Space Force Saturdays INTERPLANETARY POLICE "Space Trap" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Heroes...

Tanya, the Space Siren, attacks a space liner, but doesn't steal anything!
Why?

Captain Bruce Warren of the InterPlanetary Police is briefed that she's looking for a supply of Atovar, a new fuel more powerful and efficient than Uranium!

Word is leaked that the Star Queen will be transporting the fuel to Venus with the intent that Warren and his brother, Officer Terry Warren, will capture the Space Siren when she attempts to steal it!

The Siren hijacks the cargo, and returns to her secret base with the InterPlanetary Police trailing behind.

As the cops land on the planetoid, the Siren's men open the containers to discover...

When we rejoin Bruce and Terry next issue, the Mars situation is already cleared up and they're on their way back from Venus!

This never-reprinted story from Buster Brown Comic Book #29 (1952) was written by Hobart Donovan, penciled by Ray Bailey and Reed Crandall, and inked by Ray Willner.

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Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

Friday Fun VICKI "Kiss and Tell" 2.0

Last Friday we presented the "meta" tale of a comic book character reading a comic book...

...now here's the same story, with "updated" clothing and hairstyles and a different lead character., but the same supporting cast!

When Seaboard Publishing/Atlas Comics reprinted this tale in Vicki #2 (1975), they did the usual modifications to keep the tale looking "current" that everybody else did with their older material.

I don't know if Atlas/Seaboard tried to get the rights to Tower's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, at that point only five years after their last appearance and still-fondly remembered by comics fans!

But, they ended up with Tippy Teen...who was renamed Vicki!
My personal opinion is that Seaboard's Martin Goodman discovered that Tower had abandoned the negatives/photostats at the printer (whom they didn't pay).
Like Israel Waldman who took similar abandoned material for his Super/IW Comics line, Goodman took the material (which also had never been copyrighted, so it was Public Domain as soon as it was published) and reprinted it, changing only the title to avoid a nuisance lawsuit from Tower (which was still publishing paperbacks) and claim a new copyright on the modified reprinted material.

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Reading Room WEIRD THRILLERS "Menace of R Day"

In the 1950s, it was thought that war could be ended by 1999...

...and that other menaces would threaten the Earth, instead!

This somewhat-hokey, but entertaining, sci-fi tale from Ziff-Davis' Weird Thrillers #1 (1951) was both penciled and inked by Ross Andru.

Andru would later partner with Mike Esposito with Ross as the penciler and Mike doing the inking.

Whether this was because Esposito was faster at inking than Ross, or Andru enjoyed doing only pencils is unknown.

Considering Andru seemed pretty damn good at inking, it's a pity he eventually gave it up.

BTW, the writer of this never-reprinted tale of mechanical mayhem is unknown.

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Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder HUNT BOWMAN IN THE LOST WORLD Part 1A

After almost a year reading this feature, you think you know about Hunt Bowman and The Lost World?

Prepare to be disillusioned!

Needless to say...

Continued Next Wednesday!

In 1988, Blackthorne Publishing relaunched Fiction House's Planet Comics with all-new revamped/rebooted versions of several strips, only one of which was from Planet Comics.

(Oddly, the other strips in Planet were from other, non sci-fi Fiction House titles!)

In the case of Lost World, writer Bruce Jones and artist Ken Hooper went the Buck Rogers route taking a human from the then-present and putting him in suspended animation to awaken in a post-apocalyptic far future.

The revived Planet Comics lasted only three issues and has never been reprinted.

Correction: the stories have never been reprinted, but the cover to #1, by the late, legendary Dave Stevens has been reprinted as both a print and a poster several times since.

That cover is the reason why back issues of #1 go for over $50 on the secondary market.

You'll see it next week.

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Prison Ship

by Bruce Jones and Estaban Maroto

Reading Room ALIEN WORLDS "The Reading"

Oddly, one of the major innovators of the 1970s-80s is all but forgotten today...

...but this never-reprinted tale from Eclipse's Alien Worlds #9 (1985) should remind you of his amazing talent!

Kool, eh?
Brunner's work in comics spanned a little over a decade, but it was a memorable decade, indeed!

Like other underpaid and underappreciated creatives such as Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, and Mike Sekowsky, Brunner left comics and went to Hollywood, where his vision and talents were much better recompensed working on both live-action and animated projects.

Today he's retired, doing the occasional commission piece and hitting the convention circuit.

You can visit his personal website HERE.

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Mythos: Fantasy Art Realms of Frank Brunner

Monday Mars Madness STRANGE STORIES OF SUSPENSE "Beware...a Martian"

Here's a tale of racism and innuendo involving an "illegal alien"...

...that all Reich-wingers should take note of!

Written by Carl Wessler, penciled by Al Williamson, and inked by Ralph Mayo, this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Strange Stories of Suspense #14 (1957) uses science fiction to tell a civil rights parable, substituting a Martian (and the paranoia about his race) for a African-American, Hispanic, Japanese, or other minority group about whom equally-inane fantasies have been concocted!

Note: it's interesting that Nardo the Martian has the same appearance as DC's J'Onn J'Onzz: the Martian Manhunter (except for skin color), as well as MM's specific ability to shape-shift, not a talent usually attributed to inhabitants of the Red Planet!

Note: J'Onn had debuted almost two years earlier!

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Mars in the Movies

A History

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