I interviewed Rex Stout a long time ago. Not sure he ended the Columbia series. He did say that the studio hoped that they could get Charles Laughton and Humphrey Bogart, but wound up with Edward Arnold and Lionel Stander. At the time of our meeting, Universal was trying to get him to agree to a series of TV movies starring and directed by Orson Welles. Stout said he didn’t trust Welles and thought it made more sense financially to wait until after his death, when the literary series would end and his surviving family could sell TV and film rights. But the books continued, written by Robert Goldsborough in a style reminiscent of Stout’s.
Nero and Archie appeared in a relatively brief comic strip back in the 1950s, drawn by Mike Roy. His Archie resembled a blend of Darren McGavin and Kurt Russell.
Didn’t know they were “lawmen,” but always great to see those comic greats mentioned.