Patricks in comic books

Members of the Patrick family have been depicted in comic book form at least six times — five of them telling the story of Lester Patrick’s 1928 Stanley Cup heroics. These stories are just a few pages each and have publication dates ranging from 1947 to 2011. The artwork ranges from terrific to atrocious. I’ve reproduced each story below in full, except the most recent one, which is still in print. I’ve also included some comments about each story. (The Patricks were further depicted in cartoons on newspaper sports pages between the 1920s and ‘60s, which is the subject of a separate post.)

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Topix Comics

Date: March 1947

Title: It’s Never Too Late (Il N’Est Jamais Trop Tard)

Description: Six pages, drawn by Louis Ravielli, who did all kinds of comics in the 1940s and ‘50s, including war, crime, romance, horror, and western. The first appearance of the Patricks in comics was also the only time the story was not about Lester Patrick appearing in goal. Rather, it’s about Lynn Patrick battling his way onto the New York Rangers roster, against his father’s better judgement. The Official NHL Hockey Treasures book (2019) included a facsimile of the cover and the story. There was also a French Canadian version of this comic, Herauts Aventures: Le tresor des belles (which translates as Heralds Adventures: The Treasure of the Beauties).

Sample dialogue: “‘Don’t see how you did it, boy, but you’ve earned a place on the Rangers.’ ‘A man can do anything, pop, if he only plugs away at it and never quits.’”

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True Comics, No. 69

Date: Feb. 10, 1948

Title: Great Moments in Sports: Hockey’s “Old Man” Comes Back

Description: Three pages and it doesn’t feel like much effort was expended. The writer wasn’t familiar with hockey and the anonymous artist’s players look like football players. To top things off, Lester’s hair is orange.  

Sample dialogue: “Clear field — out to make a goal.” “Wow! Patrick stopped that puck with his body!” (Well, yeah. Because it’s kind of, you know, the goalie’s job.)

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Thrilling Adventures in Stamps Comics, No. 4

Date: April 1952

Title: The Lone Ranger

Description: Four pages. Each story in this bizarre comics series was tied to a stamp, but in this case only very loosely, namely one Switzerland issued in 1948 to publicize hockey in the winter Olympics. Artist Doug Wildley was a New York native who went on to create Jonny Quest for Hanna-Barbera. He did a pretty good job.

Sample dialogue: “Yeowww! The Silver Fox himself! He hasn’t played in five years!”

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Treasure Chest, No. 12

Date: Feb. 13, 1958

Title: Those Were The Days: A Goodly Goalie

Description: Two pages, artist anonymous. This one is incredibly odd. First, while it’s about Lester Patrick, he’s not actually named! Whoever wrote the story knew little about hockey and so wrote in baseball terms. The artist and colourist didn’t appear to have any reference photos of either Lester or the Rangers uniforms handy, because neither is remotely close!

Sample dialogue: “I don’t know how to use the stick, but I do know how to catch. I’m not too bad at catching ‘grounders’ either. Just like a first baseman.”

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Educational Insights

Date: 1978

Title: The Old Man in the Net

Description: Four pages, rendered in blue and white by an anonymous artist. Part of an educational kit. The most interesting thing about this one is the title, which is the same given to the 2008 episode of Amazing Sports Stories. I can only find one earlier use of a similar phrase. Vic Wall wrote in the Springfield Morning Union of Oct. 30, 1957: “Patrick was the Old Man of the Nets that night.”

Sample dialogue: “Boys, you’re going to have to check as you’ve never checked before. I’m going to play goal!”

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Old-Time Hockey Tales, Book One

Date: 2011

Title: The Backstop From Behind the Bench

Description: Three pages, black and white, by Robert Ullman and Jeffery Brown. Far and away the best comics appearance of the Patricks art-wise and efficiently narrated too. The terrific cover shows a Seattle Metropolitan, although the Mets aren’t otherwise featured inside. Lester also makes a cameo in the third issue in the series, narrating the story of Rangers goalie Steve (The Puck Goes Inski) Buzinksi. Seattle and Portland coach Pete Muldoon is featured in the third issue, as well, in Curse of the Muldoon. While you can read The Backstop From Behind The Bench online, I recommend ordering copies of all three issues because they’re wonderful and inexpensive.