Reading Room WORLD OF FANTASY "What Went Wrong?"

You think you've prepared for every contingency...but is that truly possible?

Can anyone always account for the "human" factor?

Illustrated by Bob Forgione, whose credits at Timely/Atlas included a number of sci-fi stories including an issue of Speed Carter: SpaceMan, this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' World of Fantasy #1 (1956) is one of those "average guy inadvertently saves the world" tales that writers (in this case, unidentified) love to tell.

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Mars in the Movies

A History
Paid Link

Reading Room LOST WORLDS "City That Escaped From Tomorrow"

In the 1950s, the popularity of sci-fi in tv and in movies carried over to comics...

...with a plethora of sci-fi anthology titles from almost every publisher, most of which ran material equal to the bulk of pulp and paperback science fiction of the era.

This never-reprinted tale from Standard's Lost Worlds #5 (1952) was penciled by Ross Andru and inked by Mike Esposito and Jim Mooney.
The writer is unknown.

Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 
Paid Link

Space Hero Saturdays BARNEY CARR "?????" Part 1

We've Re-Presented Two Published Tales of the Only Space Hero with a Normal Name...

...HERE and HERE!
Now, we're proudly presenting one of two unpublished tales of the stalwart Space Detective,,,but we have no idea of what it's about, since it was never lettered!

Apparently writer/artist Jerry Faisano didn't do the balloon/caption lettering on his strips, but since the series was cancelled after only two appearances, the remaining tales remained unlettered!

Can you figure out what's going on?

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Order...

Mystery in Space

Pulp Fiction Library

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

Paid Link

Reading Room: WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE "Plaything"

Ever feel like you're totally-insignificant?

Well, there might be a very good reason, as shown in Key's Weird Tales of the Future #6 (1953)!

"As flies to wanton boys are we to th' gods. They kill us for their sport."

–Shakespeare "King Lear"

While the writer is unknown, the artist was Tony Mortellaro, who did hundreds of tales in various genres for Key and Atlas/Marvel, (where he became Associate Art Director under John Romita in the 1970s).

 Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Sci-Fi Art: a Graphic History
Paid Link

Reading Room FLASH GORDON COMICS "Stories Behind the Stars"

This was an ongoing feature about the mythological origins of the constellations...

...which has never been reprinted since its' appearance in Harvey's Flash Gordon #2, #3, and #4 (1950).

Ever wonder what the actual legend behind Clash of the Titans was?

You'll note the "monster" is not the movie's Kraken, which was a mythological Norse creature based on sailors' sightings of huge octopi.

Ray Harryhausen let his imagination run wild, producing a far more interesting creature than the usual fire-breathing lizard.

Last, but hardly least, here's a popular mythological creature who's been "retconned" in movies and tv...

...but this never-reprinted one-pager from Harvey's Flash Gordon #4 (1950) gives you the original version of the story!
Note, again, Ray Harryhausen presents the (for many of us) definitive cinematic version of the creature, but substituting Jason (the leader of the Argonauts) for Hercules...

All illustrated (and likely written) by by Bob Powell!

Monday Mecha Madness FANTASTIC "Thinking Machine"

During the Golden Age of Comics, Writers and Artists Sometimes Came Up with Rather...Unique Portrayals of Mechanical Beings...

...as you'll see in this never-reprinted tale from Youthful's Fantastic #8 (1952)!

Illustrated by Vince Napoli and scripted by a writer whose identity is lost to the mists of time, this reads more like a Frankenstein-type horror tale than a sci-fi story about a robot!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics!
Visit Amazon and Buy...
Science Fiction Comics
Taylor History of Comics
Vol 3
Paid Link

Holiday Reading Room EVERY DAY'S A HOLLY DAY "Thrilling Story Behind Old Glory: Flag Day"

Learn About...

...and try to forget it is also (ironically) the 80th birthday of disgraced, twice-impeached, President Don (the Con) Trump, the Oldest President in American History!

Coloring goof: the Union soldiers in panel 5 are wearing Confederate gray!

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!
Note: We're gearing up for our traditional multi-blog Summer Blogathons which we'll announce the week before the 4th of July weekend and begin the week after!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Order...

Cartoon History of the United States
Paid Link

Space Hero Saturdays SPACE MOUSE "Master Mind" & "Believe It or Not"

This short-lived, but entertaining, series was uneven...

...with some stories, like this one from the back cover of Avon's Space Mouse #1 (1953) featuring the heroic character as a thief, obviously adapted from a different strip...

...and this one, from the inside cover of Avon's Space Mouse #3 (1953) showing him both in "hero mode" and cleverly breaking the "fourth wall"!

Writer/artist Frank Carin was an experienced pro who started as an animator the Fleischer Brothers and TerryToons, then moved over to comics in the early, writing and/or illustrating several hundred stories and covers for everybody from Timely/Atlas to Magazine Enterprises, to Nation-Wide, to Harvey, to, of course, Avon, and finally, to Gold Key!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Fleischer Story

A History of the Cartoon Studio in the Golden Age of Film Animation

(covering the studio where Frank Carin got his start)
Paid Link

Reading Room VENUS COMICS "Strange Rocket!"

Here's a tale combining sci-fi with the "present day" West...

 ...from the back of Atlas' Venus Comics featuring the art of a future major Silver Age Marvel artist!

The parents weren't questioned as to where their son went after he failed to show up for school...ever again?

"Well, officer, Toby went into space with a bunch of extraterrestrials, but they promised they'd bring him back.

It's OK!
We gave him permission..."

The writer of this somewhat silly story from Atlas' Venus #12 (1951) is unknown, but the artist is Gene Colan, best known to Marvel fans as one of the definitive artists on Silver and Bronze Age titles like Daredevil, Iron Man, and Dracula!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Secrets in the Shadows

Art & Life of Gene Colan
Paid Link

Monday Mecha Madness: Before ULTRON...there was MAKINO!

Who created Ultron, the Ultimate Evil AI?

If you go with the movie Avengers: Age of Ultron...Tony Stark aka Iron Man. and Bruce Banner aka The Hulk!

If you go with Marvel Comics history...Henry Pym aka Ant-Man/Giant-Man/Goliath/Yellowjacket/Wasp/etc (Don't ask. It's too long a story...).

In reality, it was writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema in Marvel's Avengers V1 #54 (1967).

But where did Roy come up with the idea?

Well, he "borrowed" it from Captain Video!

Yep!

In #3 of Captain Video's short-lived 1950s Fawcett Comics title, he faced a robot named Makino who killed his scientist creator and then threatened all mankind!

The story left such an impression on the young Roy Thomas that, almost two decades later, he adapted elements of that story into the long-running saga of Ultron!

Roy explained how it came about in TwoMorrows' Alter Ego #114.

You can read the actual comic story on our "brother" RetroBlog Secret Sanctum of Captain Video HERE and HERE!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Captain Video
the Complete Comic Book Series
Paid Link