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Saturday, December 23, 2023

Space Hero Saturdays SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS

You may not think of Kris Kringle as a "Space Hero"...but he is!
He's the Jolly Old Elf in a red suit!
They are BIG Green Men from Mars with an even BIGGER robot!
Before Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, they were the ingredients for the weirdest Christmas movie ever!
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians was filmed in 1964 in that bastion of cinema greatness, New York's Long Island, in an unused airplane hanger!
Starring a host of tv and b-movie actors including handsome-but-wooden Leonard Hicks as the benevolent Martian leader Kimar, 60s villain/voiceover artist Vincent Beck (who did lots of work for Irwin Allen's sci-fi shows) as the film's mustache-twirling, scenery-chewing Martian villain, Voldar, and John Call as a pretty damn convincing Santa Claus, the flick is touted these days as the debut of future talentless chantuse Pia Zadora as Kimar's daughter Girmar.
(Thankfully, she has rather limited screen time.)

The plot's pretty simple.
The children of Mars are in a funk.
The adult Martians deduce it's due to the children's strict and sterile upbringing, and that to "normalize" them, the kids must have fun!
And what could be more fun than celebrating Christmas?
But, to do a proper Christmas, you need a Santa Claus!
Thus, the Martians journey to Earth to kidnap Santa Claus and force him to create a Christmas celebration on Mars!
Then, as they used to say in TV Guide's plot listings, hilarity ensues! (well, sorta)

As an example of low-budget filmmaking, it's amazingly-effective.
Every penny (what few of them they had) is up on the screen.
The costuming and Santa's Workshop and Mars sets are as good as those of tv shows of the period.
(The Martian robot is probably the weakest element from a design and execution standpoint, but, hey, nobody's perfect!)
There's extensive use of military stock footage (from Dr. Strangelove, no less).
And, the idea to utilize the Wham-O Air Blaster toy guns as Martian weapons was either a stroke of marketing genius or clever use of limited funds.
Either way, sales of the guns shot thru the roof after the film hit the kiddie matinee circuit!

If you're between 3-9 years old, the flick's a lot of fun.
If you're between 10 and whatever the local drinking age is, it'll drive you nuts, especially the theme song!
If you're over the local drinking age, do so before watching!
(You''ll thank me later...)
It's available on a host of public domain DVDs and BluRays as well as one of the 
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 snarkfests on YouTube.

And you just knew we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ were going to include Santa Claus Conquers the Martians in our Cool Christmas collection on stuff including kid and adult sweatshirts, hoodies, mugs and coasters, tree ornaments, throw blankets and snugglies, and greeting cards!
BTW: The image is from the comic book tie-in. There was also a 45rpm single of the theme, a spoken-word LP album of the movie's dialogue, and a novelization, all of which are HTF...and expensive when you do find them!
Click On These Links to Read the Story...
Part 1
Part 2
Conclusion
Now I can't get that damn theme out of my head..."Hoo-ray for Santy Claus..."
AARRRGGGHHH!

Friday, December 22, 2023

Friday Holiday Fun BOYS' LIFE "A Christmas Carol"

A Couple of Weeks Ago, We Presented What We Believed was the Shortest Version of This Oft-Told Tale!
We were WRONG!
Craig (Golden Age Sandman) Flessel told the tale (with, admittedly, a lot of editing) in two pages, as shown in the Yuletide issue of Boys' Life Magazine (December 1952)!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Reading Room: Kool Walt Scott Christmas Treats!

For our final Walt Scott-themed post this year...
...here's a few Yuletide one-page features starring his Little People characters...that Scott himself neither wrote nor drew!
The first two pages were from the front and back inside covers of Dell's Four Color Comics: Walt Scott's the Little People #868 (1957), which were printed (as was the case with many comics) in black and white.
The last one was the comic's back cover, in full color, of course!
Unlike the two Walt Scott's Christmas Stories issues which Scott himself adapted from the newspaper comic strip into comic book format, the ten Little People issues were written and illustrated by Dell Comics' creatives, in this case, by artist Dan Gormley.
But we're not letting you go Scott-free (as it were)!
Here are the new painted covers Scott did for the two Four Color Comics Christmas Stories issues...
#959 (1958)
#1062 (1959-60)
Plus, the cover for the three-color promo brochure for NEA's 1957 Christmas strip...
...which was only seen by the art directors of NEA's client newspapers!
(We presented thst strip HERE!)

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder AGAR-AGAR "Over the Rainbow"

...and to paraphrase what they say about Las Vegas; what happens in the Temple of Love stays in the Temple of Love!
Don't you just love a happy...if somewhat confusing...ending?
Trivia: I recently learned "Laurence James" has been credited in the Grand Comics Database with the English translations of all the Dracula magazine material (including the Agar-Agar strip) which had been originally-published for the Spanish market!
I haven't been able to find any other credits under this name, so I'm uncertain if "Laurence James" was a real name or a pseudonym.
Anybody out there know the answer?

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Holiday Reading Room WALT SCOTT"S CHRISTMAS STORIES "Animals' Christmas"

Here's another Yuletide tale unseen by anyone...
...since its' appearance in Dell's Four Color Comics: Walt Scott's Christmas Stories #969 (1958).
This story originally-appeared in newspapers as NEA's 1956 Christmas strip running between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Scott himself did the modifications to adapt the art to comic book formatting.

Monday, December 18, 2023

Monday Madness ESQUIRE "Return of A Christmas Carol"

The tale of Scrooge's Yuletide redemption has been told and re-told ad nauseum since 1843...
...but never quite like this updated version from Esquire Magazine (December, 1961).
Adapted/laid-out by Harvey Kurtzman and illustrated by David Levine, this re-telling is loaded with Mad Men-era pop culture and political references you'll have to Google to understand if you didn't live through the era!
Consider it our Monday Madness Xmas gift!

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Design of the Week...REDUX! SANTA'S WORKSHOP IS A SWEATSHOP???

Normally, each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!

In this case, the response has been so overwhelming, we're going to keep the design up until Christmas!
(BTW, you'll note that the cover is dated January, 1939.
But it was actually on sale in November, 1938! 
Publishers used to cover-date comics and pulps two to three months ahead of the actual on-sale date to keep the books on the stands for as long as possible!)
Pick up this kool design on mugs, greeting cards, and other Yuletide collectibles NOW!
Christmas will be here before you know it!