Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and The Wild West

Saturday, August 1, 2020

NERO WOLFE Comic Strip: The FINAL Sunday Adventure - YOU WRITE THE ENDING! (1958)

When I started posting this strip some six months ago, I thought I had the complete 15-month run. The Sunday strips I had amassed ended in mid-January, 1958, while the dailies continued until the first of March. An expert I consulted said that six-week gap did not sound unusual. Once the writing was on the wall that a strip was waning in popularity, the Sundays were often first to go. So I didn't fret. But as I got around to processing the final Sundays, I discovered the last storyline was unfinished, and began to suspect there might be more.

I appealed to comic strip aficionado Frank M. Young, who enlisted the help of Art Lortie, and Art supplied me with four more strips, dated Jan. 26 through Feb. 16. (Thanks guys!) But the story still hadn't finished, and according to the best available info, continued at least until Feb. 23.

The last three strips below, from Feb. 2 through 16, appeared the New Orleans Times-Picayune, but tragically, the strip was not included in their edition of Feb. 23. And I've been unable to find any other paper still carrying the strip at that time. While I haven't given up hope, there's no reason to believe I'll find the end of this story anytime soon, so I'm posting what I have, and asking YOU to do the rest.

YOUR JOB is to put on your Rex Stout hat - or your Nero Wolfe pajamas - and figure out how the story should end. I'm talking to YOU, Art Scott, and Bob Byrne, and Cap'n Bob, and Richard Robinson, and Tough Jim Gaston, and all the rest of you Wolfeans and Stoutites out there, to come to aid of fandom and give us your take on how Wolfe solves the case.

So next week I'll be runnning these strips again. I'll give you MY guess about how it might end, and hopefully several of yours. It will be interesting to see what we come up with, and if any of us are thinking along the same lines.

Please DO NOT reveal your ending in the comments here! Instead, EMAIL it to me at delewis1@hotmail.com, and I'll post everyone's ideas next Saturday. The DEADLINE to send those emails is THURSDAY, Aug. 6, at the stroke of midnight (in whatever time zone you're in.)

Let the game begin . . .

Jan. 5, 1958

Jan. 12, 1958

Jan. 19, 1958

Jan. 26, 1958

Feb. 2, 1958

Feb. 9, 1958

Feb. 16, 1958

So there you have it! How would YOU bring this case to a somewhat satisfying conclusion? Pop open a few bottles of beer, start pushing your lips in and out, and get to work!