Movie actors are being killed by beings resembling famous monsters.
Captain of Detectives Amos Burke and his aides follow a trail of clues leading to the film studio that made the movies the creatures originally appeared in...
Be here
tomorrow as we show how movies were screened in the pre-BluRay (and even VCR) days!
(and there'll be more clues, too...)
Note: you didn't miss a post here.
The
first part appeared at our "brother" blog
Secret Sanctum of Captain Video!
Burke's Law (1963-1966) was produced by Aaron Spelling, who later did such genre series as
Charlie's Angels, TJ Hooker, Matt Houston, Hart to Hart, Starsky and Hutch, The Rookies, SWAT, Mod Squad, and
Honey West (a spinoff from
Burke's Law we've featured
HERE.)
While it was a police procedural, the plot was often secondary to the parade of high-profile guest stars playing victims and suspects, making it "CSI meets Love Boat".
Classic movie stars like Buster Keaton, Don Ameche, Basil Rathbone, Dorothy Lamour, and Broderick Crawford joined up-and-comers like William Shatner, Barbara Eden, Tab Hunter, Annette Funicello, and Telly Savalas as the weirdest grouping of West Coast eccentrics outside of San Diego ComicCon!
As you can see, translating it to the comic
page proved difficult, since the editors felt the guest star aspect couldn't be carried
out in a licensed comic.
Depite that,
writer Paul S Newman and artists Frank McLaughlin (penciler) and Dick
Giordano, Sal Trapani & Vince Colletta (inkers) did a commendable
job trying to capture the light-hearted feel of the series in this tale
from
Dell's Burke's Law #3 (1965).
Trivia: Every episode's title was "Who Killed (Insert Noun)?", much as Man from U.N.C.L.E.'s titles were "The (Insert Noun) Affair" and Wild, Wild West's episodes all had a "Night of the (Insert Noun)" title (even if they took place during the day)!
Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books