Saturday, December 5, 2020

Space Force Saturdays SPACE SQUADRON & SPEED CARTER: SPACEMAN "Famous Explorers of Space" Part 2

With a series set in the year 2000...
...it's not surprising it's early history occurred in the 1960s!
Of course, it was the 1960s as seen from 1951!
You have to admire the innocent optimism that would have us performing such advanced space travel in only nine years...
Neither the writer nor artist(s) for this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Space Squadron #2 (1951) are known.
A couple of years later, in the future of an alternate universe
Remember when, in 2005, we landed on Mercury?
Me neither.
But, it must have happened, since it's history!
Look! I'll prove it...
See?
Told ya!
Writer Hank Chapman and artists Bill Benulis & Jack Abel wouldn't lie to us!
Chapman, who wrote the entire Speed Carter series, apparently wanted to emulate writers like E.E. "Doc" Smith and Issac Asimov in creating a cohesive universe with an established backstory.
Today, it's more or less standard practice for any ongoing series in print, movies, or tv, but back then, it was far from the norm.
This story from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #2 (1953) references the previous Famous Explorers tale in it's first paragraph, mentioning James Carter and the exploration of Venus.
(Though saying Carter "discovered" Venus was inaccurate.) 
Note: the astronauts in this story, which takes place three generations in the "past" of Speed Carter, have different uniforms and lower-end technology than what's shown in the Speed Carter tales.

BTW, Space Squadron actually ran two "Future History" strips in each issue, one about Famous Explorers of Space, plus a series about the adventures of young Blast Revere, who in the Jet Dixon strip was the elderly commander of the Space Squadron! but apparently was a real hell-raiser in his early days..which were the then-distant 1960s!
As shown in many military-themed strips, most overly-cautious senior officers were brain-dead maniacs when they were just cadets.
This never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Space Squadron #2 (1951) just transposed it to the near future!
Neither the writer nor artist are known.
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by Isaac Asimov
(under the pen-name "Paul French") 
Omnibus of ALL Six Space-Opera Sagas!
David Starr: Space Ranger, Pirates of the Asteroids, Oceans of Venus, Big Sun of Mercury, Moons of Jupiter, Rings of Saturn

Friday, December 4, 2020

Friday Fun / Holiday Reading Room: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER "Rudolph's Swelled Head" Part 3

Before we recap, here's a kool game (that actually presages several events to come...)

As preparations for Christmas proceed, two children, Jack and Judy, make their way to Santa's Workshop.
But their innocent visit has unintended consequences:
Rudolph develops an inflated ego as a result of the kids' mention of his world-wide fame.
Proclaiming he's "too important" to do mundane things like chores, Rudolph alienates everyone around him with an arrogant, self-important attitude.
Santa grounds Rudolph from his usual Christmas Eve run, and the petulant reindeer responds by running away from home, barely escaping from both a wolf and bear.
When Rudolph hears what he thinks is a lion's roar, the young reindeer believes he's doomed...
On that philosophical note, we'll take our leave.
To be continued...
Next Friday!
Written by Sy Reit and illustrated by Rube Grossman, this 1950 annual was the first of a series that ran until 1963.
The concept was revived in the tabloid-sized "Treasury" (10" x 14") format in 1972 and was published annually (except in '75 and '77) until 1978.
(Both DC and Marvel experimented in the 1970s with the over-sized format.
They were much bigger than normal comics with cardstock covers, though the interior pages were printed on the usual comic book paper stock.)
The series was a more-or-less sequel to the original story (which we presented HERE.) and song.
(The animated TV special that tells a totally-different version of the tale didn't appear until 1964.)
One thing you'll note is the unique idea of including activity pages as part of the story, giving us perfect chapter enders and openers in our serial presentation format.
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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
(a replica of the original 1939 book which is quite different from the TV special and its' sequels!)

Thursday, December 3, 2020

A Hallmark Channel-type Christmas Tale...in Comic Book Form!

Ever watch a romantic Hallmark Channel Christmas movie?

Well, our "sister" RetroBlog, True Love Comics Tales, is presenting a novel-length comic story that reads exactly like one of those astonishingly-popular tearjerker flicks!
Big city girl unable to find a romantic partner journeys to the countryside to spend Christmas with relatives!
She meets a guy who she had briefly (and klutzilly) encountered back in the city!
Note: he's the very image of a potential lover she had been dreaming about for months! (hence the title)
Is it fate they encounter each other?
Or will his dark secret drive them apart?
Click HERE to find out!

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder LOST WORLD "Return to America"

Trapped in Europe and still seeking a route back to America...

...Hunt Bowman and alien princess Lyssa once more make the cover!
(oddly, even though the cover is by the story's artist, Lily Renee, it has nothing to do with the tale!)
Let me get this straight...
Aliens smart and advanced enough to travel across interstellar space utilize a gas that's fatal to them...but not humans?
Did no one try this stuff out on captive Earthers to see if it would work before issuing it to combat troops?
Well, at least Hunt and Lyssa are back in the good ol' USA, specifically, Boston!

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Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Happy 40th, Flash!

Before we end 2020, we wanted to acknowledge that it's the 40th Anniversary of Flash Gordon.
Though critically-reviled when it came out, the movie has attained cult-classic status, primarily due to the soundtrack by Queen...
...and over-the-top performances by (among others) Brian Blessed (Hawkman Prince Vultan), Topol (Dr Zarkoff) and Max Von Sydow (Ming the Merciless).
The adaptation was written by Bruce Jones and illustrated by legendary artist Al Williamson (who, ironically, was also doing the equally-magnificent graphic novel version of The Empire Strikes Back at the same time)!
Interestingly, Williamson inked the entire Flash adaptation, while allowing the talented Carlos Garzon (himself, no slouch) to ink the bulk of Empire.
Read it, from the beginning...HERE!
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Monday, November 30, 2020

Monday Madness / Holiday Reading Room SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "How Santa Got His Red Suit"

Didn't you ever wonder...
Well, here's the answer, from Dell's Four Color Comics #61 (1944)!
After being published annually as it's own title in 1942-1943, Santa Claus Funnies became a Four Color Comics feature, publishing annually from 1944 to 1961.
This tale was written and illustrated by Walt Kelly, before he created the classic comic strip Pogo.
Beginning with a two-part adaptation of the novel Gulliver's Travels in New Comics in 1935,  Walt began an almost two-decade run in comic books, almost all of it for Dell Comics, where his distinctive style quickly developed into the "house style" for humor and funny animal stories that other artists would try to emulate.
Walt was the primary artist on the ongoing Santa Claus Funnies and Christmas with Mother Goose series, and, as we said, we'll be presenting quite a few of those stories this Christmas season.
Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics This Christmas!