Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Best of Reading Room KENTON OF THE STAR PATROL "Vampires of the Void"

Strap on your blasters and activate your ato-jets, kids...
...as we join our space-faring hero against gorgeous aliens who suck the life from humans!
Now that's a sci-fi horror tale...and illustrated by Wally Wood and Joe Orlando!
Gardner Fox scripted the story published in Avon's Strange Worlds #4 (1951) and actually makes sense, given the scientific knowledge of the era.
But using the "Kenton betrays the Star Patrol" ruse twice in only four issues makes you wonder just how dumb evildoers of the future are.
Add an incredible cover (also by Orlando and Wood)...
Art by Joe Orlando and Wally Wood
...and you've got a cult classic!
Hard to believe it's only been reprinted twice!
The same premise was utilized (even more graphically) almost 35 years later in the 1985 film LifeForce, based on the 1976 novel Space Vampires by Colin Wilson.
Want to bet Wilson read "Vampires of the Void" as a kid?

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanx for posting!