Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Reading Room FLASH GORDON COMICS "Stories Behind the Stars"

This was an ongoing feature about the mythological origins of the constellations...
...which has never been reprinted since its' appearance in Harvey's Flash Gordon #2, #3, and #4 (1950).
Ever wonder what the actual legend behind Clash of the Titans was?
You'll note the "monster" is not the movie's Kraken, which was a mythological Norse creature based on sailors' sightings of huge octopi.
Ray Harryhausen let his imagination run wild, producing a far more interesting creature than the usual fire-breathing lizard.

Last, but hardly least, here's a popular mythological creature who's been "retconned" in movies and tv...
...but this never-reprinted one-pager from Harvey's Flash Gordon #4 (1950) gives you the original version of the story!
Note, again, Ray Harryhausen presents the (for many of us) definitive cinematic version of the creature, but substituting Jason (the leader of the Argonauts) for Hercules...
All illustrated (and likely written) by by Bob Powell!

Monday, June 22, 2026

Monday Mecha Madness SPIRIT OF FRANKENSTEIN "A Monster is Born"

There have been several ongoing series that combined horror and sci-fi...
...such as the strip which premiered with this tale from ACG's Adventures into the Unknown! #5 (1949)!
The "monster" here is not Frankenstein's Monster, nor are any of the scientists members of the Frankenstein clan.
Though it's defined as a "robot" it appears to be more of an android!
But, if the strip's creators say it's a robot, that's good enough for me!
Writer Richard Hughes and artist Charles Sultan invoked the "spirit" of the Frankenstein Monster Monster concept with a creation run amok and ran amuck with it for several issues from #5 to #16.
Rest assured it'll be back...
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Adventures Into the Unknown!
Volume 1

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Saturday, June 20, 2026

Best of Space Force Saturdays MARS COMPANY in "Winner"

In the early 1970s, DC experimented with pulp-style illustrated prose tales...
...in genre (sci-fi, horror, western, and romance) titles!
Written by Denny O'Neil, and rendered in retro 1950s Buck Rogers style...
...by Murphy Anderson, this never-reprinted text feature from DC's Strange Adventures #227 (1971) seems more a tribute to classic 1940s-50s "hard" sci-fi pulps instead of a then-current "new wave" science fiction tale!
Since it featured the last story about Earth's interplanetary fighting force, Mars Company, we felt it would be the perfect "capper" to the SpaceBusters saga, which Murphy re-conceived just before its' cancellation!
Murphy seemed to be DC's "go-to" guy when they needed retro-style material in the 1960s-70s!
He was the artist for Silver Age revival try-outs of Golden Age characters in Brave & Bold (Starman & Black Canary) and Showcase (Dr Fate & HourMan and The Spectre), as well as the first few issues of The Spectre's own Silver Age title!
Anderson was also the initial artist on DC's Bronze Age version of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars, as well as filing-in where needed on other Burroughs strips including Korak and Beyond the Farthest Star!
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Friday, June 19, 2026

Friday Fun FAST WILLIE JACKSON "Jabar in 'No Way Out' "

In the 1970s, there was an Archie-style comic aimed at Black audiences...
...from the publishers of the Golden Legacy series which featured factual stories about Black historical figures!
Though it looks like it, Fast Willie Jackson was not published  by Archie Comics, but by Black-owned publisher Fitzgerald Publications who had previously published the Golden Legacy non-fiction comic series about Black history.
Fast Willie was their entry into the mass-market comics market.
Though not Comics Code-approved, it received newsstand distribution, and sales were climbing for each successive issue.
Unfortunately, it reached break-even only with the seventh (and final) issue, when other matters caused Fitzgerald Publications to cease producing new material for an extended period.
When Fitzgerald briefly resumed publishing, Fast Willie was not among the titles.
Written by publisher/editor Bertram Fitzgerald, illustrated by "Gus LeMoine".
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Politics of Race and Representation
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