Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ADVENTURERS' CLUB "Voodoo Lizards!"

Last Wednesday, we introduced you to Nelson Strong and the Adventurers Club...

This cover scene by Luis Dominguez does not appear in the comic!

...where the requirement for entry was a tale about an "exciting or unusual adventure".

Note: though Carter states he's getting "great action pictures" for his publisher (indicating a print magazine or book), he's using a movie camera, not a standard "still-photo" camera!
This never-reprinted story from DC's Adventure Comics #427 (1973) could be considered either science fiction or fantasy with a horror twist.

Either way, writer John Albano and artist Jim Aparo did a great job evoking mood and telling a cohesive story in only 8 pages, eh?

Trivia: Luis Dominguez, who illustrated the cover above (the only cover the Adventurers' Club was ever featured on) took over the art for the next (and last) tale featuring the group.

You'll see it next Wednesday.

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ADVENTURERS' CLUB " 'Scortch' Jordan's Tommy Gun"

The first ongoing feature during Adventure Comics' short-lived 1970s return to an anthology format...

...was this strip with a Boris Karloff-lookalike host.

It's unclear whether writer John Albano (who had been scripting Supergirl until it left Adventure) or Adventure Comics editor Joe Orlando conceived the series.

This never-reprinted tale from DC's Adventure Comics #426 (1973) clearly shows the "ghost" to be of non-supernatural origin, but later stories lean towards supernatural elements.

When The Spectre was reintroduced in Adventure, for a memorable run by Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo, the cover title (though not indicia) became Weird Adventure Comics.

I mentioned the visual of the host, Nelson Strong, was "Karloff-esque".

Here's Karloff from his one-season 1950s tv series Colonel March of Scotland Yard.

Does he look like the visual inspiration for Nelson Strong?
I'd be willing to bet on it...

Reading Room TIME WARP "Man Who Could See Yesterday!"

You'd think "everybody can see yesterday! It's the guy who can see tomorrow who's unique!"

Not in this tale, dear reader!

This tale from DC's Time Warp #1 (1979) was written by Paul Levitz, illustrated and lettered by Jim Aparo.
Using both established pros and talented newcomers, Time Warp, an oversized anthology (68 pages for $1 when the standard comic was 36 pages for 40¢) presented all-new material, almost all of which (including this story) has never been reprinted!

Mike Kaluta, definitive artist for the comic version of The Shadow, provided pulp-style covers for the entire run.

While they had no relation to any of the stories in the book, they were spectacular!
The series lasted only five issues.

The remaining unused stories appeared in the horror/fantasy anthology The Unexpected with a "Time Warp" logo on the splash page.

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Mysteries in Space

The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics

Reading Room MYSTERY IN SPACE "Singling"

A well-done graphic story can be understood without captions or word balloons...

...as this never-reprinted tale from DC's Mystery in Space #111 (1980) demonstrates!

Scripter Gerald J Brown penned only a few stories before disappearing from comics.
He was also a writer/editor of the prozine Night Voyages. which ran for 10 issues between 1977 and 1984.
This issue of Mystery in Space was the first issue of a revival of the legendary anthology which was cancelled in 1966.
Sadly, the book only lasted for seven issues before being cancelled again...

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Mysteries in Space

The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics

Reading Room SPACE ADVENTURES "It's a Small World"

Behind this kool Jim Aparo cover...

...is an equally-kool Steve Ditko-illustrated tale!

BTW, neither has seen the light of day since their intitial publication in Charlton's Space Adventures V2N8 (1969).

Now that's a weird, out-of-left field, ending in a wild tale probably written by Charlton mainstay Joe Gill.

BONUS: the original art for the cover...

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Art of Ditko

...which reprints many Ditko short stories...but not this one!

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder / CoronaVirus Comics SPACE ADVENTURES "Tale About Time: The Quest Begins"

Remember the phrase "Everything you think you know is wrong!"...

...because this sequel to the three-parter we just ran HERE, HERE, and HERE will redefine the concept!

The questions continue to pile up, and one of the most famous artists of the Silver Age takes over the storytelling....next Wednesday!

(Not that Jim Aparo was any slouch, but this guy is known even outside comics!)

This sequel to the tale from Space Adventures #60 (1967) was by the first story's scripter, Denny O'Neil using his "Sergius O'Shaughnessy" pseudonom, and appeared almost a year later in Space Adventures #2 (1968).

No, that's not a typo.

This is "Volume 2" of Space Adventures, which had been cancelled the year before with #60!

However, while this is Vol 2, #2, it's the first issue of the revival since there was no Vol 2 #1!

Geez, the time travel paradoxes in this story are easier to explain than comic book numbering!
BTW, you may have noticed that the primary plot from the first tale...

...biological warfare, has been left by the wayside, in order to simplify the synopsis!

(Remember, there's a year-long gap between the original issues in 1967-68, not just a couple of weeks)

But you and we know that plot element's there, and it's the subtext for the remainder of this saga!

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Injection

Volume 1

(which shares a number of plot elements with this story)