Showing posts with label stan drake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stan drake. Show all posts

Monday, 1 May 2017

Kelly Green - The Go-Between



Here's a treat, with the superstar pairing of legendary newspaper strip artists Stan ( The Heart Of Juliet Jones ) Drake and Leonard ( On Stage ) Starr, on a series of graphic novels for French publisher Dargaud, that came out at the tail end of the Bronze Age.
Kelly Green, as you'll see, is a cop's widow who gets involved on the periphery of crime after her husband's murder. Interestingly, we never actually see Kelly's husband Dan, as he buys it on the first page. But then, his work is done, setting our heroine on the path to her new life, and providing her with new crooked pals Spats, Jimmy Delocke & Meathooks, who are sort of her version of Doc Savage's Fabulous Five.
Kelly's a great character, cold and professional when she has to be, and The Go-Between would've made a great little noir thriller, as would the other books in the series, each one coming with a killer last panel.
And I'd be willing to bet Kelly inspired Max Allen Collins' & Terry Beatty's later Ms. Tree, another great strip about a crime-fighting cop's widow.
These pages are from a french scan that I've translated myself ( so excuse any spelling mistakes! ), which leads me to a request if anyone can help.
I've got paper copies of most of the series, but does anyone have any English scans of any of the books to save me damaging mine?
Especially, does anyone have books 4 & 5 ( The Blood Tapes and The Comic-Con Heist )? As I've forked out for physical copies, my conscience is clear asking! Come on, share with the group.

















































Thursday, 4 February 2016

The Heart Of Juliet Jones



The Heart Of Juliet Jones was another wonderful soap operaesque newspaper strip that, like Mary Perkins On Stage, boasted great, likeable characters, razor sharp dialogue and deceptively simple artwork that influenced a whole generation of comic artists.
Beginning in 1953, the strip was by Stan Drake who, to Bronze Age eyes, looked a bit like a cross between Neal Adams and Ernie Colon, but who undoubtedly 'taught' both. It's ostensibly about sensible, level-headed Juliet and her slightly wayward sister Eve. By the time I actually read any Juliet Jones, in the pages of The Menomonee Falls Gazette, the strip had been running for 20 odd years, and Juliet was married, straight-laced and careful. Eve, by comparison, was spunky, loud mouthed and always involved with unsuitable romantic partners. Plus she was a spit of Moon Knight's girlfriend Marlene. Guess which character I liked better?


So apologies to any Juliet fans but, c'mon, sometimes supporting characters do just take over the strip. Here's Eve, once again struggling to understand the male psyche. Oh, amd remember when Howard The Duck turned human for one issue? He's in here too. What's that about?