Reading Room UNKNOWN WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION "Hunter and the Hunted"

This is a tale that requires careful study...

...since, according to it's author, only one person has ever figured it out on first reading!

Originally published in the one-shot fanzine Abyss in 1970, Marvel's Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction #2 (1975) reprinted the tale after it's writer-artist, Mike Kaluta gained pop culture fame as the illustrator of DC Comics' revival of the pulp hero The Shadow!

UWoSF Editor Roy Thomas commented that Kaluta “…congratulated [him] for being one of the few human beings he’s met who actually figured the story out on first reading.”

Have you figured it out, dear reader?

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The Studio

A long-OOP trade paperback featuring the work of Kaluta, Jeffrey Jones, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Berni Wrightson when they shared a NY loft in the 1970s!

Reading Room TIME WARP "Return to the Stars"

As various countries (including us, due to Don da Con) plan to weaponize Outer Space...

...take a look back to when we weren't trying to act like total idiots outside of our planet's atmosphere and threats to peace were only from our own species.

Using both established pros and talented newcomers, this 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!
While Howard Chaykin certainly is an "established pro", writer Wyatt Gwyon, who might qualify as a newcomer, is a mystery.
With less than two dozen stories to his credit, Gwyon came onto the comics scene in 1977 scripting horror and sci-fi stories for various DC anthology titles until he disappeared in 1983.
There was no sign of him in comics...or anywhere else...until he popped-up again...with a one-page Wolverine story in Marvel's What If...? #34 (1992)!
Was "Wyatt Gwyon" a pseudonym?
Probably, since Wyatt Gwyon was the protagonist of William Gaddis' acclaimed 1950s novel The Recognitions.
He's a frustrated fine artist with a gift for imitating the styles of Old Masters.
Unscrupulous art dealers and critics use him to create phony "undiscovered Old Masters" they sell for huge prices!
Was Wyatt a novelist/poet/movie-TV scripter who decided to try his hand at comics?
Or was he a DC or Marvel staffer who wanted to make some extra cash?
We'll probably never know...
...or will we?
According to Martin O'Hern, comics creator detective, the Who's Who created by mega-fan Jerry Bails (aka the Father of Comic Book Fandom) identifies "Gwyon" as long-time DC scripter Martin Pasko...but with a "?" by his name, probably because it's never been fully-confirmed.

Note that 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!

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Mysteries in Space

The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics

Reading Room ADVENTURE COMICS "Wings of Jealous Gods"

In 1972, Supergirl moved from Adventure Comics into her own title...

...and DC decided to restore Adventure to its' original anthology format.

The first issue (425) featured the kool Mike Kaluta cover seen above, along with a never-reprinted, high-adventure story illustrated by a Golden Age pro who had moved to the animation field, but still kept in touch with his comic book roots...

Alex Toth made a brief return to DC in 1972-73, doing stories for several titles, including Adventure (where he did a two-part Black Canary back-up tale several issues earlier), Detective, and Our Fighting Forces.

Toth would do one more tale for Adventure Comics during this period; "Is a Snerl Human?", which we presented HERE.

(If you want to see all the Alex Toth stories we've presented, click HERE.)

Lynn Marron scripted several tales for DC and Warren in the early 1970s before disappearing from comics...but not from writing!

She's the author of several ongoing mystery and fantasy series available as e-books or print-on-demand editions on Amazon.

Check out her website HERE.

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Treasures Retold

Lost Art of Alex Toth

Monday Mars Madness GRAPHIC SHOWCASE "Eyes of Mars"

In the pre-Internet days...

...comic creator wanna-bes had to print samples of their work in "fanzines", then sell them at comic conventions and through mailing lists.

Here's the very first published efforts of a wanna-be who made good...

The Edgar Rice Burroughs-inspired creator of this story from CCCS's Graphic Showcase #1 (1967) is none other than Mike (The Shadow) Kaluta!

The strip was probably intended as weekly installments in a high-school/college paper, but was repurposed for use in the fanzine.

Graphic Showcase ran three issues, with "Eyes of Mars" appearing in all three.

You'll see them in the future...

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Michael Wm. Kaluta: Sketchbook Ser

ies

Volume 1

CoronaVirus Comics HOUSE OF MYSTERY "Trick or Treat"

A mad scientist plans to use a virus on mankind!

It's a foolproof scheme!

What could go wrong?

Oops!

Cue the Twilight Zone theme...

This guy's going to be as successful as his look-alike, the Golden-Age Dr Doom!

Though the scripter of this short from DC's House of Mystery #195 (1971) is unknown, the atmospheric art is by Mike (The Shadow) Kaluta!

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Illustrated History of Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics Volume 3

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder CARSON OF VENUS "Into the Noobolian Valley"

When Last We Left the First Earthman on Venus...

..."good, friendly people"?

On Amtor, aka Venus?

Alas, time won't tell, since this was the last chapter of the adaptation of Burroughs' Lost on Venus published!

After the previous chapter appeared in DC's Korak: Son of Tarzan #56 (1974), the strip bounced over to its' brother title, DC's Tarzan: Lord of the Jungle #230 (1974) for this one appearance!

Why the strip didn't continue remains a mystery...

Oddly enough, when Korak was re-tooled into the Tarzan Family anthology, combining Tarzan and Korak with the John Carter and Pelucidar strips that had lost their home in Weird Worlds, Carson of Venus also came along...reprinting the strip from the beginning!

Ironically, even the reprinting of the unfinished series was incomplete, ending with the next-to-last chapter of Pirates of Venus, "Duare, Princess of Venus"!

To date, even Dark Horse, (who's reprinting practically everything Burroughs that's been published in four-color form) hasn't issued a compilation of the Carson of Venus series!

You may note the name "Phil Trumbo" under Kaluta's name on the splash page.

Phil is a fellow artist and long-time friend of Kaluta's (going back to the late 1960s) who worked on a number of projects with him, usually uncredited.

Trumbo's still active, working in comics, animation, and licensed publishing and you can see his site HERE.

Next Wednesday, we go from the sublime to the ridiculous as we leave Wein and Kaluta's exquisite Carson of Venus for...well, just be here for it!

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Pirates of Venus & Lost on Venus

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder CARSON OF VENUS "Babes in the Woods"

When Last We Left Our Hero...

Note: this tale might be NSFW due to the alien cannibals' (Noobargan) ape-like appearance!

 It wasn't unusual for early sci-fi writers to pattern aliens after stereotypes of non-white humans like Africans, Asians, or Native Americans!
Hell, James Cameron patterned Avatar's Na'vi after the classic stereotype of "primitive yet noble savage" Africans and Native Americans...and that was only a decade ago!
The adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Lost on Venus continues under the typewriter. pencil, pen and brush of Mike Kaluta in DC's Korak: Son of Tarzan #56 (1974).
It's the last appearance of the strip in this book, which goes on for a couple of issues before changing format.
But, it's not the last we see of Kaluta's version of Carson, Duare, and the other inhabitants of Amtor (aka Venus), as you will see next week!

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Pirates of Venus & Lost on Venus

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder CARSON OF VENUS "Lost on Venus"

We Have Already Seen...

...wow!
There's a lot of screaming on Venus!

Continue the Saga...
Next Wednesday!

The adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Lost on Venus continues under the typewriter. pencil, pen and brush of Mike Kaluta in DC's Korak: Son of Tarzan #55 (1973-74).
It's a damned good tour-de-force by the young creative, who displays a proficiency that other "hypenates" (creatives who do multiple tasks on a single project) never quite achieve!

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Pirates of Venus & Lost on Venus

by Edgar Rice Burroughs