Showing posts with label Al Williamson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Al Williamson. Show all posts

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Reading Room LAND OF THE FHRE aka SAVAGE WORLD 2.0

...you'll find this version, using the same art...but a different script...a most fascinating read!
Noted Bronze Age writer/artist Bruce Jones was heavily-influenced by the Fleagle Gang and the EC Comics line in general.
Since the previously-published version of this tale in Witzend #1 (1966) was a rewrite of an unknown writer's script by Wally Wood, Bruce was given the opportunity to do a similar re-write, also without altering the art, for this publication in Pacific Comics' Alien Worlds #4 (1983).
Jones' version places the tale further into the future and makes the second half a dream sequence
The story also appeared in color for the first time, using the blueline/greyline method of hand-colored artwork with a black-line overlay, trying to simulate the traditional flat-color separations.
That's why the black linework isn't as crisp and sharp as in the b/w version.
The coloring was done by fantasy painter Joe Chiodo, another illustrator inspired by the work of 1950s comic artists.
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Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Reading Room SAVAGE WORLD

Not every story created in the Golden Age was published in the Golden Age...
...like this story, meant for the 1950s title Buster Crabbe Comics!
"Larry Gordon" is a tribute to Larry "Buster" Crabbe who played Flash Gordon in the three movie serials from Universal Pictures.
The story itself, though signed by Al Williamson, is a jam-session featuring work from a number of now-legendary artists who called themselves "The Fleagle Gang".
The explanation for the story can be found here...
Our tale is from its' fourth appearance, in Death Rattle #10 (1987), where it was reprinted, unaltered from its' first publication in Witzend #1 (1966).
The second publication was in the first issue (1975) of Marvel's short-lived b/w magazine Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction, where the only modification was reversing all the captions to black with white type...
The third printing was another story entirely...and I mean that literally.
You'll find out all about it...Thursday!
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Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Reading Room ALIEN WORLDS "Few and the Far"

In space, things aren't always as they seem to appear...
...as this never-reprinted tale from Pacific's Alien Worlds #1 (1982) demonstrates not once, but twice...
Admit it.
Writer Bruce Jones and artist Al Williamson fooled you!

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Reading Room ALIEN WORLDS "...and Miles to Go Before I Sleep"

Sometimes it takes a couple of old pros to give you a new perspective...

...on a matter that will affect us all...eventually!

Some say it's an ironic story.
I prefer to think of it as a tale of love between parents and their child taken to the nth degree...even beyond death itself!
Adapted from his own short story by noted sci-fi author Willlam F Nolan, and illustrated by Al Williamson, this never-reprinted piece from Eclipse's Alien Worlds #8 (1984) is a gentle tale that would have made a helluva episode of the classic Twilight Zone!
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which reprints the original prose short story "...and Miles to Go Before I Sleep"

Thursday, April 8, 2021

Reading Room ALARMING ADVENTURES "Secret of the Mountain"

Many people believe we've explored every inch of our home world, the Earth.
They'd be totally-wrong, as shown in this tale from Harvey's Alarming Adventures #3 (1963).
Penciled by Al Williamson and inked by Angelo Torres, this tale was probably intended for the never-published Race for the Moon #5.
The scripter is unknown, but it might have been Joe Simon, who was "packaging" the book after his partnership with Jack Kirby ended!

Monday, March 29, 2021

Monday Mars Madness RACE FOR THE MOON "Face on Mars"

Perhaps the most famous story from Harvey's Race for the Moon...

...is this tale from #2 by writer/peniler Jack Kirby and inker Al Williamson which doesn't take place on the Moon...but on Mars!

Why is it so famous?

Keep in mind that this was the era of the Chariots of the Gods? fad, and to many, this pic was confirmation that aliens had either come thru the Solar System and stopped off not only on Earth, but Mars as well, or were from Mars initially!
And, there were those who remembered this little comic tale from their childhood.
The truth was a bit more mundane. Click HERE for NASA's explanation.
To this day, there are still those who say it's a cover-up, that there is life on Mars, and that "the face" is a relic of their existence.
Judge for yourself.
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Sunday, March 7, 2021

Reading Room BLAST-OFF "Little Earth"

This is a classic example of an unheralded gem by two graphic-story masters...
...that has been reprinted only once, and in a limited-edition trade paperback, so most of you have never seen it!
Oddly, the GCD lists it as penciled by Reed Crandall and inked by Al Williamson, but Teddy I at pencilink.blogspot.com reverses the credits!
Personally, I think both artists, in typical Fleagle Gang-style worked at both tasks in various panels.
The writer is Larry Ivie, who scripted several dozen stories for Marvel, DC, Tower, King, and Warren in the 1960s, and also published Monsters and Heroes, a competitor to Famous Monsters of Filmland!
According to the Kirby Museum, this story was intended for Harvey's never-published Race for the Moon #5 in 1958, but remained unused until 1965, when it ran in the Harvey one-shot anthology Blast-Off!