Reading Room / Tales Twice Told TALES OF THE WATCHER "Why Won't They Believe Me?"

We presented the first version of this tale on Tuesday...

...now let's look at the expanded and enhanced rendition!

Scripted by Stan (the Man) Lee, penciled by Gene (the Dean) Colan, and inked by Paul (no nickname) Reinman, this double-length version of the story from the back of Marvel's Silver Surfer V1N3 (1969) has a lot more humor and a bigger build-up to the switch-ending than the original!
BTW, almost all the "Tales of the Watcher" that appeared during the Silver Surfer book's 48-page incarnation (which lasted for the first seven issues before becoming a "regular" 32-page magazine) were expanded remakes of shorter Atlas-era stories!
The exception was the first tale which was a re-vamp of the origin of the Watcher's race from the original run of Tales of the Watcher when it backed-up Iron Man in Tales of Suspense until a brand-new Captain America strip took over the second slot.

Best of Wednesday Worlds of Wonder CARSON OF VENUS

For September, we're presenting compilations of previous series you may have missed!

...starting with the never-reprinted DC adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "scientific romance" (as they called it back then) Carson of Venus by Len Wein & Michael J Kaluta!

Click on the Links to Enjoy!

"Mars--or Bust!"

"Girl in the Garden"

"Battle Cry!"

"Gathering Tarel"

"Terror from the Sky!"

"Mutiny at Sea"

"Duare: Princess of Venus"

"Catastrophe!"

"Into the Land of Noobol"

"Lost on Venus"

"Babes in the Woods"

"Into the Noboolian Valley"

Sadly, the series ends on a cliffhanger...

Reading Room / Tales Twice Told AMAZING ADULT FANTASY "Why Won't They Believe Me?"

Stan (the Man) Lee felt a good story...

...such as this one from Atlas' Amazing Adult Fantasy #7 (1961), was worth repeating...

Scripted by Lee and illustrated by his Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko, the tale was typical of the "gotcha" snap-ending stories made popular in mass culture by Rod Serling on The Twilight Zone, but done a decade earlier in comics by the EC Comics horror and sci-fi/fantasy books (though usually with more gore).

Lee re-used (and expanded) the plot almost a decade later when he re-did it with another Silver Age legend, as you'll see Thursday...

Monday Mecha Madness CRAZY "Robert the Robot!"

Here's a long-lost tale from the era when MAD comic clones filled America's newsstands!

(Which bring up the question...does anybody under 30 even know what a "newsstand" is?)

While the story's not a classic, it's not bad, either!

The amazingly versatile Joe Maneely handled the art for this never-reprinted tale from this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Crazy V1N7 (1954), but the script is not by Stan Lee...who would've had his name on it if he had penned the story!

Maneely could do anything; sci-fi, horror, war, romance, western, even humor, as this story demonstrates!

If not for his tragic death falling from a New York suburban commuter train, he would have been one of the major talents of Marvel Comics in the 1960s.

Atlas had no less than three MAD clones going at once; Crazy, Wild, and Riot!

MAD themselves commented on the proliferation of clones, not only from Atlas, but virtually every other publisher with this opener for their spoof of the 1950s movie Julius Ceasar by Harvey Kurtzman and Wally Wood...

When MAD converted to a b/w magazine, Atlas dropped the three color comics and launched the b/w Snafu,which only lasted three issues!

Atlas/Marvel would revive Crazy twice more!

First, in early 1973 as a reprint book of Not Brand Echh stories.

Then, in late 1973 as a b/w magazine going head-to-head with MAD, and surviving until 1983 for 96 issues!

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Holiday Reading Room (a day early) EVERY DAY'S A HOLLY DAY "Labor Day"

With the Labor Market and the Entire Economy in the Most Tenuous State since the Great Recession...

...now is the time to see why we celebrate this particular holiday!

Why is this 1955 comic entitled "Every Day's a Holly Day" instead of "Every Day's a Holiday"?

Because it was given away to kids by grocers who sold Holly Sugar!

Illustrated by John Rosenberger, it's a unique pamphlet covering a number of American holidays, including both Lincoln and Washington's Birthdays (before they were combined into "Presidents' Day" in 1962), Mothers' Day (though not Fathers' Day), Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and a couple of holidays we've largely abandoned...Pan-American Day and American Indian Day!

We'll be presenting the other chapters on the dates they fall upon.

Watch for them!

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