Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Reading Room STRANGE WORLDS "I Couldn't Stop the Runaway Comet!"

Some people believe we're entering the Biblical End Times!
Well, we here at Atomic Kommie Comics don't believe that!
We believe the End of the World be something more like this scientifically-inaccurate, never-reprinted tale about death by extreme heat from Atlas' Strange Worlds #5 (1959)!
There's also a really kool Easter Egg within the story!
See if you can find it!
No, we're not going to explore whether God exists or not.
Though popularized as fireballs in bad science fiction, the fact that comets were really composed primarily of rock and ice which vaporized as they approached the Sun, creating the "tail", was known as far back as Issac Newton's time.
So the whole idea of the comet generating heat like a star was ludicrous...even in the 1950s!
Though the writer is unknown, the artist was Steve (Spider-Man) Ditko.
That fact is crucial for understanding the Easter Egg...
The name "Victor Sage", used here for the extremely-fallible protagonist, later became "Vic Sage",  the secret identity of one of Ditko's more durable creations...Charlton's The Question!
Besides becoming a DC mainstay with his own title and spotlighted appearances in the Justice League animated series, the character was the basis for Rorschach in Alan Moore's "reimagining" of classic comic character archetypes in Watchmen!
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Stan Lee and Steve Ditko

Monday, August 25, 2025

Monday Mecha Madness SHOGUN WARRIORS "Mech-Monster" Conclusion

When Last We Left our Mecha...

...while reviewing the capabilities of their mecha, the new human pilots discovered each has specific, unique, transformational capabilities!

Meanwhile, Maur-Kon, disappointed that his mystic-powered creations had failed to defeat the Shogun Warriors, decided to match their technological power with a new mechanical menace of his own...a move that not all his associates approve of!
To Be Continued...Next Month!
In its' original Japanese incarnation, Combatra (aka Combattler V) is, like the various Voltrons and Power Ranger Zords, a multi-part/multi-operator robot!
Here's a pic of the original team...
...and here's the TV series' opening sequence, demonstrating how the separate vehicles merge...

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Coming Monday to Hero Histories...

Riddle Me This, Caped Crusader Aficionados...

...how many of the legendary 1960s TV series' episodes were based on actual comic book stories?
The answer is...more than you think!

There's even a book reprinting a number of those graphic tales...but not all of them!

But, did you know a 1960s TV series tie-in novel with an original story (not a novelization of series episodes or the feature film) also adapted several comic stories into its' narrative?
We re-presented (starting HERE) this never-reprinted, original 1966 novel by "Winston Lyon" (actually noted Golden Age/Silver Age comics writer William Woolfolk) which combined elements of both the comic book and TV series versions of the Caped Crusader!
What we didn't realize at the time, was how much of the comic book version was actually taken directly from the comics!
Three different comics stories, each one featuring a different villain/villainess, were utilized to present multi-chapter crimes to baffle the Dynamic Duo!
We're presenting these tales in the order the foul fiends perpetuate their 
perfidy in the novel, along with links to the actual chapters for each one...
Monday!
Wednesday!
Friday!
The Four-Color Fun Starts Tomorrow at Hero Histories !
Same Bat-Time!
Same Bat Blog!
One hint...The campiest is yet to come !

Saturday, August 23, 2025

Space Force Saturdays WORLDS UNKNOWN "Black Destroyer" Conclusion

While exploring an alien world, the crew of the exploratory vessel Space Beagle encounter Coerl, who looks like a Terrestrial panther or lion...with the addition of tentacles!
But this is not a friendly housecat!
It's a primitive, but sentient, being who can not only reason, but kill and deceive...
Trivia: The announced adaptation of Day of the Triffids ended up as the cover-featured tale in the premiere issue of Worlds Unknown's b/w magazine successor, Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction...
...under a misleading, but undeniably-kool cover by Kelly Freas!
In fact, an adaptation of Theodore Sturgeon's KillDozer ran in the next issue of Worlds Unknown...
Meanwhile, back with Black Destroyer...
Roy Thomas was concerned that the finale as shown in the adaptation wasn't clear enough, so he included an explanation on the letters page...

Bonus #1: You can read the complete original short story HERE.
Feel free to compare and contrast!
Bonus #2: here are the illustrations from the original pulp magazine, so you can see how closely Dan Adkins and Jim Mooney kept to the pulp magazine "feel" of the tale!

"Black Destroyer" was later incorporated with other short stories about the exploratory vessel Space Beagle into the novel Voyage of the Space Beagle, the title of which is a tribute to Charles Darwin's scientific exploratory ship, "The Beagle".
BTW, Van Vogt sued 20th Century Fox over the 1979 movie Alien, claiming that it ripped off elements of "Black Destroyer" and "Discord in Scarlet", both of which were adapted into Voyage of the Space Beagle.
Fox settled out of court for #50,000!
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Friday, August 22, 2025

Friday Fun / Trump Reading Room HILLBILLY COMICS "MacSleezys: New York AND Bust"

...heck, I'll let the writer present a synopsis of the tale for me...
Written and illustrated by Art Gates, this tale from Charlton's Hillbilly Comics #2 (1955) was part of a brief trend in comic books during the Li'l Abner series' greatest popularity in the mid-1950s!
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by Al Capp
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