 here also where several comic book detectives who imitated the
Queen
format. Most notable among them was Bentley of Scotland Yard who appeared
in the early 40's in Pep Comics. In his cases (The Case of the
Whistling Doom #13 03/1941, The Case of the Dancing Ghosts
#9 11/1940)
by Sam Cooper and Joe Blair, Bentley came across
several demonic figures but the main event was a panel challenging the
reader: "Inspector Bentley knows the killer of... Do you?
The Queen-stories also seemed popular with the comic book writers of the day and supplied, without
credit nor payment, plots to at least two of comicdom's most beloved
crimefighters, both
in 1943. Again due to the
  predating of comics it is difficult to say which one was first
but this may have been Batman
#18 (August-September 1943, reprinted in Detective Comics #443, October-November
1974). The first story in this issue "The Secret of Hunter's Inn"
(scripter
unknown, art by Bob Kane/Jerry Robinson) is the second encounter of Batman and Robin with the
criminal team 'Tweedledum and Tweedledee", twinbrothers patterned after the
characters of the same name from Alice in Wonderland.The central gimmick of the
story - an actual country inn that keeps disappearing- is lifted from 'The Lamp of God'.
 
The second installment in this category appeared on July 18,1943 in the Spirit
comic section #164 of The
Baltimore Sun, a weekly Sunday newspaper, created by Will
Eisner. The
story in question in which the Spirit deduces how a woman can be accurately shot dead in
total darkness is lifted from Queen's 'The Adventure of the House of Darkness'. The story
is signed by Eisner.... Given the number of crime-related comics published in that era,
and the fact that comics were for decaded considered a 'disposable medium', these two
stories may only be the tip of the iceberg. Paradoxically the plagiarized stories are
better examples of how a Queen story could be succesfully translated to the graphic
medium.
  Not for the last time several, supposedly,
Crackajack-stories found their way into foreign comiccompilations. This
was the case in 1944 where Ellery was featured in the Spanish "Pato
Donald" together with other comicbook heroes of which "Donald
Duck" was the most famous.
 Although
Dannay once recalled there was talk of an EQ newspaper comic
strip it is said nothing came of it. In
the late 40s again "House of Darkness" was again published in a daily
newspaper.This time around the art was done by Paul Norris and the feature
was syndicated by King Features Syndicate. Nor the exact date of
publication nor the newspaper is known to us at this point. But Norris,
famous for launching Aquaman with Mort Weisinger, started to work for King
Features after he returned from World War II.
 everal
ads for Superman (and spin-offs) comic books sometimes included the phrase
"Challenge to the Reader!" to predict mystery plots inside.
We have to agree with Michael E. Grost who stated that
more than one aspect
of the mystery plots in Superman resemble Ellery Queen or Van Dine for that matter. Brainy amateur
detectives usually solve the case by pure logic. Use of disguise and impersonation recalls
Drury Lane. The showbiz settings, the many scholarly and intellectual characters also
recall the Van Dine School. As do the
museums; the private collections of Jimmy Olsen's Superman souvenirs and Superman's
Fortress of Solitude recall the many private museums in Van Dine school books. Metropolis
is a thinly disguised version of New York City and there
is a consistent liberal politic about the stories.
   
In 1949 Ellery appeared for four issues in Superior Comics.
(there were also
Canadian editions of these comics).
Despite the artwork by Jack Kamen,
 Matt Baker, L.B. Cole (#1),
John Forte and the S.M. Iger studio, the series
was essentially forgettable -- appearing bimonthly from May through
November. Written by Ruth Ann Roche. The fifth issue was in the works when
the title was canceled and the name of Ellery
was changed to Edmond Blake and Nikki to Nola.
The names were pasted over the original lettering.
To make things more confusing, Edmond Blake poses as Tim Keene in the story
(Ellery Queen posing as Tim Keene).
The story appeared in Our
Secret #7 (April, 1950). Some of these comics were translated in foreign pulp magazines e.g. 'Pistas' in Argentina
around 1950. The 4 EQ-stories were reprinted in Haunted Thrills
#'s 1 and 2 a few years later (6/52 and 7/52).
(continued...)
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