Reading Room MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN COMICS "Into the 4th Dimension"

Is this a lost "Kirby Klassic" from the 1950s?

Read this never-reprinted tale from Prize's Monster of Frankenstein #31 (1954) and judge for yourself...

When Prize Comics' Monster of Frankenstein title was revived during the horror comic boom of the early 1950s, besides a wonderfully-gruesome version of Dick Briefer's Monster, it featured a number of two to four page "fillers".

Most of these tales appear to be, at the very least, laid-out by the legendary Jack (King) Kirby.

This story is a prime example.

The Grand Comics Database lists the story's illustrator as Marvin Stein, who worked primarily for the Simon & Kirby studio, so this most likely was an S&K "inventory" story laid-out by Kirby and meant for insertion wherever editorial page count came up short.

Sadly, the writer of the story is, as in so many cases, unknown...

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Science Fiction Comics
Taylor History of Comics
Vol 3

Reading Room BLACK MAGIC "Way Out!"

From the final issue (#50 from 1961) of Prize's Black Magic...

..is a never-reprinted tale that might seem familiar to EC Comics fans!

Compare the last page to the last page below...

Did Black Magic editor Joe Simon swipe the Bill Gaines/Al Feldstein script for this tale, "Round Trip" from EC's Weird Science-Fantasy #28 (1955)?

Or was he given the script by a lazy writer who hoped he didn't recognize it?

We'll never know...

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Zero Hour and Other Stories

(which reprints the complete "Round Trip" from Weird Science-Fantasy #28)

Reading Room BLACK MAGIC "Black Fog"

A never-reprinted 1960s Steve Ditko story is, literally, a buried treasure...

...and this long-unseen tale from Prize's Black Magic #47 (1961) has just been uncovered for your enjoyment!

Considering this is Ditko's only Prize Comics work since the pre-Comics Code days when he assisted in the Simon & Kirby studio, some speculate it was a rejected Charlton story that was "shopped around" to other publishers.

If that's the case, the unidentified writer is more than likely Joe Gill, who wrote almost all Ditko's stories at Charlton during this period.

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Outer Limits

Steve Ditko Archives Vol 6

Reading Room BLACK MAGIC "Cry for Help!"

Most comics fans know Prize's Black Magic series as...

...one of the Simon/Kirby team's best projects.

But, as you can see from this non-S&K tale, there was more to it!

The S&K team's tenure ended when the book was cancelled with #33 in 1954, due to the mass cancellations of horror comics caused by the "Seduction of the Innocent" hysteria generated by Fredric Wertham.

When the book was revived as a Comics Code-approved sci-fi title with #34 in 1957, Joe Simon returned as editor, but the ongoing partnership with Kirby had ended and Jack didn't participate in the new version.

Simon and Kirby would reunite, briefly, at Archie to co-create The Fly and Double Life of Private Strong, but they wouldn't work together again until the duo co-created a new version of The Sandman for DC in 1974.

This particular story, by penciler/inker Ted Galindo and inker Bill Draut is from the final issue...#50 (1961).

Note: Didn't the son's "future self" say he had found the frozen dinosaur two years earlier?

But he also said he was from 1970...ten years in the future.

So, unless my math is really off, the son wouldn't find the dinosaur for another...eight years!
How did he find it now?

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Simon and Kirby Library

Horror!

Reading Room CAPTAIN QUICK & THE SPACE SCOUTS "Hermits of Callisto"

The Space Scouts and their mentor finally leave Mars...

...only to find a mystery on a moon of Jupiter!

A poignant (and ironic) end to a short-lived series nobody remembers!

Though the art for this never-reprinted tale from Prize Comics' Tom Corbett: Space Cadet V2#3 (1955) is credited solely to Marvin Stein at the Grand Comics Database, the layout appears to be by Jack Kirby, which would make sense since Simon & Kirby's studio was packaging the book for Prize.
Beyond being set in the near future, there was no connection to Tom Corbett.

Reading Room CAPTAIN QUICK & THE SPACE SCOUTS "Martian Canal Frog and the Jewel Flowers"

Let's strap on our rocket packs for another adventure with...

...who are still on Mars, as we saw last time!

Though the art for this never-reprinted tale from Prize Comics' Tom Corbett: Space Cadet V2#2 (1955) is credited solely to Marvin Stein at the Grand Comics Database, the layout appears to be by Jack Kirby, which would make sense since Simon & Kirby's studio was packaging the book for Prize.
Beyond being set in the near future, there was no connection to Tom Corbett.

Reading Room CAPTAIN QUICK AND THE SPACE SCOUTS "Mystery of the Moon of Mars"

Here's the first of three short features...

...that appeared in the second Tom Corbett: Space Cadet comic series.

Though the art for this never-reprinted tale from Prize Comics' Tom Corbett: Space Cadet V2#1 (1955) is credited solely to Marvin Stein at the Grand Comics Database, the layout appears to be by Jack Kirby, which would make sense since Simon & Kirby's studio was packaging the book for Prize.
Beyond being set in the future, there was no connection to Tom Corbett.

This "Captain Quick" is no relation to the suave secret agent character played by Adam West in early 1960s Quick commercials...

...which many attribute to causing the producers of a new show to cast him as their campy caped crusader!
BTW, in a weird bit of comic numbering, this second series' #1 is Tom Corbett's first #1!
The earlier series (from Dell Comics) began with #4 since the first three issues were part of the Four Color series (378, 400, and 421)!

Reading Room FRANKENSTEIN "Return of the Monster"

The new movie, I, Frankenstein, is not the first updating of the Monster's story...

...in fact, this is the second reboot of an updated Frankenstein series by the same publisher!

Written and illustrated by Dick Briefer, who did all three versions of the Monster of Frankenstein for publisher Prize Comics, this story in Frankenstein #18 (1952) was the lead tale in the series' revival since the book's cancellation three years earlier!
As you might have guessed by the date, the book was revived to capitalize on the popularity (or notoriety) of horror comics during this period, resulting in the darkest, scariest, version of the Monster up to that point!
It sold well, but the national panic produced by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham (who claimed comics caused juvenile delinquency) forced comics publishers to drop the horror genre entirely!
Note: Issues 1-17 were based on the first rebooted version carried over from the publisher's flagship anthology Prize Comics.
That version was a humorous take on the character, similar to The Munsters, complete with a supporting cast of various monsters and ghosts.
Be here tomorrow for the best-known story from that run, involving the monster meeting Boris...you-know-who!
Then, on Thursday, we'll show you a tale from the very first version, which was an action/sci-fi strip set during World War II!