Saturday, April 9, 2022

Space Hero Saturdays 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!
Accept no substitutes or imitations!
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.
Written and illustrated by Harry Harrison who left comics when the Dr Wertham-led "Seduction of the Innocent" mania almost destroyed the comics industry in the mid-1950s.
Harry became a sci-fi/fantasy writer and editor whose credits included the Stainless Steel Rat novels and the novel Make Room! Make Room! which was the basis for the movie Soylent Green!
Cap would appear in two more stories, but only one was a comic!
Curious as to how that could be?
Keep following Space Hero Saturdays and you'll find out!
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Friday, April 8, 2022

Friday Fun EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Hot Cross Buns"...Two Ways!

Sometimes Walt Kelly liked a nursery rhyme so much...he used it twice!
Such is the case with this one...from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #103 (1946), and then, with an extra rhyme, in Easter with Mother Goose #220 (1949)
You gotta admit, if there's anyone who can do a classic nursery rhyme and make it appear fresh both times, it's Walt!
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Thursday, April 7, 2022

Reading Room SPACE ACTION "Prisoners of the Incredible Plants"

It's nearly the end of the week, so let's "veg out" with some mindless fun...
...like this never-reprinted tale about menacing alien plants from Ace's Space Action #2 (1952)

How else would you deal with alien plants but with defoliants and fire?
Art is by prolific journeyman Lou Cameron, the writer is unknown.

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder GAME BOY "In the Palm of Your Hand..." Part II

We Have Already Seen...

...well, I'm not going to even try to top the tale's writer's superb synopsis of the situation...
Written by George Carragonne, penciled by Gray Morrow, Todd Haedrich and Jim Shooter (as "Paul Creddick"), and inked by Art Nichols, Valiant's Game Boy #1 (1990) was part of a line of Nintendo-related titles that lasted only two years (1990-91).
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Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Reading Room DO YOU BELIEVE IN NIGHTMARES? "Man Who Crashed into Another Era"

Here's a short story featuring dinosaurs, and illustrated by Steve Ditko...
...just before his stint on Gorgo!
Ok, so it was the old "It's only a dream" scenario.
You got to admit, it's well-done!
From St John's Do You Believe in Nightmares? #1 (1957), a short-lived anthology produced just before St John went out of business.

Monday, April 4, 2022

Monday Madness RACE FOR THE MOON "Saucer Man"

From the era when actual space travel was brand new...

 ...and flying saucers were probably real, here's a tale from Harvey's Race for the Moon #3 (1958).

Pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Al Williamson, an absolutely magnificent combo, rivaling Kirby's pairings with Wally Wood and Joe Sinnott!

Science fiction was in a state of flux as real-world science began catching up with our imaginations.
Instead of far-future sagas with warp-drive ships, tales of "the day after tomorrow", when we would make our first landings on the Moon and Mars came into vogue.
That didn't mean that visitors from beyond our Solar System were left out, but the technology we used to respond to them (friendly or not) was much closer to "present-day" (1950s) tech than ray-guns and photon drives.
Why does this tale fit into the concept of Monday Madness?
Because, now that we're actually in the era shown in these tales, we haven't done anything close to what they show...

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Sunday, April 3, 2022

Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Shorts"

Several one-pagers by Walt (Pogo) Kelly...
...from various issues of Dell's Four Color Comics' Easter with Mother Goose annual issues!
Note, none have ever been reprinted!
From Four Color #103 (1946), #140 (1947), #185 (1948), and #220 (1949)
Enjoy!
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