Space Force Saturdays SPEED CARTER "Slaughter in Space!"

We meet a new alien race, the Vegans...

...who, it turns out, are no more trustworthy than most other alien species.

(We humans are scrupulously honest, of course!)

Don't ya just love a happy ending?

What I want to know is why Speed is suddenly wearing shorts?
Thankfully, it's the only story in the series where he does so.

This story from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #5 (1954) was scripted (as were all Speed Carter tales) by Hank Chapman!

Illustrator George Tuska later became the final artist on the original Buck Rogers comic strip (1959-67) and then assumed the art duties for almost a decade on Marvel's Invincible Iron Man!

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Mysteries in Space

The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics

Space Force Saturdays SPEED CARTER "Die, Spaceman, Die!!"

Speed Carter gets a new look (again) as another artist takes over...

...as Space Squadron artist George Tuska assumes the art chores.

As we mentioned, everything from uniforms to tech to the look of aliens is re-conceived yet again with the debut of another artist who will do all three Speed Carter tales in the issue.
This story from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #5 (1954) was scripted (as were all Speed Carter tales) by Hank Chapman!
Illustrator George Tuska later became the final artist on the original Buck Rogers comic strip (1959-67) and then assumed the art duties for almost a decade on Marvel's Invincible Iron Man!

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Mysteries in Space

The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics

Space Force Saturday SPEED CARTER "Invaders from the Moon!"

The Chinese Commies of space strike again...

...as the Saturnians unleash another diabolical plot against Earth!

Let's overlook the fact that Earthmen are about to move in on Lunar natives the way settlers overran Native Americans in the Old West, and wonder how the Saturnians knew the PositPeople and NegaNatives (not to mention the Lunanimals) were even on the Moon, when humans (who presumably had explored the Lunar surface) had no idea anyone lived there!

Mike Sekowsky's redesign of everything in the Speed Carter universe apparently extended to existing aliens as well, since the Saturnian shown in this tale doesn't match their original appearance in this story, illustrated by Joe Maneely.

But at least the Saturnians in this never-reprinted story from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #4 (1953) act the way they did previously, no doubt attributable to the fact that the same writer, Hank Chapman wrote both tales!

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Complete Adventures of Lucky Starr

by Isaac Asimov

(under the pen-name "Paul French") 

Omnibus of ALL Six Space-Opera Sagas!

David Starr: Space Ranger, Pirates of the Asteroids, Oceans of Venus, Big Sun of Mercury, Moons of Jupiter, Rings of Saturn

Space Force Saturdays SPEED CARTER "Mosquito Men and the Multiple Menace"

When you're summoned to a "secret experimental laboratory"...

...you just know there's gonna be trouble.

But in this case, it'll be triple trouble!

If you have an army of Speed Carters, and they're all captains, then who's in command?

This tale of mosquito men and mathematics from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #4 (1954) was written (as are all Speed Carter stories) by Hank Chapman and illustrated by Mike Sekowsky and Jack Abel.
BTW, though we didn't mention it in the previous Sekowsky-illustrated story, Mike apparently redesigned everything including uniforms, weapons, and equipment.
You'll see this continue in all the remaining issues as each succeeding artist does their own rendition of the universe of 2075 instead of following the previous artist's designs.

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Complete Adventures of Lucky Starr

by Isaac Asimov

(under the pen-name "Paul French")

Omnibus of ALL Six Space-Opera Sagas!

David Starr: Space Ranger, Pirates of the Asteroids, Oceans of Venus, Big Sun of Mercury, Moons of Jupiter, Rings of Saturn

Space Force Saturdays SPEED CARTER "Jet-Men of Zurko"

Previously, Speed battled beings from the center of the Earth...

...now he battles self-propelled aliens from an unnamed star in this tale from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #4 (1954).

According to Marvel's writers, aliens are idiots who can be tricked by everything from photos of ancient ruins to comic book panels showing monsters or high-tech weaponry that doesn't really exist!
Remember the end of Fantastic Four #2 (1961) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby?

Reed Richards showed cut-out comic book panels from Journey into Mystery and Strange Tales to the Skrull fleet commander stating the creatures and super-science weapons shown were real and ready to use against alien invaders!
(Of course, the idea that Jack Kirby could draw stuff that could scare the pants off hostile aliens does have a real appeal...)
And, I remember at least a couple of other pre-Silver Age Marvel stories with a similar concept, including one where movie special effects techs frightened aliens with fake robots from a sci-fi film they were shooting on location...
Written (as are all the Speed Carter stories) by Hank Chapman and illustrated by new artists Mike Sekowsky, Don Heck, and Jack Abel.

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Complete Adventures of Lucky Starr

by Isaac Asimov

(under the pen-name "Paul French")

Omnibus of ALL Six Space-Opera Sagas!

David Starr: Space Ranger, Pirates of the Asteroids, Oceans of Venus, Big Sun of Mercury, Moons of Jupiter, Rings of Saturn

Space Force Saturdays SPEED CARTER "Core People"

"Watch the Skies!" they cried in the 1950s!

They should have said "Look out below!" as this subterranean saga from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #2 (1953) proves!

OK, science pretty much gets tossed out the porthole on this one, but, hey, it's fun!
Written (as are all the Speed Carter stories) by Hank Chapman and illustrated with his usual flair by Joe Maneely.

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Complete Adventures of Lucky Starr

by Isaac Asimov

(under the pen-name "Paul French")

Omnibus of ALL Six Space-Opera Sagas!

David Starr: Space Ranger, Pirates of the Asteroids, Oceans of Venus, Big Sun of Mercury, Moons of Jupiter, Rings of Saturn

Space Force Saturdays SPEED CARTER "BEMs"

There's never a dull moment in the future world of Speed Carter...

...as this never-reprinted tale from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #3 (1954) aptly shows!

The aliens in this story aren't identified by planet of origin or species.

The name given them, "bems", was a popular sci-fi slang term for "bug-eyed monsters"!

So, where are they from?

What species are they?

We'll never know, since they never appear again!
Written (as are all the Speed Carter stories) by Hank Chapman.
Illustrated by original artist Joe Maneely in his swan-song to the series.
Note: this was the last story in #3, but the first one from that issue we're presenting.
Maneely would later do a Famous Explorers short and a cover, but this was his last Speed Carter story.
There are two more Maneely Speed Carter tales to come...

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics

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Complete Adventures of Lucky Starr

by Isaac Asimov

(under the pen-name "Paul French")

 Omnibus of ALL Six Space-Opera Sagas!

David Starr: Space Ranger, Pirates of the Asteroids, Oceans of Venus, Big Sun of Mercury, Moons of Jupiter, Rings of Saturn