Thursday, July 9, 2026

Reading Room WORLD OF FANTASY "What Went Wrong?"

You think you've prepared for every contingency...but is that truly possible?
Can anyone always account for the "human" factor?
Illustrated by Bob Forgione, whose credits at Timely/Atlas included a number of sci-fi stories including an issue of Speed Carter: SpaceMan, this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' World of Fantasy #1 (1956) is one of those "average guy inadvertently saves the world" tales that writers (in this case, unidentified) love to tell.
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Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder GRAPHIC SHOWCASE "Eyes of Mars" Part 1

 In the pre-Internet days...

...comic creator wanna-bes had to print samples of their work in "fanzines", then sell them at comic conventions and through mailing lists.
Here's the very first published efforts of a wanna-be who made good...
The Edgar Rice Burroughs-inspired creator of this story from CCCS's Graphic Showcase #1 (1967) is none other than Mike (The Shadow) Kaluta!
The strip was probably intended as weekly installments in a high-school/college paper, but was repurposed for use in the fanzine.
Graphic Showcase ran three issues, with "Eyes of Mars" appearing in all three.
You'll see them over the next two weeks...
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Volume 1
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Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Reading Room LOST WORLDS "City That Escaped From Tomorrow"

In the 1950s, the popularity of sci-fi in tv and in movies carried over to comics...
...with a plethora of sci-fi anthology titles from almost every publisher, most of which ran material equal to the bulk of pulp and paperback science fiction of the era.
This never-reprinted tale from Standard's Lost Worlds #5 (1952) was penciled by Ross Andru and inked by Mike Esposito and Jim Mooney.
The writer is unknown.
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Monday, July 6, 2026

Monday Mecha Madness UNUSUAL TALES "Where Does It Go?"

Have you ever seen a bus pass by that you're unfamilar with, and wonder...
..."Where Does It Go?"
This never-reprinted tale behind this never-reprinted Rocke Mastroserio cover offers one possibility!
While the concept is rather kool, I have to ask, why is the robot such an insulting s.o.b.?
Writer Joe Gill, penciler Bill Moino, and inker Vince Alascia probably could have provided the answer when they created this story for Charlton's Unusual Tales #29 (1961), none of them are around now to answer the question...
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Mysteries in Space

Sunday, July 5, 2026

Patriotic Reading Room SUPERMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN "Jimmy Olsen--Traitor!"

Which of the Man of Steel's Besties Got into More Trouble?
Lois Lane or Jimmy Olsen?

Don't answer until you've read this never-reprinted Silver Age story...
To Be Concluded...Next Sunday!
Written by Leo Dorfman and illustrated by Pete Costanza, this tale from DC's Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #126 (1970) wasn't considered odd or unique enough to warrant being the cover story...
Hope You Had a Happy (and Safe) 4th of July!