I found out about this book around 2002. A graphic novel from 1939 pre-dating modern graphic novels by 30 years. Of course how could I track such an item down? Much less at a price I’d be willing to pay. As luck would have it, Dark Horse reprinted this in 2007 & that’s the version I ended up with. It’s 120 pages at a time when comic stories were typically under ten pages, which is fairly fascinating to have a story ten times the standard length. The afterward explains the book was in response to GIs getting hooked on comics in WWII & trying to do something slightly more sophisticated targeted to that audience.
It Rhymes with Lust is a crime story of political corruption like you might find in a number of movies & books from the era. It has photo-realistic art & the panel layout is simple & easy to follow. My main complaint would be some of the word balloons would have made more sense as though balloons. It’s not mind-blowing today, but it probably is worth checking out for it’s historical importance.
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