Reading Room VANGUARD ILLUSTRATED "...friend in need..."

In Space, No One Can Hear You...

...Dream (bet you thought I was going to say "Scream" didn't you?), as this story from over 30 years ago proves!

This tale from Pacific's Vanguard Illustrated #5(1984) had appeared a decade earlier in a somewhat different form!

You'll see that version...Thursday!

Writer-artist Ron Harris is best-known as the artist for the Dallas and Star Trek newspaper strips in the late 1970s-early 1980s.

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Star Trek: the Newspaper Strip

Volume One

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder SONIC DISRUPTORS "Are You Ready to Rock?"

Welcome to seven years from now...as shown thirty-six years ago!

We're beginning a re-presentation of a never-reprinted tale of rebellion against a futuristic police state that most of you didn't even know existed!

To Be Continued

Next Wednesday!

Writer Mike Baron, penciler Barry Crain, and inker John Nyberg created this series for DC in 1986, when the company was encouraging creatives to present new, creator-owned, projects either as stand-alone graphic novels or mini-series.
We've presented several of them in Wednesday Worlds of Wonder, including Merchants of Venus, Space Clusters, and Medusa Chain.

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Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

Monday Madness BEDLAM "Earth Invasion"

Trumpanzees and other conspiracists should read this kick-butt piece...

...and then we'll witness if they feel like going out and shooting someone!

Well?

Ready to grab those AR-15s and slaughter the local populace?

Why not, kids?

Wackadoodles have used the "pop culture" causes violence trope for over a half century, from the "comics cause teen crime" insanity of the 1950s to the "violent videos" of the 80s and 90s, to the video games of today.

Think About This: If violent video games (supposedly) cause people to become insane killers, why do countries like Japan, with far more violent video game content, have far less crime (including shootings) than America?

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Video Game Debate

Unravelling the Physical, Social, and Psychological Effects of Digital Games

Reading Room VANGUARD ILLUSTRATED "Tangled Web"

One of the joys of doing a blog like this is discovering people who, all too briefly, worked in comics...

...then moved on, sometimes without a trace!

This never-reprinted tale from Pacific's Vanguard Illustrated #4 (1984) is written and illustrated by Ruth Raymond.

It's her only comics credit, and, sadly, I can't find a single reference to her outside of the Grand Comics Database!

Was "Ruth Raymond" a pseudonym?

Both the scripting and art, though a tad awkward, show enormous potential.

It's sad to think this talented creative wasn't given a chance to grow.

If anybody has any info, please leave a link in the comments section!

What is the Startling, Sinister Secret of THE SHADOW: DESTINATION MOON?

Only You Know Who Knows!

Here's a tantalizing taste of what's to come...

Begin the never-reprinted Swinging (and spy-filled) Sixties Adventure...

TODAY

at

HERO HISTORIES!

And
Witness the final, never-reprinted chapter of The Shadow's 1970s adventures by Golden/Silver/Bronze Age great Frank Robbins on Monday at...

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT!
Plus:

Also on Monday, a never-reprinted tale of

BRUCE LEE

...in a world where he lived to the present-day, at...

POP ART MARTIAL ARTS!

Now is this a Summer Blogathon, or what???

Space Hero Saturdays 50s FUNNIES "Spaced Rat-Pol"

A somewhat-snarky look at a 1950s sci-fi comic...

...from a 1980s perspective (which you're reading in the 2020s), by writer-penciler Dave Hunt and inker Alfredo Alcala.

Doesn't get much more "meta" than that, gang!

This impressive (and never-reprinted) parody of EC's Weird Science/Weird Fantasy/Weird Science-Fantasy/Incredible Science Fiction is from Kitchen Sink Press' 50s Funnies (1980), which was a one-shot anthology with an impressive list of contributors included Steve Bissette, William Stout, Rick Veitch, Will Meugniot, John Totleben, and Scott Shaw!
(Trivia: The "!" is actually part of Scott's name, legally!).

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50s Funnies

Reading Room MYSTERY IN SPACE "The Following Program is Pre-Recorded"

In this era of podcasts, which will be on the internet as long as the servers storing them operate...,

...such a tale as this might seem passe...except for the ending!

Appearing in the final issue (#117) of DC's Mystery in Space in 1981, written by B S Watson, penciled by Don Newton, and inked by Steve Mitchell, the story takes the "last man on Earth" scenario to an unbelievably-narcissistic level!

I mean, he's the last person alive and all he can think of doing is recording and transmitting himself?

Sad...

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Mysteries in Space

The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder SILVER SURFER: THE ULTIMATE COSMIC EXPERIENCE Preface and Creator Bios

Here's the text pieces from the long OOP graphic novel...

Judge for yourself as to the historical accuracy of the material.

Nice to see the rest of the creatives get a little attention.

But, Stan Lee realized the PR value to his audience of promoting the writers and artists like rock stars (as his promo for the first issue of Fantasy Masterpieces demonstrated), and pushed the image of a happy "bullpen" (with him as the lead creative, of course).

We hope you enjoyed seeing this long-lost bit of Marvel history, and suggest you bookmark this blog for a lot more HTF comics goodies...

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Silver Surfer

The Ultimate Cosmic Experience

by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby