Showing posts with label 1960s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1960s. Show all posts

Friday, January 16, 2026

Friday Femme Fun MODELING WITH MILLIE "Mille the Marvel"

If you think Marvel and DC are rebooting their characters more frequently than ever...
...you've never followed the many incarnations of Millie the Model from 1945 to the present!
This particular story is from the early Silver Age "romance comic" phase of her career.
This never-reprinted story from Marvel's Modeling with Millie #54 (1967); written by Gary Friedrich, penciled by Odgen Whitney, and inked (uncredited) by Frank Giacoia; was Millie the Marvel's only appearance.
It was also the final issue of this particular title.
Over at her ongoing "sister" title, Millie the Model, the character returned to her previous Archie Comics-influenced format, once more becoming a teen-humor title without ongoing storylines.
Trivia: From 1945 to 1973, there was always at least one Millie title from Atlas/Marvel, for a total of five different series, plus annuals, a couple of one-shots, an ongoing series in Comedy Comics, and a spin-off series for her rival, Chili!
Her main title ran for 207 issues, and was, until Fantastic Four #207 came out in 1979, Marvel's longest-running character-named book!
(Books with longer runs like Mighty ThorIncredible Hulk, and Captain America had different names [Journey into MysteryTales to Astonish, and Tales of Suspense, respectively] before becoming "character" titles.
Millie's flagship title was always Millie the Model!)
Millie was rebooted several times going from a romance/humor hybrid to Archie-style humor to romance/soap opera and finally back to Archie-style humor with changes to the characters' ages, professions, and relationships at each stage.
Millie Collins, despite being shown as outside the Marvel Multiverse in this tale, has appeared as part of the mainstream Marvel Universe in several titles, including the "Wedding of Reed and Sue" in Fantastic Four Annual #3 (along with Marvels #2), Dazzler #34, Sensational She-Hulk #60, and the Models, Inc mini-series.
In the 1980s, a middle-aged Millie appeared in the Star Comics mini-series Misty, about the teen-age daughter of Millie's brother!
(The best thing about this Trina Robbins-produced mini-series was the retro look and use of readers' designs for the characters' clothes.)
Millie was scheduled to be rebooted in 2003 as a teen-age tennis player in a manga-style mini-series called 15-Love.
When the project was finally published in 2011 (yeah, eight years later), the lead character was Millie's teen-age niece (though Millie herself did appear briefly)!
In 2009, Millie and her Silver Age supporting cast were the 20-something title characters in the mini-series Models, Inc.
The series also features Johnny (Human Torch) Storm, Spider-Man, Dr StrangePatsy (HellCat) Walker, Tigra, Night NurseMary Jane Watson, and real-life fashion expert Tim Gunn, re-establishing the Mille characters in the Marvel Multiverse...but nothing's been done with them since!
Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder RAUMPATROUILLE "Hüter des Gesetzes" (Guardians of the Law)

After twice defeating energy-based aliens known as "Frogs"...
...the crew of the Orion 7 encounter rebellious robots on an Earth colony!
(Note the story makes use of Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics!
 Kool!)
OK, let the comparisons to how Kirk and Spock would've handled it begin...

Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder RAUMPATROUILLE "Planet ausser Kurs" (Planet Off Course)

After being demoted from front-line combat to local space patroling, Cliff McLane and his crew discover previously-unknown beings composed of pure energy have overrun a distant outpost.
(SPOILERS: the sharp-eyed among viewers may have noticed that certain members of the star fleet showed great reluctance to deal with the invaders.
Wonder why?)
Now, the aliens return with a plan to send a rogue planet hurtling on a collision course with Earth!
(Note: It's German with English subtitles.
I've tried to set them up before creating the link, but you may have to click on the "gear" icon to implement them manually.)
Be back next Wednesday for another retro-kool adventure!

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

Monday Mecha Madness (Continued) SPACE ADVENTURES "Imitation People" Conclusion

Though it doesn't look like a love story...
...that's what this cover-featured tale from Charlton's Space Adventures V2N4 (1968) most definitely is!
We Have Already Seen...

Scientist Warren Simms' human-looking robots populate Earth II, a planetoid on the edge of the Solar System that serves as a first line of defense against alien incursions.
Simms' robots are programmed to mimic human behavior and emotions...but some of them (his aide Clarissa, particularly) seem to be transcending their programming!
While meeting with Earth's Grand Council to acquire additional funding and resources, Clarissa makes a startling revelation...
Don't you just love a happy ending?
Since the Simms robot is, for all intents and purposes, Simms, we could say that love is eternal and transcends death.
But, what of his soul?
Writer Joe Gill and artist Jim Aparo don't address that matter in this never-reprinted tale.
But that doesn't mean we can't speculate about it, eh?
Support Atomic Kommie Comics!
Visit Amazon and Order...
Charlton Arrow #4
Paid Link

Monday, January 5, 2026

Monday Mecha Madness SPACE ADVENTURES "Imitation People" Part 1

Do Robots/Androids Have Souls?
Can they feel "real" (not programmed) emotions?
What does this Don (the Con) Trump wannabe have in mind?
This Joe Gill-scripted, Jim Aparo-illustrated, never-reprinted story from Charlton's Space Adventures V2N4 (1968) will be concluded ...tomorrow!
Support Atomic Kommie Comics!
Visit Amazon and Order...
Charlton Arrow #4
Paid Link

Friday, January 2, 2026

Friday Fun YAK YAK "TV for All!"

Those of you who grew up with a smart phone in your hand...
...will probably not understand a single thing (either in terms of technology or pop culture) in this feature about living in a household with only one screen and a limited selection of programming!
Ironically, cross-genre programming has become something of a staple in our media-dominated world!
Dell gave MAD mainstay Jack Davis his own title, to do with as he pleased.
The series, Yak Yak (subtitled "A Pathology of Humor") only ran two issues, but they were pure Davis, who wrote, penciled, inked, and colored the whole project as well as providing painted covers for both issues!
Support Atomic Kommie Comics!
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Monday, December 29, 2025

Monday Mecha Madness at Christmas! TALES TO ASTONISH "It Walks Like a Man!"

Sometimes a child becomes too attached to a Christmas present...
...or is it vice versa...as seen in this story (written in 1963 and set in 1973) which has only been reprinted once since its' initial publication in Marvel's Tales to Astonish #45 (1963).
Plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Robert Bernstein, and illustrated by Paul Reinman, this tale was one of several from Atlas/Marvel in the 1950s and 60s based on the theme of an automaton developing emotion and protecting the human object of its' affection.
Support Atomic Kommie Comics!
Visit Amazon and Buy...
Atlas Tales to Astonish
Volume 4
(with the only reprint of this story in over a half century!)

Sunday, December 28, 2025

Coming December 31st...Raumpatrouille Orion, 1960s Europe's STAR TREK!

What if Captain Kirk and his crew were a bunch of rule-breaking, hard-partying jerks...
...who still managed to save the universe on a weekly basis?
Meet Major Cliff Alistair McLaine and his international crew on this blog every Wednesday from December 31st onward!
Here's a trailer from a theatrical feature film compiled from several episodes to give you a taste...
And here's the title sequence with its variation of the "Space: the final frontier.." narration...
The 1966 seven-episode series was never broadcast in the US, but matches its' contemporary, Star Trek, for high adventure, drama, and innovative special effects, plus a really kool jazz soundtrack!
NOTE: It's in German with English subtitles.

Monday, December 22, 2025

Monday Mecha Madness ASTRO BOY Manga "Gademu" Conclusion

...Astro Boy, returning to Japan from India on board a state-of-the-art ocean liner is drawn into a mystery involving a giant centipede-like robot which attacks people and swallows money, jewels and valuables, then disappears!
How can a giant robot just vanish aboard a ship in mid-ocean?
The secret of the cybernetic criminal is about to be revealed to a host of prospective unscrupulous buyers who want it for their own nefarious purposes...
Written & illustrated by Osamu Tezuka, and serialized in Kobunsha's Shonen Boy #8 & 9 (1959), this story was adapted into the first season of the 1960s Astro Boy anime series that was dubbed and presented on American TV during the first wave of Japanese cartoons including Speed Racer, Kimba the White Lion, and Gigantor to appear in daily (Monday thru Friday) syndication, captivating kids in the US during the mid-1960s!
 Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Buy...
(Which reprints this story)
Paid Link