If you've been a faithful reader of this blog, you're well aware we have a section in
Atomic Kommie Comics™ called
Seduction of the Innocent™ featuring
risque pop culture subjects in both comix and film. In that vein, we present today's tawdry tale...
"She was greedy, heartless and calculating.
She knew what she wanted and was ready to sacrifice anything to get it"
Before Gil Kane's
Blackmark, before Will Eisner's
A Contract with God, there was
It Rhymes with Lust, considered by many to be the FIRST Graphic Novel!
Created in 1950 by writers Arnold Drake (
Doom Patrol, Guardians of the Galaxy) and Leslie Waller (numerous crime novels) under the pseudonym "Drake Waller" and artists Matt Baker (
Phantom Lady) and Ray Osrin, the digest-sized b/w comic was a pulp noir
potboiler about a steel-producing town (like Pittsburgh) and a
manipulative woman named Rust who will use ANY means to control it.
(It's a rather adult book, though
not pornographic! Think "soft R" rating!)
Trivia: Leslie Waller, besides writing numerous crime novels, also penned the novelization of
Close Encounters of the Third Kind!
The "Picture Novel" series (
Lust
was the first title) published by pulp/comic company St. John
Publications, only ran for two books before being cancelled due to poor
sales.
The book has been reprinted twice in recent years, first by
Fantagraphics in the magazine
The Comics Journal #277, then, in it's original format by
Dark Horse Comics with a new intro by Arnold Drake. Both are available at your local comic shop or online.
Why do we tell you all this?
Because we at
Atomic Kommie Comics™ believe that
other
companies occasionally produce kool collectibles, and in the Spirit of
Christmas, we want to promote stuff that we ourselves would want under
the tree. (Significant Other, please take note...)
Of course, the fact that we ourselves also produce
It Rhymes with Lust collector's items like mugs, mousepads and mens'/women's clothing that would make
great accompanying items in a themed gift package for a loved one who's into Graphic Novels this Yuletide
never occured to us!
Nope, never!
Didn't even cross our minds! ;-)
