10. Police Academy The Comic Book (Marvel Comics, 1989-90)






I like the Police Academy films (except for the fourth and seventh ones, which are awful). Then came the 1988 cartoon, which ran for one season - and, quite honestly, wasn’t very good, mainly because the characters bore little, if any, resemblance to the film characters; for instance, the film version of Lt/Capt/Commandant Mauser is a harsh, scheming, sycophantic bureaucrat interested only in his next promotion, whereas in the cartoon, he’s called something different - and is in charge of the K-9 Corps. Go figure. If not for the name of the show, and the character names, you might not know the cartoon is related to the films.

So, if I didn’t really enjoy the cartoon based on the films, why on earth would I enjoy a comic based on the cartoon that was itself adapted from the films?

The answer is simple: it’s silly and enjoyable. I thought the artists captured things perfectly (I’m not sure how easy it is to do likenesses of TV cartoon characters, but they did it so well). I mean, it’s hard not to enjoy it. With story names like “Phantom of the Operating Room” and quirky villain names that would have made even the likes of Masters of the Universe cringe, how could I not make a case for this?

Note: it ran for six issues, which means it hardly outstayed its welcome.

10. Psychoanalysis #1-4 (EC)



EC’s “New Direction” titles were a flop, but there were some well-respected titles among their attempts to find genres that could capture some of the EC magic in territory safer from the censorious forces stirred up by Dr. Wertham: Impact ran one of the most highly regarded stories in American comics history, Valor presented some of the best in historical adventure comics, Piracy produced some glorious covers and satisfying yarns.

But one genre that’s had a poor track record in American comics is medical comics, and EC tried two approaches on the idea in 1955. M.D. was lackluster, but the art of Graham Ingels and Reed Crandall elevated every issue, with competent support from Joe Orlando and George Evans also contributing.

But Psychoanalysis? That one still has comics fans scratching their heads. The premise: each issue would feature three patients discussing their problems with the unnamed Psychiatrist. Each issue would contain one session for each patient, until they were cured, at which point another patient’s treatment would begin.

The first three patients are Freddy Carter, Ellen Lyman, and Mark Stone. Ellen completes her therapy in issue 3, and Freddy and Mark have their final sessions in issue 4, with Mark getting two sessions that issue. The plan was that a new patient would be introduced, with Mark’s therapy completed in issue 5, but looming cancellation (or, perhaps, a looming malpractice trial?) dictated that the Psychiatrist hastily close up the shop, depriving readers of a regular influx of new patients.

The stories were all written by Dan Keyes, who has a very few writing credits according to the GCD. He did a couple of Atlas horror stories, PSYCHOANALYSIS, and several stories in EC's Picto-Fiction magazines. Was he someone familiar with psychoanalysis who pitched the concept to a desperate EC Comics? Or was he a utility commercial writer who did some research to inform his work? The supplemental material in my hardcover collection doesn't address the writer, and I suppose the development process behind this baffling choice will forever remain a mystery.

The art is all by Jack Kamen, who I’ve seen described as “everyone’s least favorite favorite EC artist”. Most will admit that he was good at drawing pretty girls and at conveying emotional conflict, well-heeled seediness, "character actors", and conventional, ordinary settings like offices and home interiors. For a comic like this one, he was the perfect choice from the EC stable, but it really is anomalous to EC's  usual approach of providing artistic variety in every issue. If you didn't like Kamen's art, you weren't going to like any of the art. 

But lack of artistic variety is a minor issue. The main problem with the series is that it is so static and wordy. Virtually everything is a conversation between the patient and the Psychiatrist, and all the action is indirect: characters relating what happened rather than the story depicting it. Psychoanalysis is, to most readers, a tedious slog. And as you might guess, psychoanalysis is depicted here in a ridiculously simplified and inauthentic manner. If only mental health problems could be “cured” after three or four sessions with a doctor!

Surely most readers would rank this at the bottom of EC's mature output. And some would probably rank it below their much cruder, early series like MOON GIRL AND THE PRINCE or SADDLE JUSTICE.

But I’m not most readers. For one thing, Kamen is probably my favorite favorite EC artist. For another, I delight in indirect storytelling; one of my favorite authors is the notorious Harry Stephen Keeler (I’ve transcribed one of his novels that went unpublished in his lifetime for print in the current era: Strange Journey, a science fiction story in which the main character travels into the future where he proceeds to…stay in his hotel room and talk to people on the phone—and one or two personal visitors--for the duration of the novel!).

I’m fascinated by niche genres of all types, in all art forms, and this seems to be the only example of an American comic book series devoted to psychoanalysis. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to buy a hardcover collection of this quirky oddball series back when Russ Cochran had run out of the popular EC comics to reprint. And I just love it!

Guilt Factors: Tedium, Inaction, Loquaciousness, Commercial Failure, False Promises, Malpractice

I really dislike this book. Nice choice!

It’s interesting to me because I just don’t recall many of those kinds of things ending up in newsagents over here. 

Oh, you KNOW this isn't the last you'll be seeing of that series in this event...

Interesting choice (first I’ve heard of this). It doesn’t sound riveting or even attractive, and I can’t honestly say I’d buy it if I saw it cheap at a car boot sale, but it’s certainly interesting to read about such an esoteric-sounding premise.