Stan Drake's The Heart of Juliet Jones Volume 4 - Sundays Perfect Paperback – August 25, 2014

Stan Drake's art rivals anything anyone else has done in this medium. The stories are soap but they will hold your interest. Volume 4, like all the previous volumes, is done nicely. I for one have no complaints. I wish there were a Volume 5!

the print is really better than the third one

This volume presents "The Heart of Juliet Jones" May 2 1954 to July 27 1958 Sundays. Note that the Sundays are a continuity of their own; you won't miss anything because the dailies are not included. Originally appearing in color, the Sundays are reprinted here in black and white.The book includes 222 pages of strips, a Drake interview with Shel Dorf, plus Drake reminiscences from Roy Richardson, a "prozine" editor. Drake's artwork is brisk pen and ink in the "photorealistic" style; the line becomes noticeably looser over the period presented here, but still highly realist. The stories, presumably by Elliot Caplan, are pretty soapy:Juliet, the mature and thoughtful older sister of flighty blonde Eve Jones, manages a romance between upper-crust Bob Brently and his smitten maid, Gloria La Porte. Eve's up for romance next but her fast-moving beau, Pete, is suspected by of being a wrong un' by hotheaded policeman Eddie Hearn. It's Juliet's turn in the hotseat next when, during a date with Eddie, she witnesses the mayor's wife commit a crime. Then Eve's over her head again, this time over pretentious, and double-timing, college classmate Tal Chesney. A difficult turn for Juliet follows when Eddie comes down with a mystery illness and she feels compelled to agree to his despairing dream of marrying her. Juliet gets a break of sorts when former neighbor Alice breezes into town with two tickets for a Caribbean cruise, where Juliet crosses hearts with fortune-hunting Bent Harolde. Back home, Juliet's father Howard "Pops" Jones is unexpectedly offered an award; when he turns it down on principle he winds up in a brutal election that pits him against Devon's slimy mayor, Stanley Hatch. Next, Eve becomes suspicious of the old fellow courting Juliet's elderly assistant, Miss Panky. Eve's next crisis: she needs glasses, and falls under the predatory eye of community theater director Van Jameson. Then after expressing definite opinions on contemporary music during an interview, Eve gets her own radio show - and a mystery caller with talent, and a problem. Juliet books a two-week vacation at gloomy Seaview Hotel, where she finds gloomy hotel owner Louise Maddren pining for her long-lost husband - and woodworker Asher Goode pining for her. Back to work at her hat shop, Juliet must decide what to do about wealthy kleptomaniac Ellen Steavens. Eve gets more than she bargained for when she attempts to get world-traveler Conrad Bay to come to the luggage department - but so does Bay, and Eve gives him the finger in the end. An invitation to a costume party gives Eve an opportunity to try a variety of dresses - including her grandmother's. Homegrown Hollywood hit Hugh Trenton returns to Devon for a visit - and to tell his troubles to Juliet. Awkward - and angry - Dierdre has troubles too, but learning to trust Juliet helps her turn them around. Juliet is the angry one when she thinks some clown is making an ass of her. Embarrassed about his height, "Shorty" winds up getting a lift from Juliet and Eve. Duke Lyons takes Eve out on his cabin cruiser; it turns out to be faster than he is. Pops' crooked brother Clarence is sure Pops is too gentle to get tough with him, even when it looks like he's drifting back to his old ways. Juliet's clerk Mrs Howe wants her to give her son Buddy a talking to, but Buddy has his own ideas. The Devon's Girls' Circle decides to try their hand at stock-trading, and everything they pick goes up - until it doesn't. Juliet takes on the case of a young burglar who's been condemned by his father. Eve winds up with the evidence on a neat bit of insurance fraud, but has a hard time telling the innocent from the guilty, and this last strip ends with a hearty "AMEN!!"

Very good publication. Hope publishers continue with these great goldies.

This is a sundays-only volume, but it's printed in B&W. A big letdown for me. I guess I shouldn't have expected color the price tag being the same as in their B&W volumes. At least the linework is superbly reproduced.

Excelent! I recommend!

Received as advertised.

Very fine!