n 1952 Ziff-Davis (the latter later becoming publisher of EQMM)
which was producing
comic books then, chose to issue an Ellery Queen book in conjunction with
the Dumont television serie. The four
stories where drawn by two artists one of the signed with 'R.Kay'. Some of the stories
broke with the usual format by being just action-crime adventures instead of whodunits.
Although topped of by great Norman Saunders painted covers, the book lasted just two
issues (Spring and Summer of 1952), becoming more obscure than the Superior title
that had preceded it. And although Ellery appeared in a several forms on television from
1954 through at least 1959, comics publishers avoided making the mistakes of their
predecessors.

Ellery's next appearance in comics was brought about by the same company that
introduced him. Dell Publishing gave us "Ellery Queen
(Detective)" for three issues of their Four Color series (1165, 1243, and 1289),
dating 3-5/61, 11/61-1/62 and 4/62. This rendition of Ellery was somewhat modernized for
the 60's but still carried the same basic plot concepts as earlier comics versions.
Artwork was done by the late Mike Sekowsky and his Ellery differs from the rest by wearing
glasses.


Despite all this Ellery again disappeared from the comics scene.
Or did he? He actually did return in a spoof, in a comic called "New
Inferior 5" (Nr.7 March-April 1968) the five
'heroes' encounter "Allergy Queen" the sleuth for a criminal mastermind.
Right before his great revelation Allergy is reduced to dust...
Until 1976 when Marty Pasko wrote the script for a 12 page Batmanstory called "A
Clue Before Dying" (Detective Comics No. 459 - May
1976) It involved the work of artist Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Batman
tries to find the man who killed mystery writer Elliot Quinn, and who may
be the same man who killed an architect in Quinn’s home years ago. On
the cover one can clearly make out Alfred Pennyworth, the police, Batman
unmasking, and Elliot Quinn’s corpse. Not only an homage to Queen but in
the story also "a" Lt. Dannay appeared!

It was also Mike W.Barr who provided
the story for "...The Player on the Other Side!" a Batman story
which
appeared in the Batman Special N°1 (DC Comics) in
1984. Artwork was by
Michael Golden and Mike DeCarlo.
A little salute to Ellery Queen. A really good story that deals
with something that happened
on the night that
Bruce Wayne's parents were killed. A quote from the
original book is included. (See panel) which Batman strangely enough
attributes to Aldous Huxley! Writer Mike W. Barr even elaborates in an
additional piece on the
origins
of the story. According to Barr the quote also is used in the original
Queen book "The Player
on The Other Side" and comes from an Aldous Huxley essay.
Actually the quote is from Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
a British biologist and defender of the theories of Darwin.
Barr was right the quote is included in the EQ book,
but the only reference to the author is made as "Huxley". As it turns out
Thomas Henry Huxley is "the player on the other side" not Aldous Huxley.
In "A Liberal Education and Where to Find It" (1868)
the actual (slighty larger) quote is even more intriguing:
"Yet it is a very plain and
elementary truth, that the life, the fortune,
and the happiness of every one of us, and, more or less,
of those who are connected with us, do depend upon our knowing
something of the rules of a game infinitely more difficult and
complicated than chess. It is a game which has been played for
untold ages, every man and woman of us being one of the two players
in a game of his or her own. The chessboard is the world, the
pieces are the phenomena of the universe, the rules of the game are
what we call the laws of Nature. The player on the other side
is hidden from us. We know that his play
is always fair, just, and patient. But
also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a
mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance. To
the man who plays well, the highest stakes are
paid, with that sort of overflowing generosity
with which the strong shows delight in strength.
And one who plays ill is checkmated--without haste, but
without remorse."
In 1978 a Japanese publisher bought the comic
book rights to one of the Queen short story collections. In 1995 Kadokawa Shoten
published 2 volumes of "The Adventures of Ellery Queen"
or "Ellery Queen no bouken", a Japanese manga by JET.
It included several shortstories: The Adventure of the Two-Headed
Dog, The Adventure of the Bearded Lady,
The Adventure of the African Traveler and The
Adventure of the Seven Black Cats.
  
In February of 1990 Maze Agency (#9) surprised us with a mature
full color comic celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Ellery Queen. It's a
innovative publication with good girl art! It ran in small quantities and is getting
scarce. Cover & interior art by Adam Hughes. Much more than a
continuation of a serie it's a tribute. The series itself centered
around two characters, Jennifer Mays, the owner and top investigator of
the Maze Agency, and her friend Gabriel Webb. Like Ellery Queen,
Gabe is a mystery writer who is close to a detective and ends up getting
involved in the investigations. Unlike Queen, Gabe writes for the "True
Crime"-style tabloid magazines, and the detective he works with is
his lady friend Jennifer, who is quite unlike Ellery's father. Over time
we've gotten to see the relationship grow between the two characters and
learn more about them and their pasts. Issue #9 ran the story of "The
English
Channeler
Mystery -
A problem of deduction"
(Gabriel Webb, Jennifer
Mays
& Ellery Queen app). Barr clearly
used the same murder method as found in Ellery Queen's "House of
Darkness". As you can see on the cover
there even was 'Lesbian'
referance on cover & story = "Killer spree of the Lesbian Biker Nuns"
by Gabriel Webb! Which is "somewhat" shocking for the regular Queen-fan.
Again the surprise came from far and away. In 2001 the Chinese ShiWen Team
published a comic named after and based on 'Calamity Town' .No artists are
mentioned it only stated "EQ Comic Team" as artists. This
illustrates the great affinity people in Eastern countries still have for
the Queen legacy.
( partially based on Mike W.Barr's 'Challenge to the
Artist'
and Ron Goulart's 'The Comic Book Adventures of Ellery Queen'-
"The Comic Book Adventures")
TO
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