Reading Room: CAPTAIN SCIENCE "and the Insidious Doctor Khartoum"

Captain Science was a kool combination of "high adventure" and "sci fi"...

...as this wild 'n wooly (if slightly politically-incorrect) tale from Youthful's Captain Science #4 (1951) incorporating time travel, sword-and-sandal action, a Yellow Peril menace, and (if that ain't enough) a Lovecraftian monster, all in only eight pages!

I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted!
Wally Wood and Joe Orlando did the art, and you can tell these guys were having the time of their lives, as they cut loose with some of the wildest stuff ever to grace sci-fi comic books.

They also changed the "linked-stories" concept from the first three issues, making the two-per-issue Captain Science stories stand-alones instead of two-parters.

Unlike the earlier Captain Science stories, which have never been reprinted, these Orlando/Wood stories have been re-published all over the place, but they're still well-worth seeing again!

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Reading Room: WEIRD ADVENTURES "Seeker from Beyond"

Reading this blog, sometimes you'd think all comic book sci-fi is space opera...

Art by Phil Marini

...but it can also be a combination of dimensional travel, romance, and, yes, just a tiny bit of space opera...

See, just a little space opera..one panel!
Note: on the cover, the alien queen, Zada, is brunette while John's girlfriend Jane is blonde.
But in the story, Zada is blonde and Jane is brunette!
Both the writer and artist of the cover-featured tale from Ziff-Davis' Weird Adventures #10 (1951) are unknown!
Cover artist Phil Marini did numerous pulp and paperback covers in every genre from Western to sci-fi to romance, but this is his only comic book work.

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Reading Room: FLASH GORDON "and the Space Pirates" Part 3

When Last We Left Flash Gordon (ahh-ahh!)...

...there's more to the plot, but it's easier for you to just read Part 1 & Part 2 than have me explain it.

BTW, Patch has her silver/white hair and original clothes from Part 1 back, while Flash is in a new uniform!

Sadly, we've never seen the follow-up confrontation.
The tale, illustrated by Gil Kane, appeared in the back of The Phantom #20 (1966) and the writer is unknown.
The storyline wasn't concluded in Flash's King Comics title and neither Patch nor Straker have ever appeared anywhere else.

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Reading Room: FLASH GORDON "and the Space Pirates" Part 2

When Last We Left Flash Gordon (ahh-ahhh...)...

...wow, the opening caption covered the plotline perfectly!

You'll note Flash is wearing a more ornate outfit while Patch's clothes are the same, but mis-colored (as is her hair, which was silver/white in the previous chapter)!

The story continues tomorrow!

Illustrated by Gil Kane, replacing Wally Wood.

The writer is unknown.

Though Flash had his own comic at this time, this three-parter appeared in the back of The Phantom's title from the same publisher, King Comics.
(All the King Comics books did this, presumably to expose their target audience to other titles they might not otherwise read.)

The particular tale appeared in the back of The Phantom #19 (1966).

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Reading Room: FLASH GORDON "and the Space Pirates" Part 1

Ya want space opera?

Now here's SPACE OPERA!

...starring the one-and-only Flash Gordon as rendered by EC Comics legend Wally Wood!

The story continues tomorrow...with a different artist!

Illustrated by Wally Wood and his studio.

Wood (and writer Harvey Kurtzman) had previously-done the hysterical MAD parody "Flesh Garden" (which you can read HERE), but this is his only "official" Flash Gordon work.

The writer is unknown.

Though Flash had his own comic at this time, this three-parter appeared in the back of The Phantom's title from the same publisher, King Comics.

The particular tale appeared in the back of The Phantom #18 (1966), which was actually the first issue of the series from King Comics.

(They just continued the numbering from the previous publisher, Gold Key!)

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Reading Room: WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE "City of Primitive Man"

Instead of the usual "space opera", let's go into the future...

...where it appears the geeks have inherited the Earth, and only jocks can save civilization...

As this tale from Key's Weird Tales of the Future #2 (1952) shows, only extremely-manly men can keep civilization from being over-run when danger threatens.

The story is signed "EJS", but I don't know if that's the artist, or if he/she also scripted the tale as well.

(The credit also appears in one other Weird Tales of the Future story that we haven't run yet.)

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Design of the Week: GangBusters!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!

This week, celebrate the law-enforcement professional in your life with this retro-kool comic cover from the long-running GangBusters radio show.

Note: there was also a movie serial, TV series, plus two features re-edited from the TV show!

Trivia, the last season of the radio show was narrated by narrated by Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr., retired head of the New Jersey State Police and father of US Army General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.!