Wednesday World of Wonder WORLD OF FANTASY "Prison 2000 A.D."

In January, We're Doing One-Shot Tales Instead of Continued Stories...

...beginning with this tale, which utilizes a concept that's commonplace today, but all but unknown when this story appeared in Atlas' World of Fantasy #16 (1959)!

WOW!

Editor/conceptualizer Stan Lee and plotter/penciler Jack Kirby were doing what we now call "virtual reality"...in 1959!

The story was reprinted in Marvel's Strange Tales Annual #2 in 1963, than lay unseen for more than a half-century before finally being resurrected in, oddly, Monsters: the Marvel Monsterbus by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby...

...when, despite the "monsters" in the title, the only requirement is that the story was conceptualized/plotted by Lee, scripted by Lieber (Stan's brother, BTW) and plotted/penciled by Jack Kirby!
But there are lots of kool Kirby sci-fi/sci-fantasy stories, some never-previously reprinted!
So don't let the title put you off!

Reading Room WORLD OF MYSTERY "Obey or Die!"

Here's an Ability Any Wanna-Be Dictator...

...like Don da Con, for example, would kill to possess!

This never-reprinted tale from Atlas' World of Mystery #7 (1959), scripted by Carl Wessler and illustrated by Sam Kweskin poses an interesting dilemma!

If you can verbally-command someone else to do something, even against their will, why wouldn't it affect you...if you heard it?

Support Atomic Kommie Comics!
Visit Amazon and Order...

Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3

Paid Link

Monday Madness UNQUOTABLE TRUMP

As the government prepares to certify the questionable results of the election...

...let's take a look back at some of the examples of Don da Con's actual quotes, put into graphic form...

...and my personal favorite, showing Don da Con with his BFF. Vladdy!

Click HERE to see the original posts featuring both these covers, plus info about the original comic covers these are adapted from!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Order...

Drawn & Quarterly Special Edition

Unquotable Trump

by R. Sikoryak

Paid Link

Reading Room MIRTH OF A NATION

Some things never go out-of-date...

...like dumb jokes and juvenile humor, as these panels from Mirth of a Nation #5 (1943) demonstrate!

Five issues were produced by the Harry "A" Chesler Jr. Features Syndicate for the short-lived Wm H Wise & Company.

Each issue had this notice on the first page...

Space Force Saturdays ROCKY JONES: SPACE RANGER "Forbidden Frequency"

With so much modulated energy (wi-fi, digital tv, am-fm, etc) floating in the ether...

...I'm truly surprised something like this hasn't come to pass by 2012!

Or...has it?

The concept of subliminal programming goes back to the 1860s.

Usually, it involves audio or visual stimulation beyond human perception, but in this case, it's an energy frequency that interferes with the human mind's function.

Queen Cleolanthe was the ongoing villainess on the Rocky Jones series...

Played with fun "bad girl" panache by Patsy Parsons, Cleolanthe both fought against Rocky and was uncontrollably-drawn to him!

Note: From Flash Gordon and Princess Aura to Rocky Jones and Cleolanthe to James T Kirk and (insert Girl of the Week here), scantly-clad space babes just can't resist square-jawed Earthmen on tv and in movies!

(Not that I'm complaining...)

This story from Charlton's Space Adventures #16 (1955) was illustrated by Ted Galindo and Ray Osrin.
The writer is unknown.
Almost all of the Rocky Jones tv episode-compilation movies are available on inexpensive DVDs and two of them Crash of the Moons and Manhunt in Space were roasted on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Rocky Jones will return in the near future...

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Rocky Jones: Space Ranger Collection

Featuring Six Three-Episode Compilation Movies

(That's almost half the TV series in one set!)

Paid Link

Friday Fun MODNIKS "Noel Talent: the Most Unkindest Cut"

By the early 1970s, Jack Davis was an established, successful, and busy, commercial artist...

...so when was this weird filler piece, published in 1970, created?

Written by Gary Poole and illustrated by Davis, this one-off tale appeared in the second (and final) issue of Gold Key's Modniks in 1970.

But here's the weird part...

The previous issue of this title appeared three years earlier...in 1967!

That's a loooonnng time between issues!

Plus, Davis had never done any work for Gold Key, and it had been years since Jack had done any work for Dell (which Gold Key split off from)!

And, Poole didn't start working in comics until the mid-1960s, after GK had split from Dell, so this wasn't inventory from that period!

Did Davis know Poole (who had been a radio/tv writer for years before coming to comics) and illustrated this as a favor for a friend entering the field?

We'll never know...

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Order...

Jack Davis

Drawing American Pop Culture: a Career Retrospective

Reading Room OUT OF THIS WORLD "What Happened?"

It's a question I've groggily-asked on more than one New Year's Day...

...but here it's the title of an example of classic Ditko storytelling!

Most likely scripted by Joe Gill, this taut tale from Charlton's Out of This World #3 (1957) is one of those fun "gotcha" shorts in the vein of both EC Comics' sci-fi line and, later, TV's The Twilight Zone.

Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Unexplored Worlds

Steve Ditko Archives, Vol 2

Happy New Year's Day!

 Happy New Year!

from Superman & Atomic Kommie Comics™!