Posted By Dan Greenfield on Mar 16, 2026 | 1 comment

A MORRISON MONDAYS! Birthday Tribute…

By BILL MORRISON

Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of my favorite comedian of all time, Jerry Lewis!

Much has been written about Mr. Lewis here at 13th Dimension, due mainly to his long-running comic book series, DC’s The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, which began in 1952 as The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. But a few months before the first issue of that series premiered, Dean and Jerry starred in comic book adaptations of two of their then-current films.

In 1951, Martin and Lewis were the hottest comedy team in the nation, and also, according to an article in the August issue of Life magazine, the highest paid act in show business. Their shtick was crazy, improvisational, and mocked decorum and convention. The frenetic duo were a much-needed escape valve for post-war America in the late ’40s and early ’50s.

In ’51, Dean and Jerry were extremely busy, starring in an NBC radio series, The Martin and Lewis Show, appearing as regular TV hosts of NBC’s The Colgate Comedy Hour, and headlining at nightclubs across America. Oh, and they also happened to be major movie stars, juggling all that other stuff with an active film schedule. Given their fame, and the fact that their brand of comedy was so nutty and unorthodox, it was a natural idea to launch the act into comics. After all, their first two movies (1949’s My Friend Irma, and 1950’s My Friend Irma Goes West) were based on the popular radio program known as… you guessed it, My Friend Irma, which in 1950 became a comic-book series itself, published by Timely.

Someone at Famous Funnies was paying attention to Martin and Lewis-mania, and the publisher licensed the duo’s fourth movie, 1951’s That’s My Boy, and adapted it for their Movie Love series, which featured bi-monthly adaptations of Hollywood films. That’s My Boy appeared in Movie Love #12, followed immediately by an adaptation of their next film, The Stooge in Issue #13.

I was very fortunate to stumble across some original pages for sale from both Martin and Lewis Movie Love adaptations, three pages from That’s My Boy, and six from The Stooge. Although a few of them had suffered some water damage, I couldn’t resist the urge to buy them.

The artwork by Harold LeDoux is beautifully drawn in his realistic style, and he captures the likenesses and expressions of Dean, Jerry, Eddie Mayhoff, Marion Marshall, and Polly Bergen to perfection.

That’s My Boy, Page 7

That’s My Boy, Page 8

That’s My Boy, Page 11

The Stooge, Page 4

The Stooge, Page 5

The Stooge, Page 6

The Stooge, Page 7

The Stooge, Page 11

The Stooge, Page 12

LeDoux went on to assist artist Dan Heilman on the successful Judge Parker strip when it debuted in 1952, and began drawing it himself from 1953 until his retirement in 2006 (though he didn’t start getting credit until 1965.)

I met LeDoux at Comic-Con International San Diego in 2003, and he signed a few of the Movie Love pages for me, writing on one of them, “Hi Bill – This brings back memories – I’m now 76 – This was done in 1951 when I was 25!!

If, like me, you’re celebrating the centennial anniversary of Jerry Lewis’s birth, I hope you enjoy this rare glimpse into his early history as a comic-book star!

—

Want more MORRISON MONDAYS? Come back next week! Want a commission? See below!

—

MORE

— THE ART AND THE TOY: Bringing THE SIMPSONS’ KING HOMER to ‘Life.’ Click here.

— BAT-GIRL vs. BATGIRL: The 1960s DETECTIVE COMICS Issue That Should Have Been. Click here.