Law & Order--The Silver Age!!

The other day I wrote about Dell's comic book adaptation of the long-running radio show Mr. District Attorney.

But long-time reader Wayne pointed out that I was somewhat derelict in my research, as I completely missed the fact that DC later picked up the property, and published their own Mr. District Attorney comic...for a mind boggling 11 years and 67 issues!!

I don't know whether they eventually gave the title character a name, like the TV version did. I like to think that they just kept calling him Mr. District Attorney the whole decade plus.

One thing I can tell you, though, just by looking at the covers: as the Silver Age dawned, well, the covers sure became more and more Silver Age-y, slowing transforming from a straightforward crime book into a fantasy landscape of insanity before our very eyes:

It's sort of the same transformation that Blackhawk made when DC took over...

It strikes me as interesting, that while Marvel has long had a foothold in the world of courtroom drama--Matt Murdock, She-Hulk--aside from Harvey Dent, DC doesn't really have any hero lawyers. Do they? Am I missing someone?

Which is a shame, because the DC Universe (well, at least some DC universes) could be a fun place for legal hi-jinks....

Manic Leapday--Curses!!

I am the son of a truck driver, so believe me, I know a thing or two about putting profane or taboo words into a powerful, gut-rending, fear-inducing sequence.

But I will never, ever be able to swear like this guy:

Holy crap!! 

Seriously, I can't even begin to translate that without my keyboard catching fire!!

So try saying this at work or school today!! You'll be glad you did!

From Dell Four Color #13 (1942)

What They Didn't Tell You On Law & Order (Or, Jack McCoy Vs. Batroc?!?)!

If your town has a crime problem,who you gonna call?

That's right!

Mr. District Attorney was a long-running radio show. And the character never had a name!! He was just always referred as "Mr. District Attorney," or sometimes Chief. When the show eventually was adapted as an early TV series, they gave him a name, because television ruins everything. So then he became known as Paul Garrett on both radio and TV.

But for our purposes, in Dell Four Color #13 (1942), he was just known as Mr. District Attorney.

Now, you've watched enough Law & Order that you may think you know all about what a district attorney does. Well, let me tell you, you're wrong!

District attorneys go out in the field, and engage in violent fisticuffs with felons!

Mr. District Attorney can even overcome crazy French-Canadian Kung Fu!

And, well, he's not above threatening to kill the bad guys...

He's also not above actually killing the bad guys!!

You'd think that physically beating up your suspects, holding a gun on them, and killing some would perhaps make for some serious constitutional issues when it came time for Mr. District Attorney to actually prosecute the bad guys in court.

Not in Midvale City!!

For what it's worth, in the eleven (11!) stories in this comic, Mr. District Attorney never once sets foot in a courtroom, or makes a motion, or does anything resembling prosecution.

Killing the bad guys, though? Yup, he does that!

And not just people...

He shoots leaping snakes out of mid-air!!!!!!!

And he goes undercover to foil criminals...

...with the best comeback line in history!!

Man oh man, we really need more district attorneys like this on TV!! Law & Order: Kicking The Crap Outta Bad Guys Squad?