Space Hero Saturdays ZANY "Buck Dodgers" and "Flush Gordon"

A couple of comic strip parodies from one of the many 1950s MAD Magazine imitators...

...specifically, Candar's Zany #3 (1959), illustrated by Carl (Golden Age Human Torch) Burgos, writer unknown, though it might have been Burgos himself.

From Candar's Zany #2 (1958), artist and writer unknown.

The "Max Oboy" credit spoofs artist Mac (Green Lama) Raboy, who illustrated the Flash Gordon Sunday strip after co-creator/artist Alex Raymond left for other projects.

These HTF and never-reprinted space adventure parodies, were from Candar Publishing, which published risque titles like French Cartoons and Cuties and College Laughs.

Though Zany only ran four issues, it had a pretty damn good lineup of writers and artists including the aformentioned Burgos (who was also the editor for the first two issues), Bill Everett (who also painted all four front covers), Joe Sinnott, Dick Briefer, John Forte, Don Orehek, Morris Waldinger, Paul Reinman, and Pete Costanza!

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Sincerest Form of Parody

Space Hero Saturdays BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY "Adventure of the Flying Discs!"

Yes, the 20th Century Guy Who Survived to the 25th Century returns to the 20th Century...

...(1950, to be exact) to take on Commies of various ethnicities, explains what flying saucers arnd and who's piloting them (It ain't little green men)!

Cover by Murphy Anderson and an unknown inker

This never-reprinted tale illustrated by Ray Chatton, from Toby Press' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century #100 (1950) was done specifically for the comic, unlike Buck's previous comic book appearances, which were newspaper strip reprints.
(BTW, though the book is "#100", it's actually the first issue from this publisher!)
"Korosa" is, obviously, Korea, where the Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950.
It's interesting to note that, in the 25th Century, peace reigns on Earth and there are rocket bases and other international facilities in Korosa/Korea!
Plus, the unknown writer apparently wasn't exactly conversant in the concept of time travel...which, even at this stage in science fiction literature, pretty much stated that interference in the "past" usually-resulted in catastrophic rewriting of history in the "future/present" as shown in stories like "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury!

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Collected Works of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Space Hero Saturdays ZANY "Buck Dodgers" and "Flush Gordon"

A couple of comic strip parodies from one of the many MAD Magazine imitators...

From Candar's Zany #3 (1959), illustrated by Carl (Golden Age Human Torch) Burgos, writer unknown, though it might have been Burgos himself.

From Candar's Zany #2 (1958), artist and writer unknown.

Note: "Max Oboy" is a spoof of Mac Raboy, Golden Age Captain Marvel Jr and Green Lama comic artist who replaced Alex Raymond on the Flash Gordon Sunday strip from 1948 to his passing in 1967.

These HTF (and never-reprinted) space adventure parodies, were from Candar, which published risque titles like French Cartoons and Cuties and College Laughs.

Though Zany only ran four issues, it had a pretty damn good lineup of writers and artists including the aformentioned Burgos (who was also the editor for the first two issues), Bill Everett (who also painted all four front covers), Joe Sinnott, Dick Briefer, John Forte, Don Orehek, Morris Waldinger, Paul Reinman, and Pete Costanza!

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Sincerest Form of Parody

Space Hero Saturdays BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY "...on the Moon of Madness!"

Buck's BACK!

Due to the launch of the Buck Rogers TV series in 1979, the newspaper strip (cancelled in 1967) was revived.

You'll note that it didn't follow the TV show's concepts, characters, designs, or plots, choosing to reboot/update with a more traditional "space opera" style with occasional nods to the original strip!

Written by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Gray Morrow, this never-reprinted tale from Heavy Metal V3N5 (1979) appeared just before the strip debuted in newspapers in September '79.

It's believed to be a "proof of concept/pilot" tale, since there were differences (mostly in costume and ship designs) in the newspaper strip itself.
The strip continued until 1983, with Cary Bates replacing Lawrence and several artists including Gil Kane and Neal Adams doing brief fill-ins until Jack Sparling took over the art for the remainder of the run.

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Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

the Gray Morrow Years

Space Force Saturdays SPACE BUSTERS "Remember Makano"

It's the final battle in the series that may have inspired Don (the John) Trump's fantasy about a "Space Force"...

...appropriately enough, a tale that places emotion over logic!

This never-reprinted tale from Ziff-Davis' Space Busters #2 (1952) is the final story for the short-lived series.

Oddly, none of the sci-fi books about specific characters (this one and Lars of Mars, Crusader from Mars, and Space Patrol) lasted more than two issues!

But the anthologies lasted longer...Amazing Adventures ran six issues and Weird Thrillers ran five!

It must be admitted that Murphy Anderson's revamp gave the book a solid "shot in the arm" artistically, so why it was cancelled so abruptly remains a mystery!

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Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

Space Force Saturdays SPACE BUSTERS "Victory on Valda"

Editor Jerry Siegel wanted Space Busters to look more like...

... the recently-revamped and revitalized Buck Rogers strip!

But artist Marvin Stein ended up using the original Buck strip as reference in his tryout, and lost the gig!

With a looming deadline, Siegel contacted the Buck Rogers strip's artist, Murphy Anderson (who had recently left the series) to provide redesigns...

...as well as the cover-featured story!

(Note: the cover is by Allen Anderson...no relation to Murphy!)

Personally, I'm not crazy about the purple-red color scheme, but at least it matches the uniform on the cover.

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Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

Space Force Saturdays SPACE BUSTERS "Mission to Baldor!"

We're on to Ziff-Davis' Space Busters #2, and the first of the "redesigned" stories...

...as artist Marvin Stein takes a crack at making the "Marines in space" series look more like Buck Rogers!

This never-reprinted story appeared in the back of Ziff-Davis' Space Busters #2 (1952) because editor/writer Jerry Siegel had nothing else to fill the empty pages!
Unfortunately, Stein had gone "old school" 1930s-40s Buck Rogers, when Siegel had wanted "modern" 1950s Buck Rogers.
So Siegel got the guy who had been illustrating the modern Buck Rogers...Murphy Anderson!

You'll see his work in two weeks!
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Showcase Presents

Weird War Tales
Sci-Fi/Horror/Fantasy Military Tales