[The Australian Panther]

King of Diamonds 1
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=38774
Death Valley 2
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=20317
Why these two quite different books?
Art in visual storytelling is very important to me.
Here we have two artists, Don Heck and Mike Sekowsky at the top of their game.
Both are known for their work in the early silver age, but how good they were at the end of the Golden Age is not often appreciated.
We have just been looking at very early Golden Age work, So I thought lets look at some work from a few years later, when creators were taking more pride in their work.
No further comments for now.
Enjoy! 

[Quirky Quokka]

I've read 'The King of Diamonds' one and it was a good noir tale. Going by the cover, I assumed it was a movie or TV show, and discovered it was a half-hour American TV show that ran in 1961 and 1962, so I've never seen it. My hubby and I have been watching the Peter Gunn series on Amazon Prime, and I can imagine this may have been a similar type of show.

The story is quite good, and would have been timely back in 1962 with the Berlin Wall still being a recent construction. The art is very good, with a more realistic style. Though I did wonder how the middle-aged looking King managed to be so athletic. He obviously kept himself in good condition.  There was so much smoking, that most of the characters probably died of lung cancer, and they could have done wonders with a mobile phone. There are the usual gun battles, but I do believe this is the first story I've read or seen where a kebab is used as a weapon.  There are also a couple of educational bits at the end about smuggling and diamonds. An interesting read for something a bit different.

[The Australian Panther]

There was so much smoking, that most of the characters probably died of lung cancer, 

Everybody smoked in movies and TV back then, and some of them probably did die from cancer!   

[Robb_K]

There was so much smoking, that most of the characters probably died of lung cancer, 

Everybody smoked in movies and TV back then, and some of them probably did die from cancer!

From what I remember just about EVERY adult in The Netherlands, and The UK, and most adults in Canada smoked, and a lot of them smoked 2-3 packs of cigarettes a day.  My parents both smoked 3 packs a day.  The smoke in our house was like it is in pubs.  I spent a LOT of time outside - even when it was 20-30 degrees below 0 F!  Luckily, my father quit at age 55, and my mother at 59.  I like the laws now in Canada and USA that don't allow smoking in restaurants.  I wish they would do that in The Netherlands. Of course, I don't know if I will ever enter a public building again other than my dentist's and doctors' offices (which don't allow smoking).  I never smoked more than a couple puffs from a cigarette, because my uncle gave me a cigar when I was 4 years old, and didn't warn me to not inhale its smoke. 

[The Australian Panther]

in this country,  you are not allowed to smoke in any building. Hasn't stopped people smoking tho.
The measure of addiction involved is illustrated by the fact that you can observe hospital staff smoking in special outdoor areas set up for the purpose, you see them there, even in cold and rain.
   

[Robb_K]

I've read 'The King of Diamonds' one and it was a good noir tale. Going by the cover, I assumed it was a movie or TV show, and discovered it was a half-hour American TV show that ran in 1961 and 1962, so I've never seen it. My hubby and I have been watching the Peter Gunn series on Amazon Prime, and I can imagine this may have been a similar type of show.

The story is quite good, and would have been timely back in 1962 with the Berlin Wall still being a recent construction. The art is very good, with a more realistic style. Though I did wonder how the middle-aged looking King managed to be so athletic. He obviously kept himself in good condition.  There was so much smoking, that most of the characters probably died of lung cancer, and they could have done wonders with a mobile phone. There are the usual gun battles, but I do believe this is the first story I've read or seen where a kebab is used as a weapon.  There are also a couple of educational bits at the end about smuggling and diamonds. An interesting read for something a bit different.

That reminds me of the Boris Karloff's "Thriller" TV show episode, in which a housewife murders her husband by clobbering him on his head, from behind, with a large leg of lamb, and then, after disposing of his body, cooking the meat, and later feeding it to the cops when they came to question her.  They ate up most of the murder weapon evidence!  Coincidentally, "Thriller" was also a Dell comic series during that same period.

[crashryan]

When I went to Italy in '81 I was surprised to see that EVERYBODY over the age of 16 smoked (and some under). I didn't realize that the government had a monopoly on tobacco. Talk about your conflicts of interest. Is that still the system there?

[crashryan]

King of Diamonds

To start with, let me say I haven't seen this show since 1961. I thought I'd find it on YouTube but I only came up with the first ten minutes of one episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMK2zZUSV4s

It's kind of strange...lots of tough guy dialogue, a few attempts at arty direction, and an overpowering jazz score that sounds like it came from a music library. It probably did. Wikipedia says that Ziv acquired the World Broadcasting System in 1948 and with it "the largest library of royalty-free recorded music in existence." It's worth looking at that entry...Ziv was a forward-looking company that made a lot of smart moves in the early TV days. By the way, the company was called Ziv because it was started by a guy named Fred Ziv. We now return you to our regularly scheduled comic.

I like this comic. The book-length story is well-paced and the artwork presents Mike Sekowsky at his finest. If I'd seen this as a kid I wouldn't have wasted so many years hating on Sekowsky because he drew tubby Justice Leaguers. While he cops out here and there in most of the book he gives us nice locales, moody lighting, and some interesting design ideas like the nighttime walk panels on pages 23 and 28. Having seen Sekowsky's pencils (I even inked some of them back in the day) I know all that stuff would have been Mike's doing, not something Giacoia added. What Giacoia did do was give everything a final polish that makes the whole job shine. Nice Broderick likenesses, by  the way.

Incidentally the story's opening is reminiscent of that in the show fragment on YouTube, though there the car collided with a motorcycle. There was even a hard-bitten police lieutenant telling King that murder is police business.

[Morgus]

'Quirky, I was warned off of wanting to watch the series by 'Crash's comment under the comic. That was good enough for me.
Sekowsky deserves a SPECIAL award, above and beyond the excellent work he did on this comic. It has wonderful sequences, and the depth and action and use of no dialogue in some panels is stellar. What I'm talking about was his ability to make Crawford's face interesting to look at. The guy had ONE expression when he was on screen and that was it. SOMEHOW Sekowsky makes him pass for human.
I wish Heck had worked for Dell and did more of their movie adaptations, and I wish Dell had gotten a contract to do some of the spaghetti westerns from the 60's. His kinetic style would have worked great with some of Corbucci's films in particular.
Both are a lot of fun, and I'm glad I could read them for free. But i wonder what was in those diet pills..

[Quirky Quokka]

There was so much smoking, that most of the characters probably died of lung cancer, 

Everybody smoked in movies and TV back then, and some of them probably did die from cancer!

Yes indeed. We have all the DVD box sets of the original 'I Love Lucy' series from the 1950s. It was sponsored by Philip Morris, and Desi and Lucy would smoke during the episodes and then do commercials for the cigarettes. Desi sadly died of lung cancer. Here a short clip of some of their ads:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSzbrn-kCJc

[crashryan]

I just found an original trailer for King of Diamonds and...it has a theme song, with lyrics! It must be heard not to be believed. Think Saturday morning cartoons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3FO7atHl48

[Quirky Quokka]

There was so much smoking, that most of the characters probably died of lung cancer, 

Everybody smoked in movies and TV back then, and some of them probably did die from cancer!

From what I remember just about EVERY adult in The Netherlands, and The UK, and most adults in Canada smoked, and a lot of them smoked 2-3 packs of cigarettes a day.  My parents both smoked 3 packs a day.  The smoke in our house was like it is in pubs.  I spent a LOT of time outside - even when it was 20-30 degrees below 0 F!  Luckily, my father quit at age 55, and my mother at 59.  I like the laws now in Canada and USA that don't allow smoking in restaurants.  I wish they would do that in The Netherlands. Of course, I don't know if I will ever enter a public building again other than my dentist's and doctors' offices (which don't allow smoking).  I never smoked more than a couple puffs from a cigarette, because my uncle gave me a cigar when I was 4 years old, and didn't warn me to not inhale its smoke. 

Robb, here in Australia, they've had a strong anti-smoking campaign for about the last 30 years, so it's very much become the norm not to smoke, though it's still higher in some groups. I worked at a university here for 25 years and they even had a smoke-free policy for the whole campus, including car parks and grounds.

[Quirky Quokka]

I do believe this is the first story I've read or seen where a kebab is used as a weapon.

That reminds me of the Boris Karloff's "Thriller" TV show episode, in which a housewife murders her husband by clobbering him on his head, from behind, with a large leg of lamb, and then, after disposing of his body, cooking the meat, and later feeding it to the cops when they came to question her.  They ate up most of the murder weapon evidence!  Coincidentally, "Thriller" was also a Dell comic series during that same period.

LOL - Great way to get rid of the evidence. I haven't seen Thriller. Was it mainly suspenseful, or did it verge on horror? I like suspense, but horror freaks me out too much.

[Quirky Quokka]

King of Diamonds

To start with, let me say I haven't seen this show since 1961. I thought I'd find it on YouTube but I only came up with the first ten minutes of one episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMK2zZUSV4s


I like this comic. The book-length story is well-paced and the artwork presents Mike Sekowsky at his finest. If I'd seen this as a kid I wouldn't have wasted so many years hating on Sekowsky because he drew tubby Justice Leaguers. While he cops out here and there in most of the book he gives us nice locales, moody lighting, and some interesting design ideas like the nighttime walk panels on pages 23 and 28. Having seen Sekowsky's pencils (I even inked some of them back in the day) I know all that stuff would have been Mike's doing, not something Giacoia added. What Giacoia did do was give everything a final polish that makes the whole job shine. Nice Broderick likenesses, by  the way.

Incidentally the story's opening is reminiscent of that in the show fragment on YouTube, though there the car collided with a motorcycle. There was even a hard-bitten police lieutenant telling King that murder is police business.

I watched the first few minutes of that clip. Not exactly Peter Gunn, but it was interesting to see what it was like. I'll have to go back and look at the art again, now you've made those comments. I'm guessing there are some comics on this site that you've inked? Are you able to give a couple of examples? (No worries if that would wreck your secret superhero identity).

[Quirky Quokka]

'Quirky, I was warned off of wanting to watch the series by 'Crash's comment under the comic. That was good enough for me.

I wish Heck had worked for Dell and did more of their movie adaptations, and I wish Dell had gotten a contract to do some of the spaghetti westerns from the 60's. His kinetic style would have worked great with some of Corbucci's films in particular.
Both are a lot of fun, and I'm glad I could read them for free. But i wonder what was in those diet pills..

I did watch a few minutes, though the video quality wasn't great on the clip. I probably wouldn't rush out and buy the DVDs  I'll have to check out more of Dell's movie comics.

[Quirky Quokka]

I just found an original trailer for King of Diamonds and...it has a theme song, with lyrics! It must be heard not to be believed. Think Saturday morning cartoons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3FO7atHl48

That's hilarious. The theme song is way more exciting and groovy than the film clips. Though at least I now know what IDB is 

[Robb_K]

I just found an original trailer for King of Diamonds and...it has a theme song, with lyrics! It must be heard not to be believed. Think Saturday morning cartoons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3FO7atHl48

That's hilarious. The theme song is way more exciting and groovy than the film clips. Though at least I now know what IDB is 

Yes!  That theme song on the series trailer is hilarious and campy.  It's no wonder that that series only lasted one season.  With that ridiculous song and trailer, I am surprised it lasted the whole season, and wasn't cancelled after 3 episodes.  It was supposed to be an action series, but 4 of the guest actors were mainly known for their roles in comedy films and comedy TV series.  I guess Broderick Crawford was a much better actor than producer.

[Robb_K]

I do believe this is the first story I've read or seen where a kebab is used as a weapon.

That reminds me of the Boris Karloff's "Thriller" TV show episode, in which a housewife murders her husband by clobbering him on his head, from behind, with a large leg of lamb, and then, after disposing of his body, cooking the meat, and later feeding it to the cops when they came to question her.  They ate up most of the murder weapon evidence!  Coincidentally, "Thriller" was also a Dell comic series during that same period.

LOL - Great way to get rid of the evidence. I haven't seen Thriller. Was it mainly suspenseful, or did it verge on horror? I like suspense, but horror freaks me out too much.

I don't like horror much.  "Thriller" was basically suspenseful stories as opposed to horror.  The only relationship it had with horror was that Boris Karloff introduced the stories.  But, he did it more like a friendly grandfather, than a ghoul. I liked the show because he was one of my favourite actors (from his high quality parts in legitimate 1930s and 1940s dramas, as opposed to his horror film parts.  I will check to see if CB+ has any of Dell's "Thriller" comic books. 

[The Australian Panther]

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that the drawing of Ray Hamilton in that clip is, in fact, by Mort Drucker of Mad Magazine fame.
There is work by Mort here on CB+ - another one who,back then, was seriously underrated.  An excellent choice for a caricaturist tho.

The fact that the composer of the music was apparently Frankie Ortega whose trio appeared frequently on 77 Sunset Strip, and the fact that in the drawing Ray Hamilton looks like Ed "Kookie' Byrne, indicates the direction they wanted the show to go in. It only went 7 episodes. I'd like to have them on a DVD set.
The lyrics were a mistake, should have just used the instrumental.
And apparently, that's just what they did. Here is the actual opening of the first episode, the story of the comic.
KING OF DIAMONDS - 1961 Broderick Crawford - rare ZIV TV followup to Highway Patrol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMK2zZUSV4s   
Broderick Crawford got a producer's credit on this. He must have been disappointed.
1/ The trenchcoat was old hat by this time. Just looks wrong.
2/ This comic is probably the best thing that came out of that endeavor.   
Cheers!   

[Morgus]

Minor detail;
The show about the lady serving the cops the murder weapon was LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER. Alfred Hitchcock. Third season. first broadcast in 1958. You can watch the whole thing on youtube for free. has Barbara bel Geddes as the wife. One of his 'lighter' murders. Like THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY. Wait for the punch line at the end.

[Morgus]

Okay, ‘Crash, I took a deep breath and listened to the theme song.

Reminds me of one of those jingles from the early 60’s...selling cigarettes! Hey, ‘Panther, I wonder how much Mort got for that. Would it be a one time thing? Or did he make extra when it showed?

[crashryan]

Thriller isn't on CB Plus. It was a Gold Key title and I presume it's still under copyright. I used to have those two issues. They were 84-page 25-centers squarebound with cardboard covers. A great buy with much nice art by the likes of George Evans, Dan Spiegle, Ticci & Giolitti, Ray Bailey, and more. GCD says the title changed to Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery with issue #3 and became a regular 32-page comic.

[paw broon]

King was a really enjoyable read. Some atmospheric panels. King just seemed too bulky and old, never mind the fags, to do all that fighting.  Love those photo covers on Dells.  "Tubby Justice Leaguers" indeed.
There are photo covers of Crawford on the British pocket library series, Highway Patrol, part of TV PICTURE STORIES.  Don't think we can host them here. The interior art though isn't a patch on King.
Smoking.  Banned in all public buildings, cafes, restaurants. All places actually.  The Scottish Govt has introduced no smoking cordons around exteriors of hospitals and medical centres. Getting through the fug to the hospital entrance was nasty at times.
Every morning I see kids going to school puffing away on vapes.

[Quirky Quokka]

Minor detail;
The show about the lady serving the cops the murder weapon was LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER. Alfred Hitchcock. Third season. first broadcast in 1958. You can watch the whole thing on youtube for free. has Barbara bel Geddes as the wife. One of his 'lighter' murders. Like THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY. Wait for the punch line at the end.

Thanks for that. I couldn't find the full episode, but I found these two clips - one of her killing her husband, and a longer one with the policeman questioning her and then having the meal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdaPRtUraHQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36djATzZucA

Really enjoyed that one. Barbara Bel Geddes says so much just with her facial expressions. I really liked her in 'Vertigo', so she must have been one of Hitchcock's favourites. I'll have to check some more of these Hitchcock episodes. Thanks for the tip.

[crashryan]

I'm guessing there are some comics on this site that you've inked? Are you able to give a couple of examples?

Yikes! I'm not that old! I was barely in the public domain myself when these Dells were coming out. I inked Mike Sekowsky in the early 1980s on some short stories featuring Hanna-Barbera characters. I was one of a bunch of LA artists, many of them newcomers like me, who drew stories for publication overseas. I've no idea where these stories appeared. I've never seen one in print. I never met Sekowsky either. The stories I inked featured The Mighty Mightor and Wonder Wheels. I inked a couple of Captain Caveman strips; I don't remember the penciller. And I did full art on one Scooby-Do story.