Copper City is a mining town where the copper magnate, Buck Mason, has just passed away. His widow, the wicked blonde Rust, summons an old flame, journalist Hal Weber, to take over the local newspaper. Rust aims to extend her late husband’s power even further, and Hal must decide whether to assist her or side with Mason’s daughter, Audrey, the good blonde. In the business world, Rust has a rival, magnate Marcus Jeffers, while at the newspaper, Hal has an assistant, Jimmy, who admires his boss and helps him make an ethical decision. McPhee, an adventurous elderly taxi driver, also aids in unravelling the intrigues. There’s a collapsing mine, an unscrupulous businesswoman extorting her suppliers, a journalist with ethical dilemmas, and a group of children delivering newspapers on bicycles. After many intrigues and deceptions, the truth will come to light, the good will triumph, and the villains will receive their well-deserved punishment.

In 1949, editor Archer St John commissioned Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller, who signed as a single entity, Drake Waller, to write the script for a detective comic illustrated by the talented Matt Baker. Thus, in 1949, the first comic with the back cover ads replaced by a story synopsis was released, similar to real books. Its dimensions were smaller than a comic, closer to a book, with about 112 pages. St John paid attention to all the details, but the comic failed. In addition to the risk posed by the experiment of merging different formats, the story wasn’t outstanding. But the artwork was great.

Indeed, Baker’s excellent drawings make It Rhymes with Lust worthwhile. Known for his voluptuous depiction of women, Baker was one of the most sought-after artists of the time (and one of the first African-American artists to have a significant career in comics), and It Rhymes with Lust shines among an outstanding body of work. Rust, the femme fatale, is beautifully drawn to resemble the 1940s Hollywood divas. There’s a charming recreation of cinematic language, using dotted patterns to suggest out-of-focus shots (an effect that, interestingly, no one used again). Each character is well-developed, with their quirks and attire, making them seem like actors fully committed to their roles. Evidently, beyond the professional commission, Baker saw the book as an opportunity to fully explore himself as a graphic storyteller. The idea of creating a comic in a format that, at that time, was more respectable led him to create incredible frames, borrow ideas from cinema, and give his characters very distinctive expressions.

However, the script is terrible, akin to a bad B-movie from the era, filled with clichés in both its plot and style. It Rhymes with Lust lacks authenticity, attempting to tell a story with sordid undertones, but ultimately turning it into a simplistic moral fable that only attracts due to the quality of its artwork.

The lack of succes resulted in the cancellation of numerous titles St John intended to publish in this new graphic novel format, delaying the emergence of true adult comics for several decades. Nevertheless, its value as a precursor to modern graphic novels is indisputable, and due to the art Dark Horse’s reissue is a worthy addition to any comic book library.