Reading Room FANTASTIC WORLDS "Invaders"

 The short-lived Standard anthology Fantastic Worlds featured Earth-based stories...

...contrasting with the other anthology from Standard Comics, Lost Worlds, which was a space-opera book.

This tale from Standard's Fantastic Worlds #5 (1952) was drawn by Alex Toth and Mike Peppe, though the writer is unknown.
(Page 7, Panel 6 is apparently a redraw by Carmine Infantino!)

BTW, though it's #5, this is actually the first issue of the title!

There was no #1-#4!

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Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

Reading Room SENSATION MYSTERY COMICS "Last Dream!"

Wonder Woman lost her cover feature in DC's Sensation Comics as of this issue (#107 in 1952)...

...when the book was retitled Sensation Mystery, and featured "mysteries" like this one!

(Sensation Comics was Wonder Woman's "sister" title, much as Action Comics is Superman's "brother" comic and Detective Comics is Batman's "brother" book!)

In 1952, horror comics became the "hot" genre, with most comics publishers going "all in" to see who could be the goriest!

DC, though, tried to stay relatively innocuous, refusing to go for the gore.

While their sales didn't skyrocket as many other publishers' did, they managed to stay below the radar during the whole "Seduction of the Innocent" mania.

And, it certainly made reprinting any of the material produced during this period a breeze after the Comics Code was imposed!

This John Broome-written, Carmine Infantino-penciled, and Frank Giacoia-inked tale was typical of DC's output during this period.

(Some say Sy Barry inked it, but expert art identifier Martin O'Hearn thinks it's Giacoia, and I agree with him.)

Straightforward, logical, and effectively-told, it's almost a template for the various stories the anthology would carry until the book's cancellation a year later with #116.

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Showcase Presents

Ghosts

(which features this story...but in black and white!)
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Macabre Monday Madness THE SPECTRE & THE FLASH "Phantom Flash, Cosmic Traitor" Part 3

We Have Already Seen...

Cover art penciled by Flash artist Carmine Infantino and inked by Spectre artist Murphy Anderson

...while visiting Earth-Two, The Flash is possessed by the ghost of World War I fighter pilot Luther Jarvis, who feels his comrades who survived the war allowed him to die due to their cowardice!
Using the Scarlet Speedster as a cats-paw to give him an davantage in a dogfight, the ghostly pilot pits the mind-controlled Flash Against The Spectre!

Next Week: Back to Our Usual Monday Madness!

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Wrath of the Spectre

Omnibus

(which reprints all The Spectre's Silver and Bronze Age Appearances...in color, which the black-and-white Showcase volume doesn't do!)
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Macabre Monday Madness THE SPECTRE & THE FLASH "Phantom Flash, Cosmic Traitor" Part 2

When Last We Left Our Mismatched Protagonists...

...while visiting Earth-Two, The Flash is possessed by the ghost of World War I fighter pilot Luther Jarvis, who feels his comrades who survived the war allowed him to die due to their cowardice!

Using the Scarlet Speedster as a cats-paw to give him an advantage in a dogfight against one of his former comrades, the ghostly pilot doesn't realize his actions have attracted the attention of The Spectre...

To Be Concluded...Next Monday!

Writer Bob Haney never really got the hang of the whole Earth-One/Earth-Two concept.
While Luther Jarvis' plan involved trapping "The Flash"...he grabbed the wrong one!
When his henchmen captured Earth-One's Barry Allen instead of their own Flash, (Earth-Two's Jay Garrick) nobody even commented "Hey, is this the right guy?"
And in numerous other Brave & Bold tales mixing Earth-One (usually Batman) and Earth-Two characters (The Spectre, Wildcat) or characters like Plastic Man (who wasn't shown to be a resident of either Earth at that point), either the whole matter is ignored or badly-handled (as it was here)!
BTW, note the ad at the bottom of the page for Blackhawk, who was shown to be a Earth-One resident when the Justice League of America (including The Flash) appeared in his title as shown HERE!

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Wrath of the Spectre

Omnibus

(which reprints all The Spectre's Silver and Bronze Age Appearances...in color, which the black-and-white Showcase volume doesn't do!)

Macabre Monday Madness THE SPECTRE & THE FLASH "Phantom Flash, Cosmic Traitor" Part 1

Before the book became a full-time "Batman &" team-up title...

...The Brave and the Bold featured some of the weirdest team-ups Silver Age DC ever saw!

Case in point...

Actually, you'll see it NEXT MONDAY!

Written by Bob Haney, penciled by Carmine Infantino, and inked by Chuck Cuderia, this tale in DC's The Brave and the Bold #72 (1967) served a a bridge between The Spectre's successful three-issue tryout run in Showcase, and the premiere of his own title a couple of months later!
Notes:
It's atypical for The Flash, who was a science-oriented character, to be involved in a supernatural-themed tale.
Also, why isn't he visiting his buddy, Jay Garrick (the Golden Age Flash), instead of The Spectre, who at this point in time, The Scarlet Speedster had only seen during the annual JLA/JSA "Crisis on..." summer team-up ("Crisis Between Earth-One and Earth-Two!"/"Bridge Between Earths!") and never even spoken with?
(They were in the middle of a pitched battle with the Anti-Matter Man!)

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Wrath of the Spectre
Omnibus
(which reprints all The Spectre's Silver and Bronze Age Appearances...in color, which the black-and-white Showcase volume doesn't do!)

Monday Mars Madness ATTACK ON PLANET MARS "Chapter Four: Attack on Mars"

It's time for the fateful finale...

Art by Gene Fawcette

When Last We Left Our Would-Be Tyrant...

In the year 2430, Tarrano, an Earthman, has seized control of both the planet Venus and its outpost on Earth, Venia.

To that outpost, the tyrant has kidnapped Elza and Georg, children of the recently-murdered scientist, Dr Brende, along with reporter Jac Hallen.

While Tarrano plots his upcoming conquest of Earth and Mars, Georg and the captive Venusian princess Maida escape, and then aid Earth's government in planning a pre-emptive attack on Venia.
Meanwhile, back with the captive Jac and Elza...

Based on the novel Tarrano the Conqueror by Ray Cummings, this final chapter of the 1951 comic adaptation was penciled by Carmine Infantino and inked by Vince Alascia.

The writer of the adaptation is unknown.

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Tarrano the Conquerer

by Ray Cummings