Showing posts with label Monday Mecha Madness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monday Mecha Madness. Show all posts

Monday, April 27, 2026

Monday Mecha Madness SPELLBOUND "Too Human to Live!"

They say Artificial Intelligence will Replace Humans in Many Jobs...
...even as co-workers...and management!
Pencilled by Vic Carrabotta and inked by Jack Abel, and likely plotted by editor Stan Lee, this cautionary tale from Atlas' Spellbound #16 (1953) has a clever twist ending that would've been appropriate for an episode of The Twilight Zone!

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Monday, April 20, 2026

Monday Mecha Madness STAR TREK "Planet of the Robots"

WhenYou Think of Artificial Intelligence in Star Trek....
...you think of androids or non-humanoid sentient computers, not robots!
Captain Kurt?
The Enterprise lands on a planet?
Spock shouting?
Lt Bailey, who was left on the Fesarius with Balok in the episode "Corbomite Maneuver" is still aboard the Enterprise?
And...robots??
It was 1969.
Star Trek had not yet aired in England.
The publisher of the wildly-successful weekly comic magazine TV Century 21, which featured strips based on the various Gerry Anderson-produced series (StingrayThunderbirdsCaptain Scarlet, etc.), decided to launch a new weekly magazine showcasing the currently-running Anderson series, Joe 90.
Entitled Joe 90: Top Secret, it also featured a couple of two-page strips about imported American TV series, Star Trek and Land of the Giants.
Since those shows hadn't yet aired in England, the writers and artist Harry Lindfield were working off whatever print material and photo reference was sent from America.
(Apparently nobody gave them a copy of Stephen Whitfield's Making of Star Trek, which explains things like the Enterprise being unable to land on a planet's surface.)
The storylines usually ran six weeks, but could go longer if required.
Because the Trek strip had the centerfold slot, it allowed for panels running thru what would be the interior gutters on any other page, giving them a wide Sunday newspaper-strip feel and layout.
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Monday, April 13, 2026

Monday Mecha Madness SHOGUN WARRIORS "Starchild" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

...Ilongo Savage, piloting Dangard Ace, tries to divert a recently-hatched alien from heading for populated areas.
But, the creature has some hidden surprises...










The Mecha Meyhem Continues in May as Genji (aboard Combatra) Battles...Whatever the Heck That Is!
(I was going to call it "A Big Hand for the Little Lady!", but I resisted.
Oh, wait...I did say it...)

Monday, April 6, 2026

Monday Mecha Madness SHOGUN WARRIORS "Starchild" Part 1

When Last We Left Oceanographer (and Dangard Ace's  Pilot), Ilongo Savage...

...he and fellow oceanographer Judith Johns had discovered an alien egg!
(And yes, Easter was yesterday, but this ain't a holiday treat!)








You'll see Dangard Ace  take on the Starchild  Next Monday...
...when the first thing you see will be this calamitous cover by Herb Trimpe and Al Milgrom!
The latest never-reprinted chapter in this story arc from Marvel's Shogun Warriors #9 (1979) is by usual stalwarts writer Doug Moench, penciler Herb Tripe, and guest inker Jack Abel!

Monday, March 30, 2026

Monday Mecha Madness GRAPHIC STORY MAGAZINE "Adam Link's Vengeance" Part Two: Vengeance

...actually, this scene appears later in this chapter!
Robot Adam Link, after realizing Humanity doesn't trust him (despite being innocent of committing the murder of his creator/"father", Dr Charles Link), decides to end his existence.
but another scientist, Dr Paul Hillory, aborts the process.
The scientist agrees to help Adam construct a mate, Eve.
But Dr Hillory isn't acting out of benevolence!
In assisting Adam, the scientist learns how to manipulate and control both the robots!
He then forces Adam to rebuild Eve in a larger, deadlier form...
Despite the downbeat ending, Adam Link continued to help humanity.
The original prose series ran for another seven stories, which were eventually combined into a "fix-up" novel...
Note the Isaac Asimov quote!
Before this particular adaptation, EC Comics attempted an ongoing comic series in Weird Science Fantasy.
Scripted by Otto Binder and illustrated by Joe Orlando, there were three stories directly adapted from the pulp tales; I, Robot in Weird Science Fantasy #27, Trial of Adam Link in Weird Science-Fantasy #28, and Adam Link in Business in Weird Science-Fantasy #29 (all 1955).
The cancellation of the comic due to the Werham-led Seduction of the Innocent anti-comics mania ended the series.
After the novel Adam Link: Robot was published, Binder and Orlando tried again, this time with Warren Publishing in the b/w Creepy magazine!
They re-conceived the three previously-published comics with a re-designed Adam Link, then adapted five more stories (including Adam Link's Vengeance), so,etimes as two-parters, before Warren ended the strip, which ran from Creepy #2 to Creepy #15 in 1966-7.
Both the EC and Warren versions are available in Weird-Science Fantasy and Creepy reprints!
Neither had been reprinted in standalone Adam Link books.
Next Week: the Return of...

Monday, March 23, 2026

Monday Mecha Madness GRAPHIC STORY MAGAZINE "Adam Link's Vengeance" Part One: the Rebirth of Adam Link

...we presented background information on sci-fi's first robot with his own ongoing series!
...and now, we re-present this graphic tale about him, unseen since since 1971.


This was the chapter break during the story's initial publication in Fantasy Illustrated #1 (1963), so we'll pause here until next Monday.
(The tale's original readers had to wait three months to see the conclusion!)
This is from the complete story reprint in Bill Spicer's Graphic Story Magazine #13 (1971).
Publisher/editor Spicer scripted this adaptation of Otto "Eando" Binder's novella, which was illustrated by long time pulp and comic illustrator D Bruce Berry, best known to most current fans for initially-working as Mike Royer's associate inking Jack Kirby's art during the King's 1970s DC period, eventually taking over entirely when Royer's commitments on other projects forced him to give up working on Kirby's material for a while.
There's a fascinating article about Berry at The Comic Journal HERE!