Reading Room WORLDS BEYOND "Twice Alive!"

Instead of the usual vampires or werewolves or zombies, here's a horror story...

Art by Sheldon Moldoff

...with a different, more "science fiction", approach to terror, from the HTF Worlds Beyond #1 (1951) from Fawcett.

Did the writers of the movie Fantastic Voyage read this tale when they were younger?

The art is by comics legend Bob Powell, but the writer is unknown.

The cover, by Sheldon Moldoff, shows a cavern (with bats!) instead of the inside of a human being, and probably was meant for another story, but it conveys the mood of "Twice Alive", if not the plot points.

Worlds Beyond was retitled Worlds of Fear with #2 and ran for another nine issues.

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Tomb of Terror Thursdays "End Result!"

On Thursdays this October, we're presenting sci-fi horror...

...from Harvey Comics, which, near the end of the horror line's run, applied specific story themes to the four anthology titles, as explained here...

There had been sci-fi tales scattered throughout all the Harvey horror titles for the two years they'd been around, but as of March, 1954, the editors decided to concentrate them in Tomb of Terror!

So let's dive in with the never-reprinted cover-feature tale...and note how different Lee Elias' bug-eyed aliens on the cover are from Bob Powell's insect ETs in the story itself!

Yeah, it's the old War of the Worlds "germs wipe out the unprepared aliens" concept.

Unfortunately, it's after the aliens wiped out all human life on Earth...and though two infants did survive, they'll soon die without attention...

Be here next Thursday as we present another long-unseen tale from Harvey's Tomb of Terror #14 (1954)

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Four Color Fear

Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s

Reading Room ADVENTURES INTO MYSTERY "Dark Side of the Moon!"

Elon Musk's launch of Falcon Heavy and "Starman" restored a long-lost excitement and "sense of wonder"...

...exemplified by this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Adventures into Mystery #1 (1956)!

Remember, this was even before Sputnik was launched, so we truly had no idea of what was out there beyond what Earth-based telescopes had revealed!

Bob Powell turns in his usual superbly-rendered artwork with distinctive individualistic characters and detailed settings and textures.

The writer is unknown.

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Marvel Masterworks

Atlas-Era Journey into Mystery

Volume 1

Bring Home a Cave Girl This Christmas!

In the 1940s-50s, one of the most popular genres in comics was the "jungle hero", the most famous one of all being Tarzan.
A horde of imitators followed, with some interesting variations, including an entire sub-genre--the "jungle heroine"!
While many had weird names like "Sheena", "Rulah", or "Zoot", one of the best-illustrated was known only as "Cave Girl"!
Rendered by noted "good girl" artist Bob Powell, Cave Girl cut a svelte path thru Africa's villains for four exciting issues!
The Atomic Kommie Comics™ crew has found a home for two of her best covers on shirts, mugs and other stuff in our Heroines™ section.
As a cool retro-styled Christmas gift, she appeals both to guys who enjoy seeing an attractive woman in dynamic action, and gals who like viewing an empowered woman who stands tall and proud in a male-dominated world!
And, you might want to combine one of our collectibles with a spectacular Cave Girl reprint book from Dark Horse Comics!
And, you can check out some of her tales at our fellow RetroBlogs™ HERE and HERE!
So put Cave Girl under the tree or in someone's stocking this Christmas.
But do it quickly, 'cause she won't stay put for long!

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Complete Cave Girl

by Bob Powell

Reading Room: MYSTICAL TALES "Nomad of Outer Space!"

It's mind-blowing how much Atlas (pre-Marvel) stuff hasn't been reprinted...

...such as this story from Atlas' Mystical Tales #1 (1956)!

While hunting thru files for un-reprinted Jack Kirby tales for last week's Kirby Reading Room mini-marathon, I came across a lot of never-reprinted material!

This Bob Powell-rendered story is just the tip of the iceberg!

It's also inadvertently-appropriate since this week is the 50th Anniversary of the debut of Star Trek, which inspired many would-be scientists in various disciplines to live their dreams (not to mention creatives like writers, illustrators, sfx experts, etc)!

Sadly, we don't know the writer of this tale...

BTW, despite the title, Mystical Tales was an almost-totally "hard sci-fi" anthology!

Only a handful of stories from the anthology's 8-issue run have been reprinted, all in the 1970s, which makes even the reprints 40 years old!

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Atlas Era Tales of Suspense

Volume 1

Reading Room STORIES BEHIND THE STARS "Hydra, the Immortal Monster"

Here's a popular mythological creature who's been "retconned" in movies and tv...

...but this never-reprinted one-pager from Harvey's Flash Gordon #4 (1950) gives you the original version of the story!

Illustrated (and possibly written) by Bob Powell.

Reading Room STORIES BEHIND THE STARS "Andromeda"

Ever wonder what the actual legend behind Clash of the Titans was?

This Bob Powell-illustrated, never-reprinted feature from Harvey's Flash Gordon #3 (1950) explains the myth!

You'll note the "monster" is not the movie's Kraken, which was a mythological Norse creature based on sightings of huge octopi.

Ray Harryhausen let his imagination run wild, producing a far more interesting creature than the usual fire-breathing lizard.

The writer of the feature is unknown, but could be Powell.

Reading Room STORIES BEHIND THE STARS "Orion"

An ongoing feature about the mythological origins of the constellations...

...which has never been reprinted since its' appearance in Harvey's Flash Gordon #2 (1950).

Illustrated by Bob Powell.

The writer is unknown, but could be Powell.

Reading Room "The World You WILL Live In" Part 2

In 1950, what amazing advances did we think the 21st Century would bring?

Unlike our previous post's predictions, most of these have not come true!

Only the wristwatch one has occured, on only with expensive, high-end timepieces!

This never-reprinted feature from Harvey's Flash Gordon #2 (1950) features art by Bob Powell, though the writer is unknown!
This was one of three different new one-page features that appeared in all four issues of the series which reprinted the classic Flash Gordon Sunday newspaper strip by Alex Raymond, reformatted for the comic book page, and with new covers (not by Alex Raymond).
The others were "Stories Behind the Stars" (about the myths behind constellation names) and "Know Your Planets" (about the other worlds in the solar system).

Reading Room JET POWERS "Fleets of Fear"

When Last We Left Jet Powers (again)...

...oh, heck, I'll let writer Gardner Fox and artist Bob Powell explain what happened in the previous story...

He stops alien invasions and solves matters of the heart!
Jet Powers is truly a Renaissance Man!
Sadly, this was his final appearance in sci-fi...but not in comics.
When next he appeared, several months later, it was as "Army Air Ace" Jet Powers in the revival of Magazine Enterprises' title American Air Forces!
Though he looked and sounded like the space-adventure hero, there was no reference to his being a scientist, nor any use of sci-fi elements in the new Korean War-set stories!
This particular tale from Magazine Enterprises' Jet Powers #4 (1951) was one of two sequels to seperate cliffhangers featuring the hero in the previous issue.
It's unusual that a series would have two, unrelated, cliffhangers for one character in the same issue, but that's what writer Gardner Fox and artist Bob Powell did!

Considering the previous issues had inter-related stories in the same book, I wonder if this was a case of the first parts of a pair of two-part stories being completed, but the second parts weren't ready when the deadline crept up on them.

(In those days, comics had to come out on schedule since they were dependent on their status as periodicals to qualify for lower postage/shipping rates.)

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Reading Room JET POWERS "Rain of Terror"

When Last We Left Our Hero, Armageddon had Just Occured...

(No, True Believers, you didn't miss a post!

The previous part of the tale appeared in April.

Click HERE to read it.)

See, real Amerians can solve even the End of the World in only 8 pages!
This tale from Magazine Enterprises' Jet Powers #4 (1951) was one of two sequels to seperate cliffhangers featuring the hero in the previous issue.
It's unusual that a series would have two, unrelated, cliffhangers for one character in the same issue, but that's what writer Gardner Fox and artist Bob Powell did!

Considering the previous issues had inter-related stories in the same book, I wonder if this was a case of the first parts of a pair of two-part stories being completed, but the second parts weren't ready when the deadline crept up on them.

(In those days, comics had to come out on schedule since they were dependent on their status as periodicals to qualify for lower postage/shipping rates.)
Be here tomorrow when we present the other cliffhanger resolution!

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