Saturday, August 29, 2015

Reading Room CAPTAIN ROCKET "Monstroids of the Underworld"

The final (in more ways than one) Captain Rocket tale...
is not an outer space adventure, but an inner space one!
Wow!
We had an atomic war in 1962...and nobody told us?
And Cap's adventures take place eons (or many millions of years) from now?
Both writer and artist(s) of the never-reprinted final story from PL's Captain Rocket #1 (1951) are unknown to everyone, even the eagle-eyed crew at the Grand Comics Database.
Captain Rocket didn't have a second issue, and the character never reappeared, though his name has been used for video games and halloween costumes!
Little is known about PL Publishing, one of the least successful comic publishers in history, lasting less than a year and producing only eight titles, none of which ran more than three issues!

Friday, August 28, 2015

Happy 98th Birthday to Jack "King" Kirby!

"It is said that when Man reaches The Edge of the Universe, he'll find 'Jack Kirby' signed in the lower right-hand corner."

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Reading Room CAPTAIN ROCKET "Meets the Mind Stealers"

As we pointed out yesterday...
There were three Captain Rocket stories in his one and only issue from the short-lived PL Publishing, but only two were comics!
The third was a text feature!
There are no traceable credits for either the cover (which omits Cap's usual, rather dorky, helmet in favor of a transparent one) nor the story.
And here's a weird note: Though this tale involves Saturnians, the little vignette in the upper left of the cover warns us..."We MUST prepare for an invasion from MARS!"
Since there are no Martians in either of the comic stories, was the tiny Cap head shot referring to the aliens in the text feature, who might have been written as Martians, but changed by the editor into Saturnians (perhaps because he felt Martians were too much of a cliche)?
Or was there another, unpublished, Captain Rocket tale that got bounced into the never-printed second issue?
The answers are lost in the mists of time...

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Reading Room CAPTAIN ROCKET "Graveyard of the Rocketeers"

He's the one-shot hero whose name has been usurped by many others since...
...but this is the never-reprinted, original Captain Rocket!
The lead story of PL's Captain Rocket #1 (1951) tosses us right into the action with just a one-paragraph synopsis to introduce the character.
It's not bad, but nothing to rave about either.
Regrettably, both writer and artist(s) are unknown to everyone, even the eagle-eyed crew at the Grand Comics Database.
Cap would appear in two more stories, but only one was a comic!
Curious as to how that could be?
Find out his sensational secret...tomorrow!

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Reading Room CRUSADER FROM MARS COMICS "Prison Planet"

One of the oldest plots in fiction is "hero fakes going bad"...
...so why not try to "freshen it" by transposing the concept to outer space?
Both the writer and artist(s) for this one-off tale from the back of Ziff-Davis' Crusader from Mars #2 (1952) are unknown.
The Grand Comics Database lists Marvin Stein, but if it is Stein, he had a lot of layout assistance from his Simon & Kirby studiomates, including Joe Simon and Jack Kirby!
Neither Jon Barrett nor this version of Space Police ever re-appeared.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Reading Room: CAPTAIN SCIENCE COMICS "World War III with the Ants"

...but never anything like this ant-ageddon (or ant-pocalypse) from Youthful's Captain Science #6 (1953)!
As for who was responsible for writing and illustrating this cult comic classic, theories run from Harry Harrison (who became a major sci-fi novelist and editor), to Dick Ayers to Lou Cameron, but nobody knows for certain.
BTW, this story came out over a year before the classic giant-ant film THEM!

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Give the Pop Culture Fan in Your Life a Customized 12-Month Calendar that Begins (and Ends) on Their Birthday Month!

Perfect for office, dorm, or bedroom!The IDEAL gift for the hard-to-please pop culture fan in your life (or yourself)!
And they can be customized for birthday months!
 You can customize any of these calendars to show, for example, September 2015 to September 2016 (if your birthday guy or gal has their natal day in September)...or give them a 2016 12-month calendar early!
Sherlock Holmes: the Greatest Sleuth of All!

Basil Rathbone IS Sherlock Holmes!
WereWolves and Vampires
Vampires of Pulps and Comics
Werewolves of the Comics and Pulps
Zombies of Comics and Pulps
Plus MANY MORE!
Classic comic book and pulp magazine covers and movie posters, scanned from the originals and digitally-remastered and restored!