Every Picture Tells a Story 1/31/14

Was It Rhymes with Lust the first graphic novel? There's a fair argument to be made for that claim. While other books before it had told their stories using just pictures, Lust spins its noirish narrative using much the same style as the crime comics of the late 1940s and aims its tale of power struggles, double crosses and plunging necklines squarely at adults.

It even uses Matt Baker, one of the first African-Americans to work in the comic book industry. He gained so much popularity and respect for his dynamic layouts and, particularly, his fine female figures that he was widely imitated, most especially by his employers at the Iger shop (making it difficult for nonexperts to discern which drawings are his and which belong to his more accomplished imitators). Lust is definitely Baker, though (with inks bay frequent partner Ray Osrin), and his style is well suited to the story of Rust Masson (whose name rhymes with...please go back and look at the title), who uses the occasion of her husband's death to grab his political machine and manipulate everyone around her.

The script, credited to Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller (under the pseudonym "Drake Waller"), aims for a tough, pulpy tone somewhere between James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler, but without Cain's depth of character or Chandler's snap of dialog. Still, it's a brisk read--and at least 20 years ahead of its time.