Welcome to the Bizarrechats of Michael F. Housel, Author of the Abstract, Amazing and Arcane: : LARRY JOHNSON'S THE COMPLETE LEW BROWN, VOL 3

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

LARRY JOHNSON'S THE COMPLETE LEW BROWN, VOL 3

By gosh! Artist/writer Larry Johnson has outdone himself again with The Complete Lew Brown, Vol 3: an outstanding compilation featuring his humble but resolute, Tales of Fantasy alter ego. This curation may be my favorite in the trio, and that's saying a ton, considering how much I admire the earlier editions. (See May & July posts for the proof in the pudding.)

For this (215-pg, black-and-white) edition, Johnson tosses Brown into specific, science-fiction scenarios, including a jaunt where the investigative reporter and his scientist friend, Gabrielle LeGrande, face a Clonus Horror factory run by the diabolical Dr. Derma (who's a clever merging of Shazam!'s Dr. Sivana and Albert Dekker's Dr. Cyclops); a chance encounter with LeGrande's Uncle Joseph, a man who's battled monstrous rodents (with special appearances by the mischievous Madame Boogala and the shrewd Dr. Charles Young, no less); a heartfelt remembrance by Brown and his neighbor, Joe Carbone, regarding a beloved space show and the toys it inspired; Brown re-imagined as super-scientist Lou Braun, on a mission to purge a bioengineered chemical that morphs people into cockroaches; an attack by Tibero, an alien tree-creature (formed in the From Hell It Came vein); Brown and his brother Freddy's far-out, family entanglement with Venusians; the discovery of a This Island Earth-type, camera-obscura tele-screen; and Brown's hearty brush with a tempting, dimensional vixen.

There are also two literary offerings in this volume: "A Passage In the Darkness," written by Michael Tuz, which is an effective, "House of Usher"-esque piece that unveils a Bostonian cult's subterranean realm, and "The Under People," a quirky fable that places our protagonist among mysterious, maintenance workers.

The tales invoke The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Tales of Tomorrow and that ol' George McFly favorite, Science Fiction Theatre, with a smidgeon of Star Trek, if only to inject some cosmic kick.

Of course, what makes the tales captivating are Brown's credible reactions to his incredible circumstances, which are sometimes amusing and sometimes disconcerting, but no matter the expression, the results are appealing, thanks to Johnson's swift pacing, vibrant artwork and stimulating imagination.