Space Force Saturdays SPACE BUSTERS "Empress of Belzar"

Space Busters was a war/military comic...set in the future.

Think of it as a less-sophisticated version of Starship Troopers, sorta "Sgt Fury or Sgt Rock in Space"!

Interestingly, it featured a woman (albeit a non-combatant) as a regular member of the front-line team.
(A rarity in comics until the late 1980s)

As to the plot...the planet Belzar has invaded our Solar System, managing to conquer everything from Pluto to Mars, with Earth next in line.

However, Earth's military is about to launch a counter-attack...

Unlike the other strips we've been running, this wasn't a spacegoing police force, but a "marines in space" series.

(BTW, for those who were wondering, Space Busters wasn't "inspired" by Robert Heinlein's Hugo Award-winning Starship Troopers since it pre-dates it by more more than half a decade!)
Illustrated by EC Comics mainstay Bernie Krigstein (who was also the artist on ZD's Space Patrol, based on the TV series), this premiere tale from Ziff-Davis' Space Busters #1 (1952) was likely scripted by editor Jerry (Superman) Siegel!

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Starship Troopers #0

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Reading Room SPACE ADVENTURES "Jealousy on Kano"

One of comics legend Bernie Krigstein's few non-EC art jobs...

...which was probably unused material that Charlton purchased when they bought out some of Ziff-Davis' inventory when the company closed their comics division in 1953.

Note Panel 3 from the last page.
Though there's a ZZZAAAAB! sound effect, and Dr Lexikon slumps over, there's no ray from the gun or impact on his body.
This was not an uncommon edit on material produced before the Comics Code went into effect, but published after companies complied with its' rules.
Though not explicitly-stated in the very generic regulations, one request the Code made to publishers was to not show a gun or bow being fired and the victim of the shot in the same panel.
This was relaxed a couple of years later for ray guns or other fantasy weapons, but not for bows, crossbows, guns, or other realistic weapons.
The rule of thumb was, if a kid could imitate it using a real weapon, don't show it.
From Charlton's Space Adventures #16 (1955), it has the same look as Kreigstein's Ziff-Davis SpaceBusters or Space Patrol material from the early 1950s, not his much tighter and more-detailed EC work!
It's also his only artwork published by Charlton.

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Comic Book Stories by B Krigstein

Before Trump's Space Force... PERIMETER PATROL SERVICE "Space Pirates on Xarpot"

Space military/police organizations were ubiquitous in 1950s sci-fi...

...and this story was the second one featuring the short-lived Perimeter Patrol Service.

BTW, note the painted cover is by the story's illustrator, Bernie Krigstein, who rarely did painted covers!

Considering the three tales were done by the artists who also did SpaceBusters, we wonder if this was intended as a backup series for that title.

This never-reprinted story from Ziff-Davis' Amazing Adventures #6 (1952) is a superb example of pulp/comic space opera of the era with all the classic elements:
Scantly-clad women.
Square-jawed heroes.
Rockets & ray-guns.
And, instead of bug-eyed monsters...space pirates!
Next Tuesday, the premiere appearance (and last of our stories) about the Perimeter Patrol Service!

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SPACE BUSTERS...the ORIGINAL "Space Force"!

During a speech at the Pentagon at 11:15 am EDT today...

...VP Pence will outline the Drumpf administration's plan to create a new branch of the military focused on defending the ultimate high ground.

You can watch it live HERE!

Were Don the Con's grandiose plans inspired by these comics about "space marines" from his childhood?

(I doubt he actually read any books, so it's unlikely he was inspired by Heinlein's Starship Troopers!)

Published in 1952, the series ran only two issues, with a couple of unpublished stories appearing in other mags later on.

Conceived by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, illustrated by comics legends Bernie Krigstein and Murphy Anderson, with covers by Norman Saunders and Allen (no relation to Murphy) Anderson, the series took the concept of the US Marine Corps and transplanted it to outer space in the near-future.

Though not specificially-stated, the Space Busters were Americans and Western Europeans, with no Communist countries or non-white nations represented.

You can read a complete digitally-remastered re-presentation of this apparently-groundbreaking (and still never reprinted) series at our brother RetroBlog, War: Past, Present & Future!

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Trump's Space Force Already Existed! SPACE BUSTERS

Don the John wants to create a "space force"...

...perhaps inspired by these comics about "space marines" from his childhood?

(I doubt he actually read any books, so it's unlikely he was inspired by Heinlein's Starship Troopers!)

Published in 1952, the series ran only two issues, with a couple of unpublished stories appearing in other mags later on.

Conceived by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, illustrated by comics legends Bernie Krigstein and Murphy Anderson, with covers by Norman Saunders and Allen (no relation to Murphy) Anderson, the series took the concept of the US Marine Corps and transplanted it to outer space in the near-future.

Though not specificially-stated, the Space Busters were Americans and Western Europeans, with no Communist countries or non-white nations represented.

Starting next Wednesday, we're presenting a complete digitally-remastered re-presentation of this apparently-groundbreaking (and still never reprinted) series at our brother RetroBlog, War: Past, Present & Future!

Don't Miss It!

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Visit Our...

Spaceman Jet & the SpaceBusters Store!

Featuring the Working Class-Heroes of Space!

Reading Room STRANGE TALES "Eyes that Never Close"

With the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima coming up...

...we're presenting several tales from the 1950s-60s relating to it.

This never-reprinted story from Atlas' Strange Tales #61 (1958) treats the bombing as just another disaster, but one the criminal won't escape from.
Illustrated effectively by Bernie Krigstein, who tells a story in only four pages that most artists today would need twenty pages for.
BTW, the writer is unknown.

Reading Room: SPACEBUSTERS "Frog Men against Belzar"

You thought the SpaceBusters story ended with the book's cancellation after #2?

Art by Bernie Krigstein, adapted from page 1.

Nope!

Though the publisher (Ziff-Davis) went out of business, the published (and unpublished) material ended up at several other companies, including St John Publishing.

This particular story features the uniform and weapon designs from SpaceBusters #1, before Murphy Anderson was brought on board for #2 and revamped everything to look more like his work on the Buck Rogers newspaper comic strip.

Bernie Krigstein illustrated this story, as he did all the tales in SpaceBusters #1.

Oddly enough, though the aliens invading Mars remained "Belzarians" and the Terrans were referred to as "Earthians", the heroes went through a name-change.

Blond and blue-eyed Captain Brett Crockett received a new name, becoming "Captain Andall", while his balding and mustached sergeant, Bolo, became "Sgt Bala".
And the nickname "SpaceBusters", used incessantly in the two issues of the series, is nowhere in sight...

The story saw publication three times in ten years, ironically making it the most-printed of all the SpaceBuster tales!
First in Daring Adventures #6 (1954) from St John (where it was not the cover feature).
Then, it was reprinted in Great Exploits #1 (1957) by Ajax/Farrell (who purchased some of St John's material when they left the comics business to concentrate on magazines), where it finally became the cover feature (as seen at the top of this post).
Finally, it was reprinted in 1964 by Super/IW Comics, with a new cover by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.

Side note; I really enjoy playing detective, piecing together clues to discover "lost" items like this, or to correct historical inaccuracies like who really was the first Black superheroine.

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Sick and Laid Up in Bed...

...but will be back tomorrow with...

...the lost SpaceBusters tale...by Bernie Krigstein!