Hollywood Halloween / Captain's Library BURKE'S LAW "Who Killed the Hollywood Hopefuls? The Fatal Attempt"

Before we begin, a brief primer on Hollywood makeup techniques...

...as they were in the 1960s, courtesy of writer Paul S Newman (again...not the actor) and artists Frank McLaughlin & Vince Colletta from the inside back cover of Burke's Law #3!

That's why it's b/w instead of color!

Now, with that out of the way, let's continue...

We Have Already Seen...

...several Hollywood actors killed by what appeared to be classic movie monsters come to horrifying life!

Captain of Detectives Amos Burke and his aides traced the creatures back to Gerald Grant, the now-retired actor who first portrayed all of them, and discover their primary suspect has an unbreakable alibi...

Written by Paul S Newman (for the final time...NOT the actor!) and illustrated by penciler Frank McLaughlin along with inkers Dick Giordano, Sal Trapani, and Vince Colletta, this never-reprinted tale from Dell's Burke's Law #3 (1965) followed the format of the TV show pretty closely, including the title character's continual reference to non-existent "Burke's Laws" to cryptically-explain his deductions.

Happy Halloween!

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Hollywood Halloween / Captain's Library BURKE'S LAW "Who Killed the Hollywood Hopefuls?: Third Victim"

When Last We Left Our Millionare Crime Solver...

Movie actors are being killed by...something...resembling famous cinematic monsters.

Los Angeles Captain of Detectives Amos Burke and his aides follow a trail of clues leading to the film studio that made the movies the creatures originally appeared in....

Well, this looks like another dead end...or is it?

You'll discover the astounding answer tomorrow as the story concludes on

Halloween!

Writer Paul S Newman (again, not the actor) and artists Frank McLaughlin (penciler) along with Dick Giordano, Sal Trapani & Vince Colletta (inkers) will keep you guessing as they finish this tale from Dell's Burke's Law #3 (1965).

Burke's Law (1963-1966) was produced by Aaron Spelling, who later did such genre series as Charlie's Angels, TJ Hooker, Matt Houston, Hart to Hart, Starsky and Hutch, The Rookies, SWAT, Mod Squad, and Honey West (a spinoff from Burke's Law we've featured HERE.)

While it was a cop show, the plot was often secondary to the parade of high-profile guest stars playing victims and suspects, making it "CSI meets Love Boat".

Classic movie stars like Buster Keaton, Don Ameche, Basil Rathbone, Dorothy Lamour, and Broderick Crawford joined up-and-comers like William Shatner, Barbara Eden, Tab Hunter, Annette Funicello, and Telly Savalas as the weirdest grouping of West Coast eccentrics outside of San Diego ComicCon!

As you can see, translating it to the comic page proved difficult, since the editors felt the guest star aspect couldn't be carried out in a licensed comic.

Trivia: Every episode's title was "Who Killed (Insert Noun)?", much as Man from U.N.C.L.E.'s titles were "The (Insert Noun) Affair" and Wild, Wild West's episodes all had a "Night of the (Insert Noun)" title...even if they took place in broad daylight!

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Hollywood Halloween / Captain's Library BURKE'S LAW "Who Killed the Hollywood Hopefuls?"

A TV series set in Los Angeles is bound to do stories about the entertainment industry...

...and, if it's a crime-oriented show, probably about the kind of evil that could only happen in a business that makes the unreal extremely real...

Captain Burke will clue us in

TOMORROW!

Written by Paul S Newman (No, not the actor) and illustrated by penciler Frank McLaughlin and inkers Dick Giordano, Sal Trapani, and Vince Colletta, this book-length adventure from Dell's Burke's Law #3 (1965) followed the format of the tv show pretty closely, down to the use of "Who Killed..." in the title that the show used for every episode's title.

While the show itself did several episodes about murders within the TV/movie industry, none of them contained sci-fi/fantasy/horror elements.

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Captain's Library and Theatre FRONTIER DOCTOR "Storm Over King City" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

(No, you haven't missed a post.

The first part appeared at Western Comics Adventures!
Just click on the link above!)

Dr Bill Baxter is told that his elderly uncle David Sheldon has been murdered!
But he left a will with a lawyer mentioning an inheritance of a gold mine, of which Bill will receive half.
The other half is to go to an orphanage run by Miss Mary Fuller.
However, to locate the gold mine and fulfill the terms of the will, Baxter must journey to Canada, where his uncle lived and died, and meet with Miss Fuller since both he and the lady each have only 1/2 of the map that leads to the mine.
What he doesn't know is that the criminals who murdered his uncle lie in wait to ambush him, steal the map along with his identification and little black bag, and pretend to be him.
They waylay the sawbones, who barely survives, but manages to get to a nearby RCMP station.
The doctor and policeman confront the imposter, who manages to bluff the Mountie into thinking Baxter is the imposter!
But when a medical emergency happens to a child at the orphanage, the fake doctor is forced by his confederates to attend to the deathly-ill patient...

This adaptation of the episode "Storm Over King City" in Dell's Four Color Comics #877 (1958) was illustrated by Alex Toth, whom Old West comics fans remember as the artist on the comics based on Disney's Zorro TV series!
The writer, however, is unknown, 
As for the 1958-59 syndicated TV series' protagonist...

Though he did not carry a gun, Dr Bill Baxter was not a wimp by any measure.
The medical man used his wits, medical knowledge, his fists, and, occasionally, other people's shooting irons, to aid those who needed help.

Rex Allen, who played Baxter, performed as a rodeo rider while in high school.

After graduation, he took up singing, first in vaudeville, then on radio, becoming a popular country/Western singers.

Like most of his contemporaries, he soon was doing Western b-movies as a singing cowboy nicknamed "The Arizona Cowboy", teamed up with comedy-relief sidekicks including Buddy Ebsen and Slim Pickens.

After a couple of dozen films, Rex tried to make the transition to TV with Frontier Doctor, but the show was cancelled after a single season.

But Allen made yet another transition, and became a successful voice-over artist and narrator, primarily for Disney film and tv productions.

TRIVIA:

Besides Frontier Cowboy, Rex had his own self-titled comic book series from Dell Comics that ran for thirty-one issues!

Allen was a cousin of Gunsmoke cast member Glenn Strange, who played bartender Sam Noonan.

Rex's son, Rex Allen, Jr., is a successful singer.

There's a Rex Allen Museum in Willcox, Arizona!

BONUS!

Here's the TV episode which was adapted into the comic story!

Note that the comic is based on an early draft of the script, so there are differences!

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