In 1949, while attending college on the GI Bill, writers Arnold Drake – the co-creator of the comic-book cult classics Deadman and The Doom Patrol who died earlier this month – and Leslie Waller – author of the acclaimed organized-crime trilogy that included The Banker, The Family, and The American – envisioned a new kind of story that would bridge the gap between the comic book and the novel. From Drake's afterword to the Dark Horse edition: "stories illustrated as comics but with more mature plots, characters, and dialogue." The duo convinced St. John Publications to produce a line of mass-market "picture novels." Only two books were published, both in 1950 and both to overwhelming apathy: It Rhymes With Lust and The Case of the Winking Buddha (written by mystery scribe Manning Lee Stokes, with illustrations by Charles Raab).

Under the pseudonym of Drake Waller, the college friends successfully created a lush, complex noir story. The recently widowed Rust Masson assumes control of Copper City, the town her late husband once controlled, politically and financially. Masson summons her old flame, hotshot award-winning big-city reporter Hal Weber, to run the Masson-hating city newspaper, The Express, which she secretly owns. The infatuated Weber uses the power of the press to distract the townspeople from Masson's secret agenda. Masson's plot goes as planned until Weber falls for Masson's angelic stepdaughter, Audrey, who reawakens the reporter's inherent sense of morality.

The art of penciller Matt Baker and inker Ray Osrin elevate It Rhymes With Lust above other early-Fifties crime thrillers. The first known African-American comic-book artist, Baker pioneered good-girl art with his work on Phantom Lady, and throughout this graphic novel, his love and understanding of the feminine form is evident. Unlike many modern comics, Baker renders the woman in realistic styles and proportions, creating a noir feel throughout that emulates the lurid crime covers of the era.

Often considered the first graphic novel, sadly It Rhymes With Lust has rarely been reprinted during the past 57 years. Dark Horse reprints the unabridged classic – the first approved by both authors – for a lucky new generation of crime-fiction and graphic-novel fans to discover and enjoy.

(The review originally appeared in The Austin Chronicle, March 23, 2007.)
link: [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=oid:458405] ( )