Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ADVENTURERS' CLUB "Whick! Whock! Whick! Whock!"

Let's end the too-brief run of this retro (even when it was published almost 50 years ago) series...

...with a story about the world's most unique timepiece as we present the final chapter of The Adventurers' Club!

This never-reprinted story from DC's Adventure Comics #430 (1973) featured a new creative team, writer Arnold Drake and artist Luis Dominguez (who had illustrated the only cover the Adventurers' Club appeared on as shown last week) and an oddly-red-headed Nelson Strong!

Though the Adventurers' Club strip ended, Nelson Strong would reappear a couple of decades later in DC's Swamp Thing #145-150 (1994-5) as a big-game hunter attempting to capture Swampy.
Nelson dies in the attempt and is briefly resurrected as an Elemental!
Bet that would've been a helluva Adventurers' Club story, eh?

Next Wednesday

A New World of Wonder!

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ADVENTURERS' CLUB "Voodoo Lizards!"

Last Wednesday, we introduced you to Nelson Strong and the Adventurers Club...

This cover scene by Luis Dominguez does not appear in the comic!

...where the requirement for entry was a tale about an "exciting or unusual adventure".

Note: though Carter states he's getting "great action pictures" for his publisher (indicating a print magazine or book), he's using a movie camera, not a standard "still-photo" camera!
This never-reprinted story from DC's Adventure Comics #427 (1973) could be considered either science fiction or fantasy with a horror twist.

Either way, writer John Albano and artist Jim Aparo did a great job evoking mood and telling a cohesive story in only 8 pages, eh?

Trivia: Luis Dominguez, who illustrated the cover above (the only cover the Adventurers' Club was ever featured on) took over the art for the next (and last) tale featuring the group.

You'll see it next Wednesday.

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ADVENTURERS' CLUB " 'Scortch' Jordan's Tommy Gun"

The first ongoing feature during Adventure Comics' short-lived 1970s return to an anthology format...

...was this strip with a Boris Karloff-lookalike host.

It's unclear whether writer John Albano (who had been scripting Supergirl until it left Adventure) or Adventure Comics editor Joe Orlando conceived the series.

This never-reprinted tale from DC's Adventure Comics #426 (1973) clearly shows the "ghost" to be of non-supernatural origin, but later stories lean towards supernatural elements.

When The Spectre was reintroduced in Adventure, for a memorable run by Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo, the cover title (though not indicia) became Weird Adventure Comics.

I mentioned the visual of the host, Nelson Strong, was "Karloff-esque".

Here's Karloff from his one-season 1950s tv series Colonel March of Scotland Yard.

Does he look like the visual inspiration for Nelson Strong?
I'd be willing to bet on it...