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Saturday, March 18, 2023

Space Hero Saturdays AMAZING ADVENTURES OF BUSTER CRABBE "Invisible Monsters of Callisto"

With a title like that, you know you're in for space-going excitement...
...starring the greatest sci-fi/fantasy movie serial hero of all...Larry (Buster) Crabbe!
Penciled by Alex (Space Ghost) Toth and inked by Mike Peppe, this never-reprinted tale from Lev Gleason's Amazing Adventures of Buster Crabbe #3 (1953) delivered on the promise on every cover of the series which promised tales of Space, Jungle, and Western action in every issue...the three movie genres Buster appeared in from the 1930s to the 1950s!
(If he ever did a musical or comedy, nobody told me!)
Note: the comic writers and artists always showed Crabbe as "Buster Crabbe", not Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Billy the Kid, Tarzan, or any of the characters he portrayed, while postulating he could do anything in real-life that he was shown doing on-screen!
There's even more alien butt-kicking four-color action with the greatest movie action hero of the 1940s-50s to come!
Watch for it!
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Friday, March 17, 2023

Friday Holiday Fun VAMPIRELLA "Jackie and the Leprechaun King"

For St Patrick's Day, here's an offbeat tale about leprechauns...
...as rendered in an extremely non-traditional way by comics legend Esteban Maroto!
Scripted by Bill DuBay, this somewhat more "heroic fantasy" approach to the legend of leprechauns appeared in Warren's Vampirella #53 (1976) when elves and related creatures were experiencing a revival in popularity due to the 20th Anniversary of the official American publication JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
(It's a long story, and I'll tell it in a future post...)
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to start prepping Shepherd's Pie (with lamb marinated in Guinness) for dinner...

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Reading Room WORLDS OF SUSPENSE "Dead End"

Automobiles like this kool prototype aren't a new concept...
...but this particular one has a potentially-deadly feature for the unwary...as these thieves are about to discover!
know I've seen the 1950s gull-wing concept car used as the protoype vehicle, but I'll be damned if I can find it on the 'Net.
Anybody recognize it?
The art for this never-reprinted tale of greed, gasoline, and goof-ups from Atlas' World of Suspense #8 (1957) was by Howard O'Donnell, whose career in comics was brief (1953-1958), but whose art career continues to this day as a noted painter of maritime and Western subjects!
The writer is unknown.
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Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder SPACE MAN "Out Into Space" Conclusion

Returing to Earth after successfully breaching the Anti-Force that kept humans from leaving Earth orbit, Ian and Johnny must keep from the public that they are now part of a secret interplanetary defense force operated by a (dare I say) federation of planets to protect the galaxy.
The series would run another seven issues that got even weirder and wilder than this premiere from Dell's Four Color #1253.
We'll be presenting those tales in the future.
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Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Reading Room WORLD OF FANTASY "Brain Picker!"

Nuclear accidents mutating everyday people were common in pre-Marvel tales...
...plotted or written by Stan Lee for Atlas Comics...except they didn't result in costumed superheroes...or costumed supervillains!
If this never-reprinted story by plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, penciler Matt Baker and inker Vince Colletta, from Atlas' World of Fantasy #17 (1959) had appeared after the intro of the Fantastic Four in 1961, I don't doubt Frederic Kane would've become an ongoing super-villain and scientist brother Phillip would've become his nemesis, probably working with S.H.I.E.L.D. and/or Professor X to stop him!
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Monday, March 13, 2023

Monday Madness REAL FACT COMICS "Rookie of the Year" & PICTURE NEWS "California Flash"

For the past few weeks, we presented a fictional tale about a ballplayer facing prejudice...
...today, it's the "real deal" with the guy who broke the racial barrier in Major League Baseball!
The story from DC's Real Fact Comics #14 (1948) presents the story in a straightforward, if slightly patronizing, manner.
The following tale from Parents Magazine's Picture News #4 (1946) by writer/artist Charles Wessel, predates his being called up to the majors.
Note it does contain a couple of racial stereotypes common to the era, and may be NSFW.
There was also an official Jackie Robinson comic book from major comics publisher Fawcett that lasted six issues (longer than most other comics based on real-life sports figures) from 1949-52.
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Digitally-restored and remastered from a scan of the actual original cover!

Sunday, March 12, 2023

Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Easter Bunny and the Dwarf"

...so just sit back and enjoy the never-reprinted tale from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #140 (1947)!
This story, written and illustrated by Walt (Pogo) Kelly features a number of nursery rhyme characters including Jack and Jill (who went up a hill), Little Jack Horner, and Mother Goose herself.
But, it is not, as was often the case with Kelly's holiday pieces, an adaptation of existing nursery rhymes, but a totally-new tale!
It's also a prequel to the book's lead tale featuring an Easter party...which you'll see on Easter Sunday!