Space Hero Saturdays BARNEY CARR "Attack of the Groteks!"

We like the kool names Space Heroes have!
Buck!
Flash!
Brick!
Barney!

BARNEY???

Yes!

For two issues in 1950, there was a Space Hero named "Barney"!

And, he was a futuristic "space detective", like Lance Lewis and Space Detective/Avenger)!

Note: the pages are damaged, likely by insects, and we're presenting them despite that due to the historical value of the story!

Cover-featured in his very first appearance in Eastern Color's Famous Funnies #191 (1950), Barney Carr: Space Detective didn't do much actual detecting.
He was too busy being a typical square-jawed, two-fisted, ray gun-wielding action hero, kicking alien butt!
Unlike the other features in Famous Funnies, Barney Carr wasn't a reprinted newspaper strip, but an original series!
It only appeared once more, before disappearing into the void, but original art for a third story exists, without any captions or word balloons!
You'll be seeing both of them in the future!

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Mystery in Space

Pulp Fiction Library

(which contains only a couple of stories from this previously-listed volume)

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Reading Room TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED "Who is Mr Ashtar?"

We usually don't run stories that have already been reprinted...

...but this one is so kool, we just couldn't resist!

(And after reading, I'm dure you'll agree!)

Penciled and inked by Jack Kirby, shortly before his return to Atlas (which shortly thereafter became Marvel), the writer of this story from DC's Tales of the Unexpected #17 (1957) is unknown...but could be Kirby himself!

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Jack Kirby Omnibus

Volume 1

...which includes this story!

Reading Room TALES TO ASTONISH "I Fell to the Center of the Earth!"

Here's a kool 1950s sci-fi story penciled by Matt Baker, whose speciality was "good girl" art!

Yet, there's not a single beautiful woman (not even a cavewoman), in this story, one of his few assignments for Atlas (later Marvel) Comics!

When this story appeared in Atlas' Tales to Astonish #2 (1959), Baker was near the end of his career, working through Vince Colletta's studio, doing only penciling to increase his productivity.

Vince Colletta inked the pages, and it's possible that, seeing how much detail Colletta tended to leave out during inking, Baker did less-detailed pencils than normal.

The writer is unknown, but it's believed to be the book's editor Stan Lee.
Penciler Matt Baker was one of the few Black comic book artists of the Golden and Silver Ages, and was easily the most prolific of them!
Though known for his "good girl" art, including the famous (and infamous) Phantom Girl stories, he handled every genre with ease, including horror, war, sci-fi, and romance!
Sadly, though, few of his stories featured Black characters...who were rare in comics until the mid-1960s!
You can read a short, but complete bio HERE!

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Matt Baker

Art of Glamour
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Space Force Saturdays ATOM-AGE COMBAT "Puzzle"

Since it's Memorial Day weekend...

...we thought we'd run a tale of interplanetary conflict between Earth and Mars!

Note: the last page was the inside back cover of the comic, so it's black-and-white, a standard cost-saving technique back then by printing the front and back inside covers one, or sometimes, two-color.

Illustrated by Dick Ayers, this tale from Fago's Atom-Age Combat #3 (1959) touches on an interesting idea.

Someone's keeping us from leaving Earth...but they're also keeping others from approaching Earth!

Were they protecting us from them...or them from us?

Since this was the final tale in the final issue of the series, we'll never know the answer...

BTW, this was the second series called "Atom-Age Combat"!

The first was published by St John Comics with five issues in 1952-53 and a one-shot in 1958.

Fago Publications bought the title when St John dropped it's comic line, continuing the numbering from the one-shot and producing two issues.

Fago itself only lasted from 1958-59.

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Mysteries in Space

The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics
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Friday Fun GET LOST! "Dr Jerkyll Became Mr Hide"

It's more "inspired" by the Robert Louis Stevenson tale than an adaptation...

...since it's set "present day" (1950s) and the dear doctor is a psychiatrist!

MikeRoss' Get Lost was one of numerous MAD comic clones that popped up in the mid-1950s when that humor comic became one of the hottest titles on the market...literally flying off newsstands!

The company, created by writer/artists Mike Esposito and Ross Andru (the "MikeRoss" of the company name) was meant to be a showcase for their talents.
They edited, wrote, and illustrated almost all the material, including this tale from #1 (1954).
Unfortunately, they debuted just as the legendary "Seduction of the Innocent" scandal (where comics were blamed for juvenile delinquency) hit the public consciousness!
All MikeRoss published were Get Lost, Heart and Soul (a romance comic) and a couple of 3-D books using modified Heart and Soul artwork.
Sadly, the company never really got off the ground as distributors became leery of handling any comics, much less titles from a brand-new, unproven company!
MikeRoss folded within a year, and the creators returned to working for others, enjoying long careers in the comics business both as a team and individually until they passed away!

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Sincerest Form of Parody
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Reading Room / Tales Thrice Told STRANGE WORLDS "I Am the Last Man on Earth!"

One thing Stan Lee was really good at was recycling plots (with minor variations)...

...as demonstrated in this first of three tales based on the same premise!

Plotted (and probably scripted) by Stan Lee, this never-reprinted story from Atlas' Strange Worlds #1 (1958) was illustrated by Silver Age mainstay Don Heck.

Yes, it's the "Adam & Eve begin a new Earth in the future/past" tale, which has become something of a cliche in sci-fi/fantasy.

But, it's some of the details that carry-over from one story to another that make this particular variation's multiple versions interesting.

Be here Thursday to see what I mean...

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EXCELSIOR!
Amazing Life of Stan Lee
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Monday Madness MYSTICAL TALES "Man Who Saw Too Much!"

Here's one of those stories that make you scratch your head and ask...

..."what were they smoking/drinking/ingesting whan they created this?"

What's the "speed of time"?

How would it alter the composition of a piece of metal never designed to be played as a musical instrument by a human to allow it to be played. much less to transport the player through time?

Perhaps it's just as well we don't know who scripted this weird story!

The Grand Comics Database attributes Ed Winiarski as the sole artist for this never-reprinted story from Atlas' Mystical Tales #1 (1956), but there are clear aspects of long-time Atlas-Marvel artist Werner Roth's style in there as well.

Did he re-draw panels or did he pencil the entire story with Winarski just inking it?

So many questions, so few answers...

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Marvel Masterworks

Atlas-Era Journey into Mystery

Volume 1

Reading Room WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE "Survival of the Fittest"

Fiction or prophecy?

This is only 8 years away!

Consider recent developments in Artificial Intelligence and prepare for the possible (if not probable) mechanical Armageddon!

The penciler of this never-reprinted story from Key's Weird Tales of the Future #1 (1952) was a young Ross Andru, but the mediocre inking is clearly not his soon-to-be-partner Mike Esposito!
The identity of the embellisher, as well as the scripter remain a mystery to this day...

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Ten-Cent Plague

Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America