the series include Bob Oksner and Neal Adams.[8]

In 1964, Jerry's genius nephew Renfrew joined the book, and a year later, the cast included a fairy-tale witch housekeeper named Witch Kraft.[9]

The entire DC humor line was cancelled between 1971 and 1972, including Jerry Lewis, Leave It to Binky, Date with Debbi and Swing with Scooter.[10]

In 2007, Bob Oksner stated that he had had a greater role in writing the comic than previously acknowledged, explaining that the comic's editor, Larry Nadle, had persuaded Oksner to allow his writing credit (and thus payment) to be transferred to "another cartoonist" who Nadle described as being in debt to DC; in reality, Nadle was keeping the money. When this was discovered after Nadle's death in 1963, Oksner was nearly fired.[11]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis at the Grand Comics Database
  2. ^ Schelly, William (2013). American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1950s. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 66. ISBN 9781605490540.
  3. ^ The Adventures of Jerry Lewis at the Grand Comics Database
  4. ^ Drake, Arnold (w), Oksner, Bob (p), Oksner, Bob (i). "Batman Meets Jerry" The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, no. 97 (Nov.-Dec. 1966).
  5. ^ Drake, Arnold (w), Oksner, Bob (p), Oksner, Bob (i). "Superman Meets Jerry" The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, no. 105 (March–April 1968).
  6. ^ "The Flash Meets Jerry Lewis" The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, no. 112 (May–June 1969).
  7. ^ The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, no. 117 (March–April 1970).
  8. ^ McAvennie, Michael (2010). "1960s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. [In July–August 1967], The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #101 perfectly illustrated how Adams was equally adept at delivering the art of laughter. In his first full-length story for DC, he provided writer Arnold Drake's space odyssey 'Jerry the Asto-Nut' with a photo-realistic flare not seen in comics.
  9. ^ Wells, John (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 38. ISBN 978-1605490557.
  10. ^ Sacks, Jason; Dallas, Keith (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 57. ISBN 978-1605490564.
  11. ^ "My Women Had Saturday Night Bodies And Sunday School Faces": Cartoonist Par Excellence BOB OKSNER Drew Angels, Apes - And Everything In Between!, by Jim Amash; in Alter Ego #67 (April 2007) (via Issuu)