Over in the letters page, two readers write in that Ralph should get a chance to grace the cover of the comic sometime. (If you're wondering, it doesn't happen. Ralph would appear on the cover, but only alongside other characters with Batman up front.)
Mickey Gaither of Ellicott City, Maryland suggested that Ralph could be featured on the cover or split the cover with Batman. But before that, he comments on "My Wife, The Witch!" saying it was an entertaining story, "not 'The best story I've ever read' as some of your readers might try to tell you. I'd like to congratulate you on the job you've done with the Elongated Man strip; at first I thought it held no promise because of Ralph's power, probably the most common in all comicdom. Sue does add much to this success, along with the idea of a married, secret-identityless superhero."
He goes on with "Lastly, why not feature the Elongated Man on a cover? Or perhaps a cover divided into two, with him AND Batman?"
Irene Vartanoff of Bethesda, Maryland hits the same note with a more impassioned plea: "Dear Editor: How about featuring Elongated Man on the cover of Detective? I feel that, since the title of the mag is Detective, NOT Batman, the Elongated Man has just as much right to the cover as Batman has. The Martian Manhunter never had a chance when he appeared in Detective, to my sorrow, and he was always considered 'inferior' because of it. (This is an unconscious reasoning; the reader feels that the unfeatured story is a 'filler'). Please give Elongated Man a chance. I'm sure you'll never regret it."
Well, as above stated in a parenthesis, Ralph didn't get a starring cover in Detective Comics. The reason is simple: Batman was the iconic character for DC, and was soon appearing on TV screens. With so much media presence, they wanted to sell the most copies. However, despite not featuring on Detective Comics' cover, Ralph was amassing fans who loved the character.
Julius Schwartz asks readers to sound off on the idea of featuring Ralph on the cover. We'll see if this resumes in a few issues' time.
"The Counter of Monte Cristo!" was written by Gardner Fox with Carmine Infantino on pencils and inks while Gaspar Saladino lettered and Julius Schwartz served as editor.
Splash page time! The text teases that Ralph is lured into yet another adventure as he and Sue visit Monte Carlo. The panel shows Ralph rapidly swinging back and forth to draw the fire of three gunmen, trying to use up their ammunition. It's a pretty eye-popping splash page.
It opens with Ralph and Sue enjoying the view of Monte Carlo from their resort's balcony. Sue mentions "If only Aunt Deborah could see me now!"
So, Sue has an Aunt Deborah and an Uncle Jim (as revealed in "The Elongated Man's Other World Wife"). Are they brother and sister, husband and wife, or are they on opposite sides of the family? We may never know.
When she says she's so glad she married Ralph, he replies, "Sure! Marry me and see the world!" Which makes me say this would have made a good honeymoon story.
Checking their guidebook, the Dibnys decide to visit a casino, a very classy one. Sue wins a round at a table and when she collects her markers, she accidentally knocks some over to the gentleman sitting next to her. She apologizes and explains it's her first time winning anything and she's so excited. He's cordial, perhaps too cordial as Ralph asks her about him as he steps away.
Talking to management, they tell Ralph not to pursue the case as they don't want any publicity. They'd rather lose the counters, but if the man returns, they will have him arrested.
Ralph and Sue head out to the Riveria to relax, but of course, Ralph can't get the case off his mind. The crowd is rather heavy and Sue even gets nudged by someone. As they find a seat, Sue reveals she had a counter in her pocket to give to Aunt Deborah. However, when she tries to get it out of her pocket, she can't find it.
Ralph realizes the man who ran into her earlier must have been a pickpocket and quickly trails him to a grand house.
Peeking inside, Ralph is able to hear confirmation that they were indeed after the counter stolen from Sue. He reveals himself to the men inside, who begin firing, prompting the scene of Ralph swinging himself like a pendulum to draw their fire and empty their pistols.
Fight scene! Ralph manages to punch out of guy by turning his arms into an arrow and using his body like a bow. Then he manages to stretch his hair (a rare move) to blind the pickpocket before knocking him out. Then he goes after the leader by tripping him up and catching him.
Ralph calls the police and later tells Sue the entire story. The men were part of a spy ring, the leader being the leader, who was the gunman at the casino in a disguise, trying to recover a valuable piece of microfilm hidden in a counter (because that's the only way to smuggle microfilm apparently), which happened to be the one Sue pocketed. Stealing all the ones from the table, it was soon discovered they weren't the one, so the pickpocket was sent after Sue.
On the way out of Monte Carlo the next day, Ralph is recognized and makes a show out of bowing to the people as only he can.
As I said, this would have been better as a honeymoon story for Ralph and Sue. Unfortunately, it was written much later into Ralph's career. Aside from the baffling bit of why the microfilm had to be smuggled in a counter (which the entire plot hangs on), it's a well-done story. Infantino is in good form as well. Really, the only complaint about the art is some missing red coloring from Ralph's costume in one of the panels.
Next time, Sue gets her fortune told.
