Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride

June 1, 2013

Jack “King” Kirby could do no wrong. Many comics fans then and now believe that. After all, his characters are legendary- he co-created half the Marvel Universe, and ask any artists what “Kirby crackles” are. So when this comic came out, any fears or doubts were allayed by the banner atop the cover, blaring “KIRBY SAYS: DON’T ASK! JUST BUY IT!”

Me? I would have asked quite a few questions. Don Rickles? Really? Well, just a couple of issues previous was one even more… interesting.

Yes, this issue features Don Rickles and his superhero clone/twin/whatever “Goody.”

And now a few words from The Amazing Spider-Man:

From the DC Wiki, here are the plots to 139 and 141.

139: Morgan Edge is beset by Goody Rickels, a Don Rickles lookalike, who wants to break out of his research job and is assigned to investigate a UFO landing nearby.  But Clark Kent is abducted by it, and the Guardian, the Newsboy Legion, and Goody are captured by Ugly Mannheim and Inter-Gang, who force them to eat a meal laced with Pyro-Granulate.  Mannheim them lets them all go, informing them that the chemical will cause them all to burn up in 24 hours.

141: Clark Kent is almost taken to Apokolips by the UFO, which is a trap of Darkseid’s, but is rescued by Lightray and sent back to Earth.  Morgan Edge is visited by Don Rickles, but Jimmy Olsen and Goody Rickels appear in his office and are about to combust from the Pyro-Granulate. The Golden Guardian appears, having forced Ugly Mannheim to give him the antidote, and cures Jimmy and Goody, having already cured himself and the Newsboy Legion.  Don Rickles, maddened by the happenings, hitches a ride out of Edge’s office with two members of the police bomb squad.

Interestingly, 139 and 141 are parts one and two of a two-part story. Issue 140 was a totally unrelated giant size reprint issue. Tells me someone missed a deadline.

Don Rickles is not the first comedian to come to mind when I think of comics. Of course, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis had their own title.

This got me to wondering if the rest of the Rat Pack had their own comics.

Here is, as far as I can tell, Frank Sinatra’s only comic book appearance.

Sammy Davis Jr. never had a comic book appearance, but we will give him a pass and let him into this group because of this:

Take that, Goody Rickles!

Tags: Batman, bmj2k, DC, Dean Martin, Don Rickles, Frank Sinatra, Golden Age, Goody Rickles, Jack Kirby, Jerry Lewis, Jimmy Olsen, Jimmy Olsen 139, Jimmy Olsen 141, Marvel, Morgan Edge, Mr. Blog, Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride, Mr. BTR, Newsboy Legion, None But The Brave, Rat Pack, Sammy Davis Jr, Saturday Comics, Silver Age, Spider-Man, Superman's Pal, The Guardian