Best of Space Force Saturdays MARS COMPANY in "Winner"

In the early 1970s, DC experimented with pulp-style illustrated prose tales...

...in genre (sci-fi, horror, western, and romance) titles!

Written by Denny O'Neil, and rendered in retro 1950s Buck Rogers style...

...by Murphy Anderson, this never-reprinted text feature from DC's Strange Adventures #227 (1971) seems more a tribute to classic 1940s-50s "hard" sci-fi pulps instead of a then-current "new wave" science fiction tale!
Since it featured the last story about Earth's interplanetary fighting force, Mars Company, we felt it would be the perfect "capper" to the SpaceBusters saga, which Murphy re-conceived just before its' cancellation!

Murphy seemed to be DC's "go-to" guy when they needed retro-style material in the 1960s-70s!

He was the artist for Silver Age revival try-outs of Golden Age characters in Brave & Bold (Starman & Black Canary) and Showcase (Dr Fate & HourMan and The Spectre), as well as the first few issues of The Spectre's own Silver Age title!

Anderson was also the initial artist on DC's Bronze Age version of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars, as well as filing-in where needed on other Burroughs strips including Korak and Beyond the Farthest Star!

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Mysteries in Space

The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics
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Friday Fun FAST WILLIE JACKSON "Jabar in 'No Way Out' "

In the 1970s, there was an Archie-style comic aimed at Black audiences...

...from the publishers of the Golden Legacy series which featured factual stories about Black historical figures!

Though it looks like it, Fast Willie Jackson was not published  by Archie Comics, but by Black-owned publisher Fitzgerald Publications who had previously published the Golden Legacy non-fiction comic series about Black history.

Fast Willie was their entry into the mass-market comics market.

Though not Comics Code-approved, it received newsstand distribution, and sales were climbing for each successive issue.

Unfortunately, it reached break-even only with the seventh (and final) issue, when other matters caused Fitzgerald Publications to cease producing new material for an extended period.
When Fitzgerald briefly resumed publishing, Fast Willie was not among the titles.

Written by publisher/editor Bertram Fitzgerald, illustrated by "Gus LeMoine".

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Black Comics

Politics of Race and Representation
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Happy Birthday to Me!

Taking the day off to celebrate...

...by going to a steakhouse I've never been to!

See you tomorrow...

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder THE ODYSSEY "Part 2"

When Last We Left Odysseus and His Crew...

...heading home to Ithica after the sacking of Troy, they barely survived an encounter with the giant cyclops Polyphemus...who was also a son of Poseidon, God of the oceans!
But greater terrors await the hapless Greeks...

To Be Continued, Next Wednesday!

Based on the classic story by Homer, this adaptation, scripted by Bill Mantlo and penciled/inked by Jess Jodloman appeared in Marvel Classic Comics #18 (1977).
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Homer's The Odyssey
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Reading Room: GREEN PLANET "Empty Earth"

Ever Feel Like Staying in Bed and Pulling the Covers Over Your Head?

Here's a tale about an entire planet tha felt that way, from the one-shot Green Planet, published by Charlton Comics in 1962.

This backup tale, unrelated to the title story, was written by Joe Gill, penciled by Dick Giordano, and inked by Vince Coletta.

Green Planet was a very odd comic...

1) The title story was actually an adaptation of a then-current sci-fi novel by J Hunter Holly, but, oddly, there's no mention of that fact anywhere in the comic!

2) There's no numbering on the comic (it's indicia lists it as a quarterly book) and no copyright notice listing either Charlton or novel author Holly!

We presented the main feature a couple of years ago, HERE and HERE!

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Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3

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