[The Australian Panther]

Ben Casey #1
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=35873

Pretty sure that Casey was created after Kildare was a huge success.
With these two books, Kildare is dated April #62 and Casey is dated June 62.
Why does Hollywood always copy something that has succeeded rather than coming up with an original idea?
Because where money is involved, the bosses are adverse to taking risks. Just look at the state of the movie industry today.
Vince Edwards (Vincent Edward Zoine) was clearly chosen as the lead to appeal to female viewers, just as Richard Chamberlain successfully did.
He never went on to have the career that Chamberlain did. He, however went into directing, including at least one episode of the original series of Battlestar Galactica.
So, this book.
The cover posits Ben Casey as a thinker and something of a scientific doctor.
The inside cover pieces are John Tartaglione I believe.
The diagram upper right hand corner of the first page, (is featured as the first scene in every episode and is spoken out loud.   
A man attempts suicide and a policeman and a paramedic help him despite his protests that he doesn't want help. In today's world, if they continued, they would likely be accused of denying him his human rights and be arrested and jailed.
This story reminds me. I have a friend who is a semi-paraplegic. This manifested when he was in his late 20's and in locating the cause he traced it to an accident when he was a teenager and at work a large container fell on top of him.
However he didn't report it or consult a doctor and therefore could not get compensation from the employer.
So - my advice, if you have any fall or medical condition always report it to a doctor even if nothing comes of it at that time. Always make sure you have an independent record of the incident.
Lecture over.
I have to wonder how realistic the narrative is, A man gets a cranial blockage and only because of that becomes deranged enough to want to murder his wife? My view of the world is that there is a core in people that prevents going over an ethical line even under hypnosis. If the marriage was already under stress than yes, the weakness is already there and ready to be exploited. Also, would the wife just go back to the level of trust that she previously held?
Going back to my first point,  I don't know what a workers rights were then, but today (In Australia) if you are injured on the job, you must report it immediately and there is a compensation process involved.
Despite the possible problems with reality, its a good script and well illustrated.
If the character is meant to appeal to women, and I'm sure he was, I'm curious abut something. Would the fact that he turns down a date for a paper on cerebral vascular disease endear him to women?  Also, she is a nurse, likely a theatre nurse, why doesn't he invite her to come with him and have dinner either before or after?
Last but not least, we have already heard from CrashRyan that,

When they split to form Gold Key, Western took all the juicy licensed properties with them, along with their stable of talented artists and writers. Dell had to cobble together an entire comic book line in a short time without a solid foundation of sure sellers like the Disney properties.

I have to wonder if Dell really thought comics about medical issues would sell or if they had a obligation to publicize certain shows from the TV companies?
Last but not least, I have noted that Vince Edwards is a noticeably HIRSUTE gentleman, particular on his arms, which are often visible when he wears gowns. I have always been aware of this, strangely. Look at the full page pin-up on the last page. I am not, but my experience of women, limited tho it may or may not be, is that this condition is usually off-putting. Comments?
Cheers.       
     
 


         

[crashryan]

Re: Ben Casey and Dr Kildare

The Panther remarked:

Pretty sure that Casey was created after Kildare was a huge success.
With these two books, Kildare is dated April #62 and Casey is dated June 62.
Why does Hollywood always copy something that has succeeded rather than coming up with an original idea?

I don't argue with the point that Hollywood always copies success, but the Kildare-Casey instance was a bit different. Oddly enough the shows debuted within a few days of each other in 1961 (Kildare on 28 September and Casey on 2 October). Kildare had been around quite a while, starting in the magazines in the late 30s, then appearing in a series of movies in the 30s and 40s. As far as I know he hadn't been active since a radio show ended in the early 50s. Casey was created for TV. I have no idea whether one of the production companies chose to create a doctor show when they learned another was in development. To me it sounds more like coincidence.

As I recall Kildare was a more traditional, generally upbeat show while Casey was grittier (for the time anyway) and Casey was always fighting the hospital establishment. Another difference was that Kildare was an intern learning to be a doctor while Casey was an experienced surgeon. My parents watched both shows from time to time but weren't big fans of either. I barely remember them.

You're right about Vince Edwards' hairy arms. I remember conversations at the time in which one side argued that the hair made him look sexy while the other side said it made him look like a thug. When Neal Adams drew the Ben Casey newspaper strip he really piled on the hair. Ben was probably the only hairy-armed hero in the entire newspaper strip universe.

[Robb_K]

Re: Ben Casey and Dr Kildare

The Panther remarked:

Pretty sure that Casey was created after Kildare was a huge success.
With these two books, Kildare is dated April #62 and Casey is dated June 62.
Why does Hollywood always copy something that has succeeded rather than coming up with an original idea?

I don't argue with the point that Hollywood always copies success, but the Kildare-Casey instance was a bit different. Oddly enough the shows debuted within a few days of each other in 1961 (Kildare on 28 September and Casey on 2 October). Kildare had been around quite a while, starting in the magazines in the late 30s, then appearing in a series of movies in the 30s and 40s. As far as I know he hadn't been active since a radio show ended in the early 50s. Casey was created for TV. I have no idea whether one of the production companies chose to create a doctor show when they learned another was in development. To me it sounds more like coincidence.

As I recall Kildare was a more traditional, generally upbeat show while Casey was grittier (for the time anyway) and Casey was always fighting the hospital establishment. Another difference was that Kildare was an intern learning to be a doctor while Casey was an experienced surgeon. My parents watched both shows from time to time but weren't big fans of either. I barely remember them.

You're right about Vince Edwards' hairy arms. I remember conversations at the time in which one side argued that the hair made him look sexy while the other side said it made him look like a thug. When Neal Adams drew the Ben Casey newspaper strip he really piled on the hair. Ben was probably the only hairy-armed hero in the entire newspaper strip universe.

Ally-Oop was hairy armed, and he was a hero.....of sorts.   

[The Australian Panther]

Yes as a character, Dr Kildare was definitely the earlier creation.

Dr. James Kildare is a fictional American medical doctor, originally created in the 1930s by the author Frederick Schiller Faust under the pen name Max Brand. Shortly after the character's first appearance in a magazine story, Paramount Pictures used the story and character as the basis for the 1937 film Interns Can't Take Money, starring Joel McCrea as Jimmie Kildare. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ...   

cheers!

[Morgus]

‘Panther, you’re half right about the core values thing. USUALLY there is a base value system that you cannot by pass. I can’t as a hypnotist make an honest man rob a bank, for instance. BUT if there is damage to parts of the brain, you introduce wild cards. The movie CONCUSSION with Will Smith as Bennet Omalu is probably the most approachable. Guys in the NFL were getting brain trauma on a regular basis and experienced mood swings, personality changes and in some cases went right off the rails and killed people. And/or themselves.
Now agreed, ONE sudden trauma would be a long shot. Would probably kill them outright first, BUT it is in the realm of the possible. (How hard is the subjects skull in the first place? How fast was the trauma sustained?) For a long time it was funny to watch the delayed responses of hockey goalies on TV who stopped pucks with no masks, just their face. Now, not so much.

[The Australian Panther]

BUT if there is damage to parts of the brain, you introduce wild cards. The movie CONCUSSION with Will Smith as Bennet Omalu is probably the most approachable. Guys in the NFL were getting brain trauma on a regular basis and experienced mood swings, personality changes and in some cases went right off the rails and killed people. And/or themselves.

No disrespect to anyone, but perhaps a factor is that not everybody has the same strong core values either.
Brain Trauma from concussion is also an issue in Rugby League which I follow in Australia.
You've triggered a memory tho. Back in primary school - in another century - I was once concussed by a Cricket Ball.
The traditional 'Red' cricket ball would have to be the hardest ball used in sport as I can attest, having also held them in my hands. Being hit by one is not much different from being hit by a rock. Being hit by a cricket ball would be relatively rare, but I wonder how many trauma cases have resulted in this sport?
Why Are Cricket Balls Hard?
https://owenthrives.com/are-cricket-balls-hard/ 

[Robb_K]

‘Panther, you’re half right about the core values thing. USUALLY there is a base value system that you cannot by pass. I can’t as a hypnotist make an honest man rob a bank, for instance. BUT if there is damage to parts of the brain, you introduce wild cards. The movie CONCUSSION with Will Smith as Bennet Omalu is probably the most approachable. Guys in the NFL were getting brain trauma on a regular basis and experienced mood swings, personality changes and in some cases went right off the rails and killed people. And/or themselves.
Now agreed, ONE sudden trauma would be a long shot. Would probably kill them outright first, BUT it is in the realm of the possible. (How hard is the subjects skull in the first place? How fast was the trauma sustained?) For a long time it was funny to watch the delayed responses of hockey goalies on TV who stopped pucks with no masks, just their face. Now, not so much.

Yes, with the new flexible, composite hockey sticks made using super-strong plastics, shots can reach up to 110 mph.  A player can accidentally get pushed or knocked into the path of a shot, and not see the puck coming towards him.  If it happens to hit a player in his head with direct impact to his brain, it can cause severe brain damage.  If that damage is located in the wrong place, it can cause death, or permanent paralysis, or loss of body functions, or even a personality change.  Yes, a once moralistic, responsible person, if hit in his brain's frontal lobe, in the pre-frontal cortex, and it is damaged enough, can lose his ability to feel empathy for others, capacity to understand responsibility, and ability to control himself when making emotional decisions concerning other people.  So in our story, if we assume that the husband suffered damage to that area of his brain, it could have resulted in the behaviour he demonstrated.  But, I'm skeptical that he could have recovered so soon from that to get back to normal, or even COULD possibly EVER get back to his pre-inury self in his lifetime. 

I, myself, in a hockey game during the 1950s, when knocked to the ice, went sliding towards the hard, metal goalpost, head first, hitting it hard.  In those days, the nets were anchored in position, and didn't come off their moorings like they do now.  So, knocking into them at full speed was quite dangerous.  Also, back in those days, we didn't wear helmets (not made mandatory by Hockey Canada until 1964!).  I got a concussion, but luckily, no permanent damage (as far as I know)-(although my friends kid me that that's why I'm so weird!)  I also was lucky I never hit my head hard on a direct hit to the ice, although I dislocated both my shoulders in separate falls when I was hit, unaware, from behind, not able to brake my fall, and at the last second tried to land on my shoulder, rather than on my face or head.  An NHLer died after being knocked to the ice and hitting his head hard(Bill Masterton).  And he was wearing a helmet!  (I didn't!) There's an annual award named after him in commemeration, ironically for "pesrerverance".

As to goalie masks, they weren't worn in The NHL until 1959, by Jacques Plante, after he was hit in the face by a hard shot by Andy Bathgate of The New York Rangers (who was from my home town(West Kildonan, Manitoba,- and our family knew his family.  I also attended his Summer Hockey Camp in Winnipeg).  When I grew up, most veteran, 7 or 8 years+ goalies had scars all over their faces from shots that hit them.  Back then, surgery wasn't so refined.  Lots of them had what looked like railroad tracks on their faces (scars from the stitches).

As far as the dangers of being hit in the head by a flying object, I know of no hockey player dying from being hit in his head by a flying puck.  But a player in Saskatchewan'  Junior League died when a hard shot hit him in his chest near his heart, and his heart stopped.  Also, I was watching a game when a player (Alex Pietrangelo) was hit the same way, and his heart also stopped, but the first responders, now stationed at every NHL and Canadian Major Junior rink for games, resusitated him, and he's been healthy ever since.  I can think of 3 Canadian players who have been hit in the chest by a fired puck, and their hearts stopped. Only the one died.  Also, a fan in USA,  a 13-year old girl, watching an NHL game, was, I believe, hit directly on her head, was killed by the flying puck.  And that is why ALL professional Hockey teams now have large see-through nets protecting the seating areas near the 2 goals (both directly behind and some distance to each side, to protect the spectators. 

[The Australian Panther]

Emergency Ward 10 Issue #1
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=88217
As Paw has pointed out, Hospital soap operas get huge audiences. I'm immune so they don't include me, but so be it.
Fairly dull cover. I don't know if it features any recognizable 'stars' from the show.
So this story is from an actual script.
'A young Australian' This was a time when Australians with an acting background were beginning to appear 'overseas' particularly in Britain.We were still considered exotic and interesting then.   
Here we have a generational gap story. Also, we Australians did not kowtow to the class system since we were not brought up in it. We were considered rebels and often rose 'above our station'. Note the line, 'The somewhat uncouth Australian' Perhaps the scriptwriter was Australian?
Alan Dawson was played by Australian Charles (Bud) Tingwell. Man! Was he young here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Tingwell
He (or she) certainly knows what non-alcoholic drinks were available in Pubs then. Tomato Juice with Tabasco sauce, blackberry cordial.
Unlike the two books we have previously commented on, most of this narrative takes place outside the hospital. Most soap operas rely on cliffhangers to keep the audience involved. This is no exception.
Unlike most comic book scripts this one is very concerned with character and social niceties.Which, in my opinion, it does very well. The art doesn't just underline the dialogue but adds to the character establishment. But would fans of the TV show, really want to read the comic version?   

cheers!   
   
 

[Robb_K]

BUT if there is damage to parts of the brain, you introduce wild cards. The movie CONCUSSION with Will Smith as Bennet Omalu is probably the most approachable. Guys in the NFL were getting brain trauma on a regular basis and experienced mood swings, personality changes and in some cases went right off the rails and killed people. And/or themselves.

No disrespect to anyone, but perhaps a factor is that not everybody has the same strong core values either.
Brain Trauma from concussion is also an issue in Rugby League which I follow in Australia.
You've triggered a memory tho. Back in primary school - in another century - I was once concussed by a Cricket Ball.
The traditional 'Red' cricket ball would have to be the hardest ball used in sport as I can attest, having also held them in my hands. Being hit by one is not much different from being hit by a rock. Being hit by a cricket ball would be relatively rare, but I wonder how many trauma cases have resulted in this sport?
Why Are Cricket Balls Hard?
https://owenthrives.com/are-cricket-balls-hard/

I googled to find out if any Cricket players have died from getting hit in their heads with a batted cricket ball, and found that 2 have.  I imagine that several more were hit there and lived, but suffered brain trauma and a few probably experienced emotional and character changes.  If I were a Cricket player I would be hesitant to move up close to a batter not known to put much power into his swing, as one never knows when, even with the odds in one's favour, the wheel of chance may come up snake eyes.  It's hard enough dealing with old age,let alone having to live the rest of your life in a mental hospital.  (despite "Bedlam" being one of my favourite films!)   

[Robb_K]

Dr. Kildare - Four Color 1337 (#1) - credits unknown

(1) The Doctor - Educational/Information Page
Extremely brief outline of Doctors' path to career.

(2) The Doctor And the Gambler
"Blair Hospital, Haven For The SicK" is a bit aggrandized as an introduction to Kildare's hospital's importance. The word "Haven" conjures up images of a heavenly existence there, like a luxury hotel, while the patient gets cured of a deadly disease, and spend heavenly months after surgery or other major procedures, recuperating.  Actually, most families wouldn't want to build up tremendously high hospital bills, staying there more than the night of their operation, plus maybe one or two nights more at most.  After that, if they aren't recovered enough to return home, they go to a medical convalescent facility.  And, of course, everything has to be bigger than life, so Blair must be made out to be much, MUCH better than any other hospital.  Eastman threatens Kildare's status with the hospital by threatening harm to Dr. Gillespie if he can't stay in the room.  That really hurts the author's trying to show that Eastman is "a nice guy" because he kills no one, and donates lots of money to the hospital.  The author uses the delay time Kiildare/Eastman hospital tour to show the reader the various valuable services hospitals give to their communities.

The artwork is decent enough, and several of the renderings of Richard Chamberlain's face look exactly like him (clearly drawn from still photos provided from The TV production company, while many of the other poses don't look like him much, at all.  Having watched one episode of the TV show, I expected this issue to be very much like a soap opera, which would be boring to me.  ButI was pleasantly surprised to find that it was more a crime/police story than a medical story.  And, the "shady character"(gambler) Eastman, heading up a small gang that sometimes dishes out violence to losers who fail to pay their debts, actually being against killing or hurting people badly, is an interesting premise (despite not being very believable).  This series also breaks our Disney rule, that the title character shouldn't be missing from the first few pages of a story .  Kildare doesn't show up until the last panel of the story's 3rd page.  I was surprised that Kildare has jet black hair in the story, when his photo on the front cover shows Chamberlain with very light Brown (almost "dirty blonde" hair). 

There is a lot of sitting, standing, and walking while talking, much like a typical soap opera.  Eastman claimed he couldn't catch his breath for the past few days, but Kildare allows him to not only have his friend smoke a cigarette in the room, but smoke a cigar, himself.  No doubt, the author put that into the story to make sure the reader knows that Kildare knows there is nothing medically wrong with Eastman, and needs to remove him to make room for patients who really need the medical care.

We get something other than people talking, as Kildare finally convinces Eastman to leave the hospital so the room can benefit  a sick person, and he gets shot by his bookie enemy.  So, back into the hospital he goes, this time with a legitimate medical problem.  Kildare saves his life through emergency surgery, and Eastman is so grateful, he donates much money to the hospital to buy many new beds, so they can handle many more patients at a time, providing the story a tight plot.

(3) First Aid Instruction Page
Too short to be of much good to the reader other than, perhaps, giving them some interest in finding out more about that subject.

(4) When An Accident Happens - Education Page
This might help a young child understand what actually happens when a person gets hurt  badly in an accident.  But anyone old enough to actually want to buy and read this comic book woulalready know all of this.

[Robb_K]

Ben Casey 1

(1) Land-locked Doctors And Sea-Going Patients - Information Page - Drawn by John Tartaglione
Introduction to an Italian service organisation which provides medical information to ships sailing all over The World.

The Man Who Hated The World - Drawn by Norman Nodel
A man tries to kill himself jumping in front of a subway train.  Wouldn't he be electricuted by high voltage just by touching the tracks of the electric train line???   Ben Casey diagnoses the victim with having taken a hard blow to his head, a concussion, and still having pressure on his brain causing paranoia and anti-social, non- cooperative behaviour.  His wife comes to the hospital, mentioning that he tried to murder her.

Thorne, the patient, sneaks out of the hospital, and Casey leaves the hospital to find him, sedate him, keep him from harming himself or others, and bring him back.  When the police arrive, Thorne tries again to kill his wife, accusing her of sending for them.  bCasey and his colleague subdue him, and they take him back to the hospital, and operate on his brain tom relieve the pressure.  He awakens after the operation, completely back to his pre-accident, normal self.  A miracle of modern medicine!

(3) Medicine's New Wonder Machines Drawn by John Tartaglione
Introduction to what the electron microscope, portable electrical anesthesia machine, stereo microscope for micro-surgery, and heart-lung machine are and do.  Good information for people to get an idea of what they are and perhaps decide to learn more about them.

This story seems possible, but maybe has a few holes.  But it held my interest.

[Robb_K]

Australian Panther stated THIS:
I have to wonder if Dell really thought comics about medical issues would sell or if they had a obligation to publicize certain shows from the TV companies?

Panther, what did you mean by "had an OBLIGATION" to publicize TV companies' shows???  Did you mean they were paid a significant amount of money by those firms to do so?  I can't imagine public agencies paying them lots of money to do that.

[The Australian Panther]

It seemed pretty clear to me that after the split from Western, Dell neeed properties to base omics on. The TV network's priorities  would be to publish certain TV shows. They could have said, 'Give us comic versions' of our medical shows if you want us to give you access to other TV shows that you prefer. Negotiation.

cheers!     

[SuperScrounge]

It seemed pretty clear to me that after the split from Western, Dell neeed properties to base omics on. The TV network's priorities  would be to publish certain TV shows.

To the best of my knowledge the networks didn't usually get involved. The licensing deals were signed with the production companies that made the shows. Western Printing had an office in California and usually signed the hottest properties, leaving other publishers struggling to get a decent property to use.

Before the split Helen Meyer (Dell's representative to Western) would tell Western how many of which comics to make in a year, so she probably thought she was a good judge of what would sell, so it wouldn't surprise me if she thought medical dramas would sell well. If I recall correctly she thought a comic about a black cowboy would sell well in the mid-60s (she was about 10 years too early on that one).

[crashryan]

Something just struck me. We've all noticed how Eastman and Frankie smoke constantly. Why did Kildare permit this? Rereading the comic it occurred to me that the only mention of tobacco comes late in the story when Frankie leaves the room to get a pack of cigarettes. Could it be that the scriptwriter never called for the characters to smoke? Perhaps it was Wildey's idea, whether as a character trait or just to give the pair something to do while talking. The editor would have to okay the addition. He might have figured it'd be too much trouble to change. Or maybe he didn't care. Whatever the case, it makes a bit more sense than assuming the writer specified page after page of smoking when smoking had nothing to do with the story.