Saturday, July 27, 2013

Reading Room: SAVAGE TALES "Fury of the Femizons"

Rush Limbaugh whines about "Feminazis", but personally, I think he'd be turned-on by...
...as portrayed in this Women's Lib-era story from the b/w magazine Savage Tales #1 (1971)!
Written by Stan Lee and illustrated in kool pen & ink with pencil highlights by John Romita, Sr,  this tale had an unusual genesis, as detailed on the editorial page...
Women's liberation.
It's all around us, be we male or female.
marches, intellectual treatises, picketing, bra-burning, some four-letter forensics, and more burnings–not always of bras.
"Women are the equals of men every day, in every way!'
Men are beginning to believe it.
Women always knew it.
So what happens if maybe we come the full circle in, say the next hundred years or so?
What if women turn the rascals out–and we do mean out!
What would we have then?
A better world? Perhaps.
A gentler world? Could be.
A different world? Believe it.
Stan Lee got to wondering-and, by and by, he set imaginative artist Johnny Romita to wondering along with him.
The result is, perhaps, something just a wee bit new under the sun.
Not quite sword-and-sorcery–certainly not science-fiction–and not exactly a political polemic.
Robin Morgan clobbers Buck Rogers in the 25th century!
Kate Millett zaps both Flash Gordon and Ming the Merciless–then takes over Mongo for good measure!
The hand that rocks the cradle really rules the world!
Today's look at the future...as seen from the past.  ;-)

Friday, July 26, 2013

Reading Room: MAN O' MARS

Here's a kool klassic from the 1950s...the lead story from a 1953 one-shot that combined all the great cliches of space opera (spaceships, ray guns, aliens, half-naked space babes) in one tight ten-page tale...
These days, this story would be a six-issue mini-series with tie-ins to several other titles.
The rest of the book was made up of unrelated reprints from earlier issues of Planet Comics.
The interior artist is Maurice Gutwirth, but the writer is uknown.
The cover was done by Maurice Whitman, one of Fiction House's more prolific artists.
When the book was reprinted in 1958, yet another cover was done (see left), featuring totally different-looking characters and flying saucers that appeared nowhere in the story!

We included the original cover as part of our Martians! Martians! Martians! retro collectibles line including mugs, t-shirts and other nifty stuff.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Reading Room: WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE "Jonah"

In 1950s science fiction, the technology available in the year 2000 was amazing...
...it's a pity we didn't really have this stuff when the Millenium came about!
When this story was published in Key's Weird Tales of the Future #6 (1953), we really thought we'd have moving sidewalks, flying cars, interplanetary travel, and shrinking rays by 2000!
The writer is unknown, but the artist is Tony Mortellaro.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Reading Room: "Liana"

Here's a tale of future love published almost exactly 41 years ago...
...Nestled none too securely in the grim world of the future, Liana longs for the miracle that will end the pain of her lonely existence!
But, miracles can have dangerous side-effects, as Liana will soon find out!
This tale originally appeared in The Monster Times #14 (July 31, 1972), written and illustrated by Bruce Jones, who went on to do writing and illustration (but rarely both at the same time) for DC and Marvel.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Reading Room: WEIRD THRILLERS "Last Man"

Who will bury...
...and how the hell did Dan Vickerson end up in a situation like this?
The answer will startle you...
This tale from Ziff-Davis' Weird Thrillers #2 (1951) was illustrated by Henry Sharp, who worked for Ziff-Davis  St John (who hired a lot of Ziff-Davis' writers and artists when Z-D went under) and DC Comics from 1951 to 1957.
The writer is unknown.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Return of the Ants, Man!

The ants are back in the living room...in force!
Makes you wonder if Henry Pym's a little perturbed he wasn't included in either the Avengers movie or the new Age of Ultron, and is getting his six-legged friends to "lobby" for his big screen debut...

Sunday, July 21, 2013

The Lone Ranger: Complete Series Box Set at an Incredibly-LOW Price, plus Classic Lone Ranger Movie Blogathon Posts!

See this kool Brand-New box set with every 1950s episode (even the John Hart ones)?
If you look on the net, the cheapest you'll see it for is $129.99!
Want to get it, still in shrink-wrap, for...hold your breath...
...$79.99?
Yes!
$79.99!
Go to Costco!
It's supposed to be $99.99 (which is still a great deal).
But, apparently due to the collapse of the new movie, they're taking an additional $20 off to move it off the shelves!
(I found this out yesterday, when I went shopping at Costco...)
BTW, it's not available through Costco's website, only at the warehouses!
Who would've thought a movie about one of our favorite heroes doing badly at the box office would work to our benefit?
Art by Leroy Neiman
Our contributions to the Dynamic Duos in Classic Film Blogathon are now up, including...
A look at the Republic Film serials at Hero Histories.
The two feature films starring the TV Ranger and Tonto at Secret Sanctum of Captain Video.
and
The previous cinema flop, 1981's Legend of the Lone Ranger at Western Comics Adventures.