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!

Reading Room BLAST-OFF "Danger! Atoms!"

Underrated writer/artist Howard Nostrand offers...

Here's the original art from the never-reprinted tale published in Harvey's 1965 one-shot anthology Blast Off!

What does it all mean?

Discuss among yourselves!

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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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Reading Room: UNEARTHLY SPECTACULARS "How the 3 Rocketeers Teamed Up!"

Everybody who reads comics likes a good origin story...

...unfortunately, this particular tale ain't one of them, bunky!

Uhhh...yeah...OK...

Written by noted sci fi novelist Otto Binder (who wrote over 3,000 comics scripts) and illustrated by Golden and Silver Age workhorses Mike Sekowsky and Frank Giacoia, this reboot of the series in Harvey's UnEarthly Spectaculars #2 (1967) was not inventory from unpublished 1950s Race for the Moon material, but a new tale commissioned during Harvey's brief 1960s fling with non-humor comics.

Be here tomorrow for the final tale in our re-presentation of the 3 Rocketeers saga...

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Reading Room: UNEARTHLY SPECTACULARS 3 Rocketeers "1...2...3...Infinity!"

Though the 3 Rocketeers were originally-set in the "day after tomorrow"...

...and based on the Moon, by the end of their too-brief run, they were traveling to other planets on a regular basis!

Written by noted sci fi novelist Otto Binder (who wrote over 3,000 comics scripts) and illustrated by Golden and Silver Age workhorse Bill Draut, the Rocketeers' final appearance in Harvey's UnEarthly Spectaculars #3 (1967) was not inventory from unpublished 1950s Race for the Moon material, but a new tale commissioned during Harvey's brief 1960s fling with non-humor comics.

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Reading Room: BLAST-OFF! 3 Rocketeers "Great Moon Mystery"

Three-day weekend coming up.

Let's blow your mind...

Art by Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, and Al Williamson.

...with a tale that starts with finding an unconscious TV star on the Moon and gets wilder and wilder...

IIRC, Carl Sagan postulated a similar concept decades later about wormhole travel in the novel Cosmos...

Intended for the never-published Race for the Moon #4 (1960), this Jack Kirby/Al Williamson collaboration finally saw print in Harvey's Blast-Off #1 (1965), long after Kirby, along with Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and others began the amazing resurrection of the almost-defunct Atlas Comics line into Marvel Comics!

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Reading Room: BLAST-OFF! 3 Rocketeers "Lunar Goliaths"

On his 96th birthday, we see that Jack Kirby could produce astounding work on a daily basis...

...that other artists would take weeks to conceive and create!

This was literally a day's work (two if Kirby was doing full pencils) for the King.

Can you name any other artist who could do quality art like this, five to six days a week?

Intended for the never-published Race for the Moon #4 (1960), this Jack Kirby/Al Williamson collaboration finally saw print in Harvey's Blast-Off #1 (1965), long after Kirby, along with Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and others began the amazing resurrection of the almost-defunct Atlas Comics line into Marvel Comics!

Happy Birthday, Jack!

And thanks for the memories!

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Technical Difficulties...

Since today was the hottest day of the year, we had a blackout...

...until power was restored about a half-hour ago.

The feature for today, The 3 Rocketeers, has been postponed, but only until tomorrow!