Friday, November 28, 2025

Holiday Reading Room HUMBUG "Voyage of the Mayflower II"

Here's a look from Humbug #3  (1957) at how a trend begins...
...which writer/artist R. O. Blechman derived from the real-life adventure of the Mayflower II, which apparently made a boodle of cash and inspired construction (and exploitation) of replicas of other famous sailing vessels!
Utilizing reconstructed ship blueprints held by the American museum Plymouth Plantation, and hand-built by English shipbuilders using traditional methods, the sea-worthy vessel actually sailed the Atlantic from England to Plymouth Rock, Mass, where it's been a tourist attraction ever since.

Thursday, November 27, 2025

Holiday Reading Room UNCANNY TALES "Executioner"

This may not appear to be a holiday tale...
...but it is...for everyone except the unseen (until the end) victim!
Could you tell that this Myron Fass-illustrated story from Atlas' Uncanny Tales #9 (1953) was done during the horror comics craze of the early 1950s?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder AMAZING HIGH ADVENTURE "Monkey See, Monkey DIE!"

During the Era of Pulp High Adventure Prose Stories...

...there were few locales more exotic than Egypt, land of pharaohs' curses, demons, and still-walking mummies...or so it is said!











Written by Steve Englehart and illustrated by Mike (Hellboy) Mignola, this never-reprinted tale from Marvel's Amazing High Adventure #3 (1984) takes the "mystical Egypt" trope and tosses it on it's butt!

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Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Reading Room: STRANGE WORLDS "Weapon Out of Time"

Barbarians, advanced technology, and beautiful, half-clad women...
...we're obviously back in the retro-cool era of the Golden Age of science fiction!
So, if the fountain was "Old Faithful", where would nearby Anthor be located?
And, what happened to Anthor and it's inhabitants, who obviously weren't around when Paleoindians first migrated across the Beringia land bridge between Asia and North America around 12,000 years ago (or earlier)?
Yeah, I know it's "just a comic book story", but I can speculate, can't I?
Was this meant to be the first in an ongoing series about Prof Chalmers and his time-viewer/matter analyzer?
Art for this wild story from Avon's Strange Worlds #2 (1951) is by Wally Wood.
The writer is unknown, but it's theorized to be Gardner Fox, who created comics' first barbarian, Crom, for Avon the previous year.
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Vol 3
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Monday, November 24, 2025

Monday Mecha Madness CAPTAIN SCIENCE COMICS "Robots of Ra"

For sheer weirdness (not to mention incomprehensibility), few stories can top this tale...
...from the back of Youthful's Captain Science #2 (1951)!
You'll note the art style for this never-reprinted story varies wildly from page to page.
The credited artist, Walter Johnson, depended heavily on assistants to produce a high volume of pages for the various comics companies (including Avon, St John, Fiction House, and Youthful Publications) he supplied art to!
The work of several different illustrators with varying levels of draftsmanship is apparent on this one story, including one or more who swipe from both Flash Gordon's Alex Raymond and Phantom Lady's Matt Baker!
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