Friday Fun REX DEXTER "Three Suns of Doom"

Though Rex Dexter was heading home to Mars from Earth...

...he seems to have somehow detoured into interstellar space!

You have to admire the sheer imagination Dick Briefer packed into tales like this one from Fox's Mystery Men Comics #5 (1939).
There's enough here for at least a book-length story in today's "decompressed" titles...if not a two-parter!
And considering what movie special effects tech was like in 1939, the only way you'd see creatures like those monsters on page 14 back then was in newspaper comic strips, pulp magazines, or comic books!
Amazing stuff!

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Friday Fun REX DEXTER "Meets Lord Marvel"

Regular Friday Fun readers might note a couple of changes in Rex Dexter as of this story...

...from Fox's Mystery Men Comics #4 (1939) read on and see if you can find them!

Here's the two major changes...

1) the title drops "...of Mars here on Earth-2000 AD" for "...Interplanetary Adventurer".

Not a major change in itself, except the opening paragraph also says "In 1939..." then concludes with "...A century later...", moving the series several decades later from 2000 to 2039-2040, where it remains for the rest of the series!

Why?

I have no idea!

2) Rex and Cynde adapt the costumes designed by Lou Fine for the cover of Mystery Men Comics #2...

...which they'll continue to use, on and off, for the remainder of the series!

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Design of the Week Redux! SANTA'S ELVES ON STRIKE

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another, unless it sells really well!

Then we extend it for another week!

This week...Go back 79 years ago, to November 1938 and see...when elves were part of the 99%!
(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!)
And it looks like the elves aren't going to settle for sweatshop wages and conditions at the North Pole anymore!
Why not pick up this kool design on mugs, greeting cards, and other Christmas collectibles NOW!
Christmas will be here before you know it!

Reading Room: BROTHERS 3 "Battle of Ahmid Bey"

Why should we send thousands of troops to Iraq (again)...

...when all we needed in 1937-38 was three guys (one of whom wasn't an American) to hold off an entire Arab army?

According to Fatts Dugan, it wasnt even a "real fight"!

Y'know, come to think of it, where's the French Foreign Legion these days?

They used to be the world's premier desert fighters!

One of comics legend Will Eisner's earliest solo efforts, this one-shot was probably intended as an ongoing strip, but reader response was probably minimal as it wasn't colorful or exciting enough compared to the interplanetary adventures and fantasy tales in the same issue, so it wasn't continued.

BTW, though it was a one-shot, the story was published three times!

1) Comics Magazine Company's Funny Picture Stories V1N04 (1937)

2) Centaur's Amazing Mystery Funnies V1N02 (1938)

3) Able Manufacturing's Super-Dooper Comics #4 (1946)

Design of the Week SANTA'S SURPRISE!

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

This week,we take a look at a Santa Claus who's been naughty, not nice, in this vintage, saucy, 1930s comic cover!
Available on mugs, blankets, t-shirts, and many other goodies!

Call Him "Merciless"! Call Him...MING!

As part of the Great Movie Villains Blogathon, We chose to do...

..the guy lovingly-referred to as "Merciless" 

on our "brother" RetroBlog Secret Sanctum of Captain Video...but as a multi-part post, since he appeared in several movie serials (as well a a feature film)!

Part 1 is HERE!

Part 2 is HERE!

Part 3 will be posted Tuesday

Part 4/Conclusion will appear on Wednesday!

Don't miss it.

You'll piss-off Ming, and he ain't called "Merciless" for nothing!

Captain Blood...by the creator of Flash Gordon!

How many of you have seen this classic movie poster...

...and knew it was the work of Alex Raymond, of Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, and Secret Agent X-9 fame?

Yep!

Since Captain Blood and Arabella Bishop do not look like Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, it's a reasonable bet that this was done as an advance promo piece before casting, but it was so good, the studio still used it as their half-sheet poster for both the initial release and re-releases!

If you look at the original Flash Gordon strip, you'll see Raymond incorporated a lot of pirate/swashbuckler costume, weapon, and design motifs into Flash's adventures on other worlds!

We hope you've enjoyed our celebration of the new pirate/adventure series Black Sails with earlier pop culture appearances of buccaneers both real and reel.

Be here next week for MORE pop-culture fun!

75 Years Ago Today...the World was Destroyed...

...by Invaders from Mars!

Art by Francesco Francavilla

You can hear the original October 30, 1938 radio broadcast HERE!

And a 10-minute funky dance remix of the radio show HERE!

BONUS: Here's a kool documentary from the radio show's 60th Anniversary, narrated by James (Avatar) Cameron...

Happy New Year's Eve!

As Homer Simpson would say...

"D'oh!"