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You're right! The title of this post makes absolutely no sense at all. It's a forced wordplay on 'ALIAS SMITH & JONES', the '70s TV show. Not to worry though, as I'm about to redeem myself with this superbly-drawn comic strip adaptation of the 1931 UNIVERSAL movie - 'The MUMMY'. Drawn by RUSS JONES (not RUSS HEATH, as I absentmindedly typed in a previous post) and WALLY WOOD, it's a feast for the eyes. Curiously, only WW gets a mention in the credits, but later sources cite Jones as well, though I'm not sure in what capacity. Did he pencil and Woody ink, or was it a bit of both? If anyone knows for sure, let me know, willya?
I've got a coloured version of this strip, which I'd originally intended to post, but I'll save that for another time. Here's the black and white first printing of the tale from MONSTER WORLD #1, and I've included the cover at the end so that you'll know what you're looking for when you scurry over to eBay to look for a copy. Enjoy.
I didn't know if anyone besides me remembered Alias Smith & Jones. It was an obvious attempt to do Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid as a TV series.
ReplyDeleteI also didn't know that another artist worked on the Mummy comic. It looked like Wally Wood's style to me. I have no clue whether Jones did pencils and Wood inks, or vice versa.
The adaptation appears to have mixed up the characters of Dr. Muller and Sir Joseph.
Monster World #1 also had articles/features on Lionel Atwill (the "Mad Doctor of the Horror Films") the 1950's Black Sleep movie (IIRC, the six stars included Rathbone, Chaney, and Carradine), and a "Mr. Magoo Meets Frankenstein" cartoon.
I remember when 'Alias Smith & Jones' first started on British TV, TC - shame about what happened to Pete Duel. Woody had a studio of artists that worked as his 'assistants' to a greater or lesser degree. Unless Woody was only doing inking, the assistants usually didn't get a mention. Obviously Russ Jones must have been mainly responsible for the pencilling in the case of 'The Mummy's Hand', but involved in a different way with 'The Mummy'.
ReplyDeleteThat is some gorgeous are right there. And I have to say I'm not familiar enough with Russ Jones to see anything but Wood in that art. However I'm going to link this to my FB.
ReplyDeleteYou feel free, Phil. Link away. I'd have loved to have seen them do Frankenstein - the Boris Karloff version.
ReplyDeleteIt was only about 18 months ago that I discovered Pete Duel had died in 1971 - all those times I watched Alias Smith & Jones and I didn't know he was dead !!
ReplyDeleteI knew at the time, CJ, because it was all over the news. Roger Davis did his best, but the series didn't last too long after that. Pete Duel had a brother (also an actor) who apparently looked very like him - I wonder if they ever considered offering him the part?
ReplyDeleteThat is gorgeous art. Page 5, panel 3 is one of the creepiest drawings I think I've ever seen! I love Wally Wood's sci-fi stuff he drew for EC. I knew he'd done comparatively little pencilling on big-name superhero titles, but just checked Wikipedia and was surprised by just how little- I'd have loved to have seen him have a year or two drawing Batman.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally Kid, I found this while skulking around the web: Al Williamson pencils inked by Wally Wood. What a combo! http://www.comics.org/issue/696960/cover/4/
Took a look at that link, DD - very nicely done. However, the guy's legs look a little short in relation to his body (ever the critic). As for Wood, I suppose we should be thankful for his Daredevil and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents strips, eh?
ReplyDeleteThe Daredevil issue drawn by Wally Wood where he fights the Sub-Mariner is one of my favorite single issues ever. It's right up there with Fantastic Four 51 and Amazing Spider-Man 50 for me as one of Marvel's finest Silver Age moments.
ReplyDeleteDaredevil #7, if I remember correctly. I don't have the original issue, but I DO have various reprints of it. As you say, DD, one of Marvel's finest.
ReplyDeleteJust gorgeous stuff. Many thanks!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, NH. Glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing the news about Pete Duel in 1971, when I was almost 13. Colin probably would have been four or five at the time, and naturally would have no memory of it. (Similarly, I have no memory of hearing about the deaths of Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, or even President Kennedy at the time they happened.)
ReplyDeleteI don't know whether Geoffrey Duel was ever considered as a replacement. I remember seeing him as Billy the Kid in an early 1970's John Wayne Western, Chisum. Other than that, he seems to have mostly played secondary parts in made-for-TV movies and in episodes of various TV series. I even had a little trouble keeping it straight which brother was which, as the only thing I really knew either of them for was playing an outlaw in a Western.
I suppose it would depend on just how similar he was to his brother in looks and speech. Too much, and it might've seemed a bit strange to viewers; not enough, and there probably wouldn't have been much point casting him in the role. The best of those two options would probably be the first, but he would need to have been Pete's identical twin in every respect for such a switch to work.
ReplyDeleteIt still blows my mind how they crammed an entire movie into so few comic-book pages.
ReplyDeleteAn an aside: "ALIAS SMITH AND JONES was the first of 3 shows in a row created by Glen Larson that were the subject of LAWSUITS...
ALIAS SMITH AND JONES / Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
McCLOUD / Coogan's Bluff
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA / Star Wars
In the case of McCLOUD, every episode after the pilot said "Created by Herman Miller"; he never worked on the show! I only recently found out, however, that the movie "Coogan's Bluff" started life as an intended pilot for a TV series, but was made as a theatrical feature film instead. The "McCLOUD" pilot gets my vote as the sole REALLY LOUSY episode in the entire run of the series. How the hell did it sell-- and, become my FAVORITE series of the 70s?
With "BATTLESTAR GALACTICA", Universal's lawyers had a hilarious defense against 20th Century-Fox's claims. They said... "We're not ripping off STAR WARS... we're ripping off STAR BLAZERS!" (Alias "SPACE CRUISER YAMATO" from Japan in 1974. Anyone who's seen the show KNOWS they were telling the truth. And, "YAMATO" was BETTER-WRITTEN.)
Another movie that inspired a TV show was Visit To A Small Planet, HRK, which led to My Favourite Martian. There are probably loads more. Star Wars was probably a 'rip-off' of something which had preceded it.
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