The Adventures of Ford Fairlane

Five years later, and I've still never gotten around to seeing the movie.

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Comics That Time Forgot)

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane

Issues # 1-4, DC Comics Limited Series (1990)

Scripts: Gerard Jones (# 1-4)

Pencils: Jose Delbo (# 1-2); Carmine Infantino (# 3-4); Russell Braun (# 3-4)

Inks: Don Heck (# 1- 4); Frank Springer (# 3-4)

Letters: Jon D’Agostino (# 1-4)Colors: Tom Ziuko (# 1-4)

Executive Editor: Joe Orlando (# 1-4)

DC’s 1990 limited series The Adventures of Ford Fairlane was unique in its time as far as movie tie-ins went; instead of a straightforward adaptation or a set of “further adventures,” the Ford Fairlane comic acted as a prequel to the eponymous movie, telling us how the characters got to where they are when the movie begins.

Both the movie and the comic focus on Fairlane, the so-called “Mr. Rock-and-Roll Detective,” as he solves crimes and gets into trouble in the music industry. The movie role of Fairlane was played by Andrew Dice Clay, a stand-up comic known in his time for vulgar nursery rhymes more than anything else. Although I’ve never seen the movie and therefore can’t comment on it,* the DC Comics limited series is actually quite entertaining.

The series opens in Brooklyn in the late 70s, as Fairlane and his buddy Johnny (played by Gilbert Godfrey in the movie) attempt to make it big as rock and roll musicians; they get nowhere as disco sweeps the country, but decide to move to Los Angeles for their big break. Eventually Johnny quits the band to become a radio dee-jay and Fairlane is left on his own, taking crap jobs throughout the 80s to hang around the periphery of the music business.

Inevitably, of course, Fairlane gets himself into trouble, solves a crime or two, and decides to open up a private detective agency along with his assistant, Jazz. In each issue of the comic, the duo solve a mystery, such as uncovering the murderer of Blues singers; putting away an agent who blackmails his clients; and recovering a stolen Jimi Hendrix guitar.

Gerard Jones’ scripts are witty, breezy, and fun,** and he successfully captures Fairlane’s Hollywood life-style and the terminology of the music business. The mysteries, though not complex, are satisfactory, and the supporting characters are sufficiently interesting. The movie may have bombed, but the comic certainly doesn’t deserve to be tarred with the same brush. Although amateur detective stories aren’t especially successful in comics (MAZE Agency, Dakota North, and Cinder & Ashe come to mind), fans of the genre may want to check out The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.

* From what I recall, it was quite a flop and Clay’s career never recovered.

**For example, Fairlane ruminates on his failure to break into the music business: “I guess I thought L.A. would just lie back and slip off her leopard-print underwear for us! Turned out she had her own ideas about who’d do the lying and who’d do the slipping . . .”