I think of Lew Brown as the alter ego of the artist/writer Larry Johnson. Lew (who's been featured in Johnson's Tales of Fantasy and the novel, The Hand) is a man (a reporter) who finds himself in the most extraordinary places, meeting the most extraordinary individuals, with each path steered by Johnson's venturesome imagination. In other words, Lew sees through Johnson's mindful eyes, and I believe it's safe to say that he reacts to situations just as his creator would.
In the black-and-white, 187-page The Complete Lew Brown (Vol 1), Johnson offers a satisfying smorgasbord of his counterpart's 1984-1993, comic-strip exploits. The stories feature a Harryhausen-ish skeleton; a jarring tryst with a bird man; a magical, aboriginal reverie; a hypnotic visit to "paradise"; a sojourn to a static-laden dimension; a wrestling match with the exotic Eltaur; a matter of fortune-telling and possession with the conniving Madame Boogala; a time-traveling trip spurred by Lew's neighbors, Joe and Francine Carbone; the fiendish fate of a bicycle thief; a fictional monster made real; Joe's "image rectifier" and the seductive gorgon it summons; Joe turning Lew invisible; the emulating antics of Joe's robot butler, Ambro; the mystical effects of Francine's memory-inducing tear-drop gem; Lew's crazy crossover with Space Cat; and last but not least, Boogala's bold return for the collection's metamorphic epilogue.
As one can infer, Johnson gives readers much to absorb in The Complete Lew Brown, and the brief descriptions above don't convey the vast intricacies that each story holds. Nonetheless, Brown's sojourns would please any fan of The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, Amazing Stories and One Step Beyond, where commoners slip into uncommon situations.
On second thought, perhaps it's a tad inaccurate to categorize Lew as common. In fact, Johnson makes his reflected self an "everyman" conduit for the outlandish, though in such a way that his bizarre scenarios feel credible. Perhaps that's why these fantastic tales work so well. Yes, they're phantasmagoric, but at their core, they emblemize the familiar highs and lows of any visionary life. (BTW: Johnson ruminates on Lew's genesis in the volume's pensive preface.)
There's no question that Johnson's fictional confidant has become one of my favorites. I believe that if you give The Complete Lew Brown a whirl, he'll become one of yours, too.
The Complete Lew Brown (Vol 1) can (and should) be purchased at
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GXTLP6HM?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
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