Reading Room / Tales Twice Told BACK MAGIC "Buried Alive!"

Tuesday, We Presented the Later Version of This Tale...

...now, we show you the earlier version created by one (possibly two) Silver Age comics legends!

Illustrated by Steve (Spider-Man/Doctor Strange) Ditko, the writer of this tale from Prize's Black Magic Comics V4N4 (1954) is unknown.

It could be either Jack (King) Kirby or Joe Simon, or both, since they were the editor/art director team of the Simon & Kirby Studios which packaged Black Magic and several other books for Prize Comics!
But we don't know for certain!
(And if I have to explain who Jack Kirby is, you're not a regular reader of this blog!)
One thing we are certain of...while both stories used the same script (with a couple of modified word balloons), Ditko's version runs six pages, while Munoz's remake is seven pages long!
Don't believe me?
Click HERE and compare!

Which one do you, dear reader, believe is an example of better storytelling?

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Steve Ditko Archives Vol 1

Strange Suspense

(Which reprints this story...but in black and white)

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Reading Room / Halloween Horror MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN COMICS "Premonition of Death!"

Some things just can't be explained by current science...

...but that doesn't make them any less real!

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

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 previously-humorous 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 Jack Kirby.

This never-reprinted story from V3N3 (1954) 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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Marvel Masterworks

Atlas-Era Journey into Mystery

Volume 1

Macabre Monday Madness BLACK MAGIC "Madame Cyanide and Mister Tricks!" & HORROR TALES "Broomstick Witch"

Here's a maddening tale (for several reasons) on the Monday before Halloween...

...a never-reprinted tale, which was redone with new art decades later!

Steve (Dr Strange) Ditko illustrated this story from Prize's Black Magic V4N5 (1954).

The writer is unknown, but could be Joe Simon and/or Jack Kirby, since the book was packaged by their studio.

Was it meant to be the first in an ongoing series about Mister Tricks and his attempts at debunking?

The tale's script (with minor changes) served as the basis of this story from Eerie Publications' Horror Tales V6N4 (1974) twenty years later...

"Romero", the artist who signed the piece is not Enrique Romero, who illustrated Modesty Blaise and Axa, but one of several other Romeros who've worked in American comics over the decades. 

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Simon & Kirby Library: Horror!

(which doesn't include this tale!)

Reading Room / Tales Twice Told BLACK MAGIC "Flying Dutchman!"

Last Tuesday, we presented the 1970s reworked version of this tale...

...today, we show you the original, never-reprinted, 1950s story from Prize's Black Magic V4N5 (1954)!

Illustrated by Al Eadeh, this tale based on the long-established legend of the Flying Dutchman may have been written by Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, or both!

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Simon and Kirby Library

Horror!

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Kirby Reading Room/Tales Twice-Told BLACK MAGIC "Alive After Five Thousand Years!"

Only reprinted once since initial publication 70 years ago in Prize's Black Magic V4N4 (1954)...

...here's a tale showing the legendary Simon and Kirby team at their spooky (but non-gory) best!

Just cries out for a sequel, eh?

Sadly, there wasn't one, nor was the story reprinted...until 2014, in Titan's Simon and Kirby Library: Horror anthology (see below).
But, there was a retitled retelling of this tale, in a rather unlikely place, in 1974!

You'll see that version on Thursday!

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Simon and Kirby Library

Horror!

Which reprints this story for the only time since 1954!

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Kirby Reading Room BLACK MAGIC "Slaughter-House!!"

If Republicans think finding employment is difficult now (hint: it isn't) ...

...imagine what it'd be like when your boss is a tentacled invading alien (which some Repugs believe Democrats actually are)!

This tale of interstellar labor relations from Prize Comics' Black Magic #31 (1954) was illustrated by the legendary duo of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, though who penciled what and who inked what has been disputed by aficionados.

Personally, I think Kirby penciled and Simon inked.

As to who wrote it, since both Simon & Kirby co-edited the book, it's more than likely they both scripted it.

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Simon & Kirby Library
Science Fiction

Space Force Saturdays TOM CORBETT, SPACE CADET "Spaceship of Doom!"

Here's the only major 1950s multi-media space hero we haven't covered...

...so we're intoducing him to you with his first appearance in his second comic series!

So, let's join Tom and the crew of the Space Academy ship Polaris...

Besides being the longest-running tv/radio show of the genre (six years), Tom Corbett had the longest run of any of the tv series comics adaptations...fifteen issues with two different publishers!

The second series was published by Prize Comics and packaged (as were a number of Prize titles of the period) by the Simon & Kirby studio.

The series' primary artist was Mort Meskin, but there are apparently other artists doing layouts and inking including Jack Kirby himself, and Steve Ditko (who was just starting out).

This tale from Prize Comics' V2N1 (1955) was penciled by Meskin and inked by several different artists.
Trivia: the TV series is one of only a half-dozen shows to have appeared on all four major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and DuMont) during its' first run!

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Pre-Code Classics

Tom Corbett, Space Cadet

Volume One

The First 7 Issues