Best of Reading Room: COMMANDER BATTLE AND THE ATOMIC SUB Part 1

Travel back to the 1950s, when atomic power was all that stood between us and flying saucers...

...although how an atomic submarine will do it is something to behold!

So, buckle your seatbelts and dive in!

Oddly enough, the "flying saucer" looks more like a flying doughnut...or the 1950s concept of a space station as seen in then-contemporary films like Conquest of Space!

Script by Richard Hughes, the Stan Lee of ACG who wrote practically everything during his tenure as editor/writer!

Pencils by Sheldon Moldoff, inks by Odgen Whitney and others.

Be here tomorrow for Part 2 when we'll see who's behind the "flying saucer"...

COMMANDER BATTLE AND THE ATOMIC SUB are returning...

While preparing files for our 3-D Week series a couple of years ago, I came across this title in my archives...

..which doesn't use 3-D, but a pseudo-3-D process called...

BTW, only the first issue used the TrueVision gimmick.

The 1954 seven-issue series, Commander Battle and the Atomic Sub from American Comics Group, had a lot in common with the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea tv series and the Voyage to the Deep comic series, emphasizing wild science fiction storylines with the occasional spy/anti-Commie tale.

Be here tomorrow when we re-present the never-reprinted #1, which features the origin of the sub, the assembling of the crew and their first mission!

Best of Reading Room: 3-D: ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN "Nightmare"

You won't need red/blue 3-D glasses to read today's 3-D comic story, thanks to...

All the benefits!

None of the headaches (except for the artist who had to illustrate it)!

And now, on with today's story, the cover feature from ACG's Adventures into the Unknown #51 (1953)...

The extensive use of Craftint for backgrounds, background objects, and shading is a clever idea, but I can see how it would become visually-irritating on an ongoing basis.
Art by Harry Lazarus, one of a trio of siblings (including Sid and Leon) who all ended up writing and/or illustrating comic books during the 1940s-1960s.
(They are not related to Mell Lazarus, writer/artist of the comic strips Miss Peach and Momma, who also worked in comic books in the 1950s.
Small world, ain't it?)
BTW, for another TrueVision tale, pop over to our "sister" blog True Love Comics Tales™!

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featuring the cover from today's featured story!

Reading Room: ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN Spirit of Frankenstein "A Monster is Born"

There have been several ongoing series that combined horror and sci-fi...

...such as the strip which premiered with this tale from ACG's Adventures into the Unknown #5 (1949)!

The "monster" here is not Frankenstein's Monster, nor are any of the scientists members of the Frankenstein clan.

Writer Richard Hughes and artist Charles Sultan invoked the "spirit" of the Frankenstein Monster concept with a creation run amok and ran amuck with it for several issues from #5 to #16!

We'll be presenting them all during October, so bookmark us and check back frequently (we post daily)!

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Reading Room: COMMANDER BATTLE AND THE ATOMIC SUB "Battle Beneath the Earth"

We Have Already Seen...

...now that you've read the built-in synopsis, let's proceed, but with one caveat: this part of the story (despite being Comics Code-approved) is possibly NSFW due to politically-incorrect racial attitudes.

SPOILER: The "new, exciting mystery character" will quickly replace one of the original four Atomic Commandos.

Is he...

• 1) an alien?
• 2) a teen sidekick?
• 3) an alien teen?

You'll find out when Commander Battle and the Atomic Sub return this summer!

Two points:

1) You'd think the giants would find blonde and red-headed Belotti just a bit out-of-place.

2) I wonder if Irwin Allen saw this series, years before either the movie or tv versions of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

Besides the similar plots to several episodes of the tv series, Allen's use of a submarine-berthed aircraft (the Flying Sub) seems more than coincidental.

Just sayin'...

The script for Commander Battle and the Atomic Sub #2 (1954) by Richard Hughes, the Stan Lee of ACG who wrote practically everything at the company during his tenure as editor/writer!

Pencils by Sheldon Moldoff, inks by Al Camy, Odgen Whitney and others.

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Reading Room: COMMANDER BATTLE AND THE ATOMIC SUB "Fight for Survival"

When Last We Left Commander Bill Battle and His Crew...

...and with that succinct synopsis, let the mayhem ensue!

Tomorrow:

The Fearsome Finale!

The pseudo 3-D created by Craft-Tint tones used in the first issue was eliminated for #2 of ACG's Commander Battle and the Atomic Sub (1954), although it looks like the pages were initially-conceived to utilize the Craft-Tint effects to create depth.
Script by Richard Hughes, the Stan Lee of ACG who wrote practically everything at the company during his tenure as editor/writer!

Pencils by Sheldon Moldoff, inks by Al Camy, Odgen Whitney and others.

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The Future WAS Fantastic!

Comics Collectibles Store!