Comic Book Review: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar 

The Man with the Action-Packed Expense Account in the 21^st Century 

I’m a sucker for old time detective shows. I found SiriusXM’s Radio Classics channel on a drive to the beach one year during Detective Week. There was The Saint with Vincent Price, Gerald Mohr as Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, The Shadow, Sam Spade, Broadway is my Beat, and, of course, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. 

Johnny Dollar was a program that began in the late 1940’s and ended in the 60’s. Many actors inhabited the character, but the one who I feel was the perfect Johnny Dollar was Bob Bailey (Sunday Dinner for a Soldier, Wing and a Prayer). 

It turns out I’m not the only modern-day fan of Johnny’s adventures. In fact, the good folks at Green Archer Comics picked up the now public domain character and converted him from being an insurance investigator to a cyber insurance investigator. This puts Johnny (still with his familiar garb and notepad) into modern scenarios. 

Writers Allan Liska and Dr. Anjuli Shere don’t just migrate Johnny to the 21^st century. There are so many callbacks to the original writing that Johnny feels truly celebrated. Mark Oliver and Shawn Decker’s artwork is a gorgeous mix of modern and noir with a wide range of colors that fit the many places Johnny’s investigations take him. There are quotes from the original run of the radio show, and variant covers, also. 

This Johnny gets his very own nemesis, in the mysterious Russian hacker known as Muscovite. He’s malicious, using his digital platform for extortion, blackmail, and cruelty. The cases in these issues are standalone, but the long-form storytelling reveals the rivalry between our hero and this malicious actor. Importantly, Muscovite doesn’t act alone. There are other players who share his goal of stealing money, but they have their own motives. 

The material covering cyber insurance and investigation is accurate, from ransomware, backup and recovery, and digital forensics and incident response (DFIR). In fact, this comic is an excellent route to educate people on these technological challenges. Not all insider threats are malicious, for instance. This is often overlooked by lazy writers who want the spy on the inside to be nefarious. Sometimes, they mean well but just fall for something. 

Johnny very wisely (and repeatedly) cites the usefulness of security features like multi-factor authentication. There’s an infiltration technique that works because someone doesn’t check badges and lets an intruder in the building. Johnny even does some good old-fashioned dumpster diving. There are sections on phishing, social engineering, cyber-bullying, and network segmentation.  

The graphic novel contains several stories, a behind-the-scenes into the creative process, those variant covers, and more. It even closes with a very appropriate (and dialogue-heavy) holiday special. No spoilers, but a certain someone might just save a certain holiday.  It’s a true love letter to Johnny and all of those who portrayed him in the past. Grab your copy from Green Archer Comics today.