Baker Reading Room "Behind the Scenes of 'Half Man-Half What' "

Here's Tuesday's tale...

...but from the original Matt Baker/Al Williamson art!

Take particular note of the areas "whited out", probably at the request of the Comics Code Authority!

BTW, note that in the story, Dr Talbot's right side is altered, but on the cover, his left side is affected!

Let's look closely at that final panel...

Dr Talbot's right side has been totally-whited out.

Was it still metallic?

And his face originally wasn't happy!

Did the original ending show him at the beginning of the process, wondering if it would succeed, and leaving the door open for a sequel if it didn't?

Was the Comics Code Authority responsible for the odd changes?

We'll never know...
Penciler Matt Baker was one of the few Black comic book artists of the Golden and Silver Ages, and was easily the most prolific of them!
Though known for his "good girl" art, including the famous (and infamous) Phantom Girl stories, he handled every genre with ease, including horror, war, sci-fi, and romance!
Sadly, though, few of his stories featured Black characters...who were rare in comics until the mid-1960s!
You can read a short, but complete bio HERE!
He'll be our featured artist this month in the Baker Reading Room at Atomic Kommie Comics, spotlighting his amazing cross-genre versatility!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Order...

Matt Baker

Art of Glamour
Paid Link

Baker Reading Room ALARMING TALES "Half Man-Half What"

"Scientists Tampering with Things Man Should Not Meddle In!" is an old cliche...

Art by John Severin

...given a new look by a most unusual assortment of artists...at least four, along with the writer...

Art by the Bob Powell Studio

OK.

Let's identify the talents involved in this never-reprinted tale from Harvey's Alarming Tales #5 (1958)...

Cover art by John Severin

Script by Dick Wood.

Opening page (which was actually the lower part of the contents page) by the Bob Powell Studio.

Story pencils by Matt Baker (who's the reason this is included in Black History Month).

Story inks by Al Williamson.

Thursday:

the entire story (and cover) in original art form, with some revealing alterations and footnotes!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Order...

Matt Baker

Art of Glamour

Paid Link

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder CAPTAIN COMET, SPACE PILOT "vs the Vicious Space Pirates!"

A space-going hero named "Captain Comet" who saves the Earth?

Plus, he's drawn by Al Williamson and Frank Frazetta?

Sign me up!

Note: he's not DC Comics' mutant mental marvel...

 ...but a character who only appeared once, in 1953, two years after DC's space hero debuted in Strange Adventures #9, and would continue as an ongoing strip through 1955 (usually getting the cover slot)!

The Captain Comet we've just shown you was more a Flash Gordon / Buck Rogers-type hero, set in the future, battling interplanetary threats with fists and ray guns.

Appearing in the first issue of Toby Press' anthology title Danger is Our Business, he obviously was meant to be an ongoing character, but there was never another appearance, except for a reprint in 1958.

Did DC issue a "cease and desist" due to trademark infringement?

We'll never know...

Reading Room STRANGE WORLDS "I Was the Changing Man!"

Here's a beautifully-rendered tale by comics legend Al Williamson...

...that elevates an average tale about mind/body transfer to near-classic status!

Published in Atlas' Strange Worlds #4 (1959), the story was likely-plotted by the book's editor, Stan Lee, but the actual scripter is unknown!

Since publication, it's been reprinted, only once, and only in b/w, in the volume below...

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Al Williamson

Hidden Lands

Reading Room WORLD OF FANTASY "Beware the Future!"

Does a never-reprinted tale from the 1950s offer a clue as to how Don (the Con) Trump became President?

And can it happen...again?

Judge for yourself...

This Stan Lee-plotted, Larry Lieber-scripted, Al Williamson-illustrated tale from Atlas' World of Fantasy #16 (1959) points out a uniquely-human foible...if we "know" things will be OK, we don't see the need to take action ourselves to make sure they do turn out OK...and things can go horribly-wrong as a result!

In 2016, many Bernie Saunders supporters, POed because Bernie wasn't nominated as the Democratic candidate figured they'd protest by staying home and not voting in the general election, believing there were still enough Dems and intelligent Repugs and Independents voting to assure Trump wouldn't get into the White House!

Didn't quite work out, did it?

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Order...

Al Williamson Adventures

Space Force Saturdays THREE ROCKETEERS "Long Long Years"

Introduced in Harvey's Race for the Moon #3 (1958)...

This team of intrepid explorers survived the book's cancellation to appear in other Harvey titles over the next decade!

Penciled (and possibly written) by Jack Kirby and inked by Al Williamson, the team's debut exemplifies the 1950's optimism that science and humanity's desire to explore the unknown would enable us to set up space stations and moonbases within a few decades!
Sadly, as of the end of the first quarter of the 21st Century, over half a century later, we ain't there yet!
Yeah, we have one small space station, but nothing like what we envisioned...

Now that's a space station!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Simon & Kirby Library

Science Fiction

(which reprints all the Kirby Three Rocketeer stories!)
Paid Link

Reading Room WORLD OF SUSPENSE "When the Creature Escapes"

Is a "sea monster" a mindless animal...or something more?

That's what this story from Atlas' World of Suspense #7, 1957 asks...

Penciled by Al Williamson, inked by Ralph Mayo, and written by a currently-unknown scripter, this tale leaves the matter open-ended, practically begging for a sequel!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder CLAWFANG THE BARBARIAN

Here's a one-time World of Wonder for you before the New Year!

(BTW, isn't it weird how most fictional barbarians have a "hard C" or "hard K" name...Conan, Crom, ClawFang, Claw, Kull, Kothar, Kyrik, etc.)

We'll never know, since this was ClawFang's only published adventure!

A cool mix of sf/fantasy genres written and laid-out by Wally Wood with pencils and inks by Al Williamson, appearing in Harvey's Unearthly Spectaculars #2 (1966), part of a short-lived line of action/adventure comics produced by Harvey Comics in the mid-1960s.

Oddly, while there were numerous "jungle hero/heroine" strips and books with sci-fi/fantasy elements, Clawfang was only the second actual barbarian strip in comics history, after Crom...which was also from Harvey Comics!

Five years later, Marvel would launch Conan the Barbarian, and suddenly, an entire new genre bloomed in comics with almost every publisher launching at least one barbarian-themed comic!
Speaking of which...

The "barbarian in a post-apocalyptic future Earth" concept is an oft-used trope in sci-fi/fantasy...

...from ClawFang to Teenage Caveman to BlackMark to Kamandi to Killraven: Warrior of the Worlds to Lost World (from Fiction House's Planet Comics) to IronJaw, to Talos of the Wilderness Sea,  to Planet of the Apes (Yes, PotA qualifies since mankind is reduced to primitives) to Thundarr the Barbarian to Yor: Hunter from the Future, scantly-clad heroes using primitive weapons against super-science and/or sorcery in a devastated world has proven to be a popular trope in various media, not just print.

Join us next Wednesday as we begin our re-presentation of one of the best (though least-known) series featuring this concept...

Wolff the Barbarian

by

Esteban Maroto, Sadko, and Laurence James