Monday Mars Madness TWILIGHT ZONE "Mars: Dead or Alive"

55 years ago, when I saw this painted George Wilson cover on the comics rack of my local candy store...

...I just had to read it!

(BTW, the model posing as the astronaut is Steve (Doc Savage) Holland!)

Written by Dick Wood and illustrated by Nevio Zaccara, the cover-feature (though not lead story) from Gold Key's Twilight Zone #17 (1966) offered a somewhat-plausable explanation (in those pre-Mars Rover days) as to why we hadn't seen signs of life on Mars.
Wood and Zaccara also collaborated on the never-reprinted Explorers in the Unknown strip that ran in Gold Key's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea comic.

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Reading Room: EXPLORERS IN THE UNKNOWN "Prisoners of the 'Jelly' Planet" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Universe-Spanning Travelers...

...since the comic presented the background so well, I'll just sit back and enjoy the conclusion along with you...

Though Chief Rollan was now part of the crew, he didn't appear again!
(Not that "again" was very long, since next issue would be the strip's final appearance!)
The Hunter I crew had adventures set in the near-future of the late 1990s-early 2000s, much like then-current films like Green Slime, Wild Wild Planet, and Battle in Outer Space.
This never-reprinted tale from VttBotS #14 (1968) was written by Dick Wood (who wrote the entire series) and illustrated by Nevio Zaccara (who remained the strip's artist until the final chapter).

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Reading Room: EXPLORERS IN THE UNKNOWN "Prisoners of the 'Jelly' Planet" Chapter II

When Last We Left Our Interstellar Explorers...

OK, since the comic itself synopsised the plot, let's just continue...

It's nice to see a situation where we out-gun aliens.

Usually, aliens have superior weaponry/tech and we have to be sneaky to triumph over them...

You'll see the conclusion tomorrow, unlike the original readers of this story in 1968 who had to wait three months for the next four-page chapter (VttBotS was a quarterly book)!
The Hunter I crew had adventures set in the near-future of the late 1990s-early 2000s, much like then-current films like Green Slime, Wild Wild Planet, and Battle in Outer Space.
This never-reprinted tale from VttBotS #13 (1968) was written by Dick Wood (who wrote the entire series) and illustrated by Nevio Zaccara (who remained the strip's artist until the final chapter).

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Reading Room: EXPLORERS IN THE UNKNOWN "Prisoners of the 'Jelly' Planet"

These are the voyages of the Hunter I, it's ongoing mission...

...to fill four pages per issue of Gold Key's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

You'll see the continuation tomorrow, unlike the original readers of this story in 1968 who had to wait three months for the next four-page chapter (VttBotS was a quarterly book)!
The Hunter I crew had adventures set in the near-future of the late 1990s-early 2000s, much like then-current films like Green Slime, Wild Wild Planet, and Battle in Outer Space.

With only four pages per issue, there was little character development (or even names) for the crew, but lots of action!

This tale from VttBotS #12 (1968) was written by Dick Wood (who wrote the entire series) and illustrated by Nevio Zaccara (who remained the strip's artist until the final chapter).

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Reading Room: EXPLORERS IN THE UNKNOWN "Uncertain Lift-Off"

When Last We Left Our Heroes...

I just love it when the comic itself does all the plot synopizing for me!

Considering this three-part story took nine months to tell (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was a quarterly book), it's a pretty lame finale.

This tale from VttBotS #11 (1968) was written by Dick Wood (who wrote the entire series) and illustrated by Nevio Zaccara (who remained the strip's artist until the final chapter).

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Reading Room: EXPLORERS IN THE UNKNOWN "Mystery of the Magnetized Planet"

The previous chapter in the series' first multi-part storyline presented a classic concept...

...along with a couple of surprises!

Be here for the nail-biting conclusion, tomorrow!

Hey, be grateful you aren't reading this as it was published in the 1960s, since the comic book it appeared in, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, was a quarterly title, so you'd be waiting three months for the next four-page story instead of one day!
This tale from VttBotS #10 (1967) was written by Dick Wood (who wrote the entire series) and illustrated by Nevio Zaccara (who remained the strip's artist until the final chapter).

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Reading Room: EXPLORERS IN THE UNKNOWN "GraveYard of Space"

Space, the Final Frontier!

These are the voyages of the starship Hunter I...

...as it travels interstellar space in the early 1970s!

Be here tomorrow for the astounding continuation!

The concept of a space junkyard or "Sargosso Sea of Space" is something of a cliche.
Various books, comics, movies, and tv series have used the concept, usually to good effect.
My particular favorite was the Space: 1999 episode "Dragon's Domain"...

You might want to FastForward to 14:00, when the derelict spaceships are first detected...

This tale from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea #9 (1967) was written by Dick Wood (who wrote the entire series) and illustrated by Nevio Zaccara (who remained the strip's artist until the final chapter).

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Reading Room: EXPLORERS IN THE UNKNOWN "Hostile Asteroid"

In the 1960s, we were about to reach the Moon...

...so the idea that we would first explore the Solar System, then nearby stellar systems, within a few decades wasn't unreasonable.

We developed a new metal alloy, Zakanite, just to use it on ID tags and insignia?
There's not a nut or bolt on the ship made from it..or even the crewmens' ID tags and insignia?
And you wonder why Congress cut NASA's budget in the mid-1970s!
We do learn there's only three officers (including the ship's commander) in the ship's complement.
Because there's only four pages in each story, there's no character development between them.
This odd tale from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea #8 (1966) was written by Dick Wood (who wrote the entire series) and illustrated by Nevio Zaccara (who remained the strip's artist until the final chapter).

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Reading Room: EXPLORERS IN THE UNKNOWN "Demons of Deep Space"

Space, the final frontier...

...where, even if you're in a backup strip in Gold Key's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea comic, if you wear red...WATCH YOUR ASS!

This scientifically-inaccurate tale from VttBotS #7 (1966) was written by Dick Wood (who wrote the entire series) and illustrated by Nevio Zaccara (who remained the strip's artist until the final chapter).

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