Happy 40th, Flash!

Before we end 2020, we wanted to acknowledge that it's the 40th Anniversary of Flash Gordon.

Though critically-reviled when it came out, the movie has attained cult-classic status, primarily due to the soundtrack by Queen...

...and over-the-top performances by (among others) Brian Blessed (Hawkman Prince Vultan), Topol (Dr Zarkoff) and Max Von Sydow (Ming the Merciless).

The adaptation was written by Bruce Jones and illustrated by legendary artist Al Williamson (who, ironically, was also doing the equally-magnificent graphic novel version of The Empire Strikes Back at the same time)!

Interestingly, Williamson inked the entire Flash adaptation, while allowing the talented Carlos Garzon (himself, no slouch) to ink the bulk of Empire.
Read it, from the beginning...HERE!

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Flash Gordon

2-Disk Limited-Edition BluRay

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

Here's Saturday'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!

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Matt Baker

Art of Glamour

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, as you'll see Tuesday).

Story inks by Al Williamson.

Tuesday:

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

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Matt Baker

Art of Glamour

Friday Fun RACE FOR THE MOON "Lunar Trap"

In tribute to the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon...

...we present a change-of-pace tale from the 1950s, when we thought we'd be fighting with the Soviet Union over control of the Moon...

 

This tale from Harvey's Race for the Moon #2 (1958) features a fierce, fighting, female cosmonaut...extremely progressive for the time!
Pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Al Williamson (who, along with fellow EC alumnus Reed Crandall, was doing a lot of work for Harvey at the time)!
Not sure who wrote it, but speculation is that Kirby himself scripted it.
Either way, a decent story with solid storytelling and magnificent rendering!

Reading Room OUTER SPACE "Man from Outer Space"

Finding a never-reprinted Al Williamson-penciled story really makes my day!

And finding one inked by Dick Giordano,  an artist who rarely worked with him, makes it even kooler!

Likely created in the pre-Sputnik era, this Joe Gill-written tale appeared in the first issue of Charlton's Outer Space (#17 in 1958) with other stories showing a more realistic look at space travel based on Chesley Bonestell's iconic designs and then-current technology than this Flash Gordon/Weird Science rendition!

Not that I'm complaining, mind you...

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Al Williamson Adventures

BLADE RUNNER: the Comics Adaptation by Archie Goodwin & Al WIlliamson

With Blade Runner 2049 opening this week...

Art by Jim Steranko

...our "brother" RetroBlog, Secret Sanctum of Captain Video is re-presenting the long out-of-print (since 1982) and hard-to-find comic adaptation by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson!

Check it out...HERE!

See Blade Runner 2049

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Blade Runner

30th Anniversary Collector's Edition

Dunkirk and Friday Fun on NSFW Comics!

Before this Dunkirk...

...there was this "Dunkirk"!

...a never-reprinted book-length telling of the heroic saga by military comics legend Sam Glanzman!

Available only on our "brother" RetroBlog War: Past, Present & Future!

Part 1: Dunkirk

Part 2: Channel Battle

Part 3: Last to Leave!

So where's "Friday Fun" featuring Big Apple Comix?

It's at our newest RetroBlog, Not Safe for Work Comics, because the Wally Wood/Al Williamson tale of a comics fanboy's wet-dream contains nudity!

Check it out HERE...but only if you're an adult (we're going to ask)!

Reading Room BLAST-OFF "Space Court"

Let's finish the week with one more Twilight Zone-style tale...

This mild little story from Harvey Comics' Blast-Off #1 (and only) was penciled by Al Williamson, and inked by Roy Krenkel and Angelo Torres, three of the members of the "Fleagle Gang".
(Click HERE for a look at the group of legendary artists who worked together, usually uncredited, on various stories and covers for the fun of it or to help with deadlines!)

The writer is unknown.

According to the Kirby Museum, this tale was intended for the never-published Race for the Moon #5 in 1958, but remained unused until 1965!

And, it's never been reprinted!

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RGK

The Art of Roy G Krenkel

Reading Room: FLASH GORDON "Chapter 4.1: the Man Who Would be Ming!"

We Have Already Seen...

...all you really need to know is Flash Gordon and Ming the Merciless are finally about to meet face-to-face!

A classic high-adventure tale by writer Mark Schultz and illustrator Al Williamson, little-seen in either its' first publication in Marvel's Flash Gordon #2 (1995) or the reprint in the HTF Flesk Publications' Al Williamson's Flash Gordon: a Lifelong Vision of the Heroic (2009).
We have more rarities coming up, so watch for them!

Reading Room: FLASH GORDON "Chapter Four: Showdown in Syk"

With the repressed memory of their decades-earlier encounter with Queen Azura restored...

...Flash and Zarkov, along with Dale, spring into action!

Next Week:

It's the thrilling conclusion that we just had to call...

The Man Who Would be Ming!