A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION: The celebrated Mr. K pays a comic tribute to his fave entertainer… — UPDATED 3/16/25: The late, great Jerry Lewis was born 99 years ago, on March 16, 1926. Perfect time to reprint this piece from Lewis’ birthday in 2022. Not just that, make sure you come back tomorrow for MORRISON MONDAYS — and a brand new treat. Right on. — Dan — By PAUL KUPPERBERG Don’t get me started on Jerry Lewis! If I had to choose one performer who had any sort of influence on my life, it would be Jerry Lewis (March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017). And doesn’t that just tell you s**tloads about me! I was born the year Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, the most successful comedy duo in history, broke up, and by the time I became aware of such things, their movies were showing up regularly on television and Jerry had already embarked on his successful solo film career. I was 8 years old when I saw The Nutty Professor (1963) and I was hooked for life. (And yes, I do recognize that Jerry was often on the wrong side of controversy, but the 9-year-old in me will forever love him for the comfort and laughter he brought into my often unhappy childhood.) If you think movie merchandizing was a modern invention of Star Wars vintage, Martin and Lewis had them all beat by a quarter of a century. They appeared on countless products, including these objects in my collection: a two-face Martin and Lewis hand-puppet and a Tucks’ cellophane tape dispenser. I also own a copy of Jerry’s life-mask, made, I believe, for make-up tests for The Nutty Professor, as well as the lobby posters for The Bellhop, Cinderfella (painted by Norman Rockwell), and the Italian release of It’s Only Money. And did I mention comic books? DC Comics’ The Adventures of Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis ran for 40 issues (July-August 1952 – October 1957), and, after their legendary split, continued as The Adventures of Jerry Lewis from #41 – 124 (November 1957 – May-June 1971. (I understand why they went with the wacky, juvenile Jerry over the womanizing, hard drinking crooner Dean to continue the title, but I sure as heck would have loved to have also seen Dino’s solo adventures! Oh, pally!) Here...
Blue blazes! It’s a BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE to the late writer, who was born 99 years ago, on March 15, 1926… By JIM BEARD Do you have any idea how hard it is to focus on anything Bob Haney wrote that wasn’t in The Brave and the Bold? Sure, I concede that you probably never thought about it, but once I went down that particular road for this article, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Why? Because Haney’s heyday in the history of comics was all over the place, literally. The guy wrote some great comics, whether or not they ended up in B&B. In my book, Breaking Bold and Brave, I called Bob “The Man Who Could Write Anything,” and that was hammered home for me when I was compiling this list to celebrate the ol’ hoodoo’s birthday. As I pored over the stories I loved as a kid (and even a few I discovered later), I was really struck by the fact that Bob kept showing up again and again on my journey. There’s a few spots on this list that, true story, I never realized were Haney jams, but I was so glad to find them. I spent a long time waist-deep in B&Bs for my book, so it was nice to peruse the rest of the classic DC universe of titles for this article. I hope you’ll feel the same way before we’re done here. Happy birthday, Haney! Good gravy and Holy Hannah, you’re sorely missed by this comics kid! — Sea Devils #3 (Jan-Feb 1962). I took a swim with this one when I hooked a reprint of it in Action Comics #443. A Haney twist on the legend of the sirens, its spooky, eerie tone has stayed with me all these years. — House of Secrets #64 (Jan-Feb 1964). Did I know or just not recall that Bob co-created Eclipso? Regardless, I will never forget the day I saw this in World’s Finest Comics #228 and was amazed by the idea of a villain and hero all in one. And of course, you can’t beat that Alex Toth art, either. — Blackhawk #230 (March 1967). I make no apologies for my love of the superhero-era of Blackhawk. I first saw the costumed team in a battered copy of #241 that...
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