Space Hero Saturdays JET POWERS "Fleets of Fear!"

When Last We Left Jet Powers...

...oh, heck, I'll let writer Gardner Fox and artist Bob Powell explain what happened in the previous story...

He stops alien invasions and solves matters of the heart!

Jet Powers is truly a Renaissance Man!

Sadly, this was his final appearance in sci-fi...but not in comics.
When next he appeared, several months later, it was as "Army Air Ace" Jet Powers in the revival of Magazine Enterprises' WWII title American Air Forces!

Though he looked and sounded like the space-adventure hero, down to the curly white hair, there was no reference to his being a scientist, nor any use of sci-fi elements in the new Korean War-set stories!
This particular tale from Magazine Enterprises' Jet Powers #4 (1951) was one of two sequels to separate cliffhangers featuring the hero in the previous issue.
It's unusual that a series would have a pair of unrelated cliffhangers for one character in the same issue, but that's what writer Gardner Fox and artist Bob Powell did!

Considering the previous issues had inter-related stories in the same book, I wonder if this was a case of the first parts of a pair of two-part stories being completed, but the second parts weren't ready when the deadline crept up on them.

(In those days, comics had to come out on schedule since they were dependent on their status as periodicals to qualify for lower postage/shipping rates.)

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Bob Powell's Complete

Jet Powers
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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder DUKE Ray Bradbury's "The Day Negroes Left Earth!"

Last Week, We Re-Presented Ray Bradbury's "The Last White Man"...

...so today we present the prequel to that tale...which was published after the other story!

This story, better known as "Way in the Middle of the Air", premiered in Other Worlds (July 1950) before being anthologized in The Martian Chronicles.

Duke, a Playboy competitor aimed at Black audiences published "The Other Foot" under the title "The Last White Man" in their premiere issue as we detailed HERE, but didn't run this prequel to it until their third issue in 1957, nor did they provide any introduction or editorial context to the story this time!

There's a scholarly article about "Way.../Day..." HERE which make no mention of this version of the story, but does state it has been left out of recent editions of Martian Chronicles!

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Tomorrow Midnight

Adaptations of Ray Bradbury's sci-fi stories from EC Comics!

Plus a new cover by Frank Frazetta

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Space Hero Saturdays CAPTAIN SCIENCE "Cat Men of Phoebus"

When Last We Left Our Space-Faring Heroes...

After defeating a threat to the Earth by aliens who crash-landed on the far side of the Moon, Gordon Dane and Rip waste no time in dealing with another group of aliens who just kidnapped Luana from their headquarters...

The art on this never-reprinted story from Youthful's Captain Science #2 (1950)  is by Gustav Schrotter.

The writer is unknown.

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Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3
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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder DUKE Ray Bradbury's "The Last White Man"

From the first issue of a long out-of-print 1950s Playboy competitor comes this Ray Bradbury tale...

...which was presented only once with this title!

Intended as one of several new stories to link previously-published Mars tales in the now-legendary anthology The Martian Chronicles (1950), specifically as a sequel to "Way in the Middle of the Air", it was delayed due to editorial requests for revisions and ended up initially-appearing in 1951 in a non-science fiction magazine dedicated to short stories in every genre as "The Other Foot"...

...before finally making its' appearance in a later, equally-legendary Bradbury anthology in 1951...

How did this unusual retitling come about?

In 1957, with Playboy dominating the newsstands, a new publisher introduced an African-American counterpart called Duke, which featured Black creatives and cheesecake models.

(The centerfold models were called "Duchesses"!)

Along with acclaimed Black writers Langston Hughes, Erskine Caldwell, and Chester Hines, the premiere issue featured Ray Bradbury's short story "The Other Foot", now entitled "The Last White Man"!

Unlike most of Bradbury's works, this tale has, to date, never been adapted into any other media!

(Sadly, Duke only lasted six issues.)

AFAIK, the only time "The Other Foot/The Last White Man" has ever been cover-featured was in a rare, limited-run book produced by, of all companies, Xerox, in 1967!

Try finding a copy of it at a reasonable price (or even a clean scan of the cover)!

Note: The story this tale was a sequel to; "Way in the Middle of the Air" was also re-titled "The Day Negroes Left Earth".

Duke published it in their third issue...which you'll see next Wednesday!

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Tomorrow Midnight

Adaptations of Ray Bradbury's sci-fi stories from EC Comics!

Plus a new cover by Frank Frazetta
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Reading Room STRANGE STORIES OF SUSPENSE "Beware...a Martian"

Here's a tale of racism and innuendo involving an "illegal alien"...

...that all Reich-wingers should take note of!

Written by Carl Wessler, penciled by Al Williamson, and inked by Ralph Mayo, this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Strange Stories of Suspense #14 (1957) uses science fiction to tell a civil rights parable, substituting a Martian (and the paranoia about his race) for a African-American, Hispanic, Japanese, or other minority group about whom equally-inane fantasies have been concocted!

Note: it's interesting that Nardo the Martian has the same appearance as DC's J'Onn J'Onzz: the Martian Manhunter (except for skin color), as well as MM's specific ability to shape-shift, not a talent usually attributed to inhabitants of the Red Planet!

Note: J'Onn had debuted almost two years earlier!

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Mars in the Movies

A History
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Monday Mecha Madness WEIRD THRILLERS "Menace of R Day"

In the 1950s, it was believed that war could be ended by 1999...

...and that other menaces would threaten the Earth, instead!

This somewhat-hokey, but entertaining, sci-fi tale from Ziff-Davis' Weird Thrillers #1 (1951) was both penciled and inked by Ross Andru.

Andru would later partner with Mike Esposito with Ross as the penciler and Mike doing the inking.

Whether this was because Esposito was faster at inking than Ross, or Andru enjoyed doing only pencils is unknown.

Considering Andru seemed pretty damn good at inking, it's a pity he eventually gave it up.

BTW, the writer of this never-reprinted tale of mechanical mayhem is unknown.

Next Week: the Return of

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