Reading Room WEIRD THRILLERS "Cycle of Time!"

 Here's a sci-fi triple-treat: time travel, aliens, and dinosaurs!

This kool tale appeared in the HTF Ziff-Davis' anthology Weird Thrillers #2 (1951)!

Illustrated by Murphy Anderson, who was doing quite a bit of work for Z-D including the second issue of Space Busters and both issues of Lars of Mars as well as various one-shots like this.

We don't know who wrote this tale, but it might be series editor Jerry (Superman) Siegel.

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Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3
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Reading Room WORLD OF SUSPENSE "Lead-Lined Box!"

What lay hidden in the back of Atlas' World of Suspense #5 (1956)...

...something so hideous...so terrifying...that it couldn't even be hinted at on the cover?

WOW!

I hope the SPCA or PETA never sees this tale illustrated by Chuck Miller (aka Charles F Miller)!

The writer is unknown.

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Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3
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Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3
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Reading Room ADVENTURE INTO MYSTERY "Watcher!"

Here's a never-reprinted cautionary tale...

...from Atlas' Adventure in Mystery #7 (1957) whose "moral" is a little lost on me...

All Andrew Morris really needs is someone to doublecheck his time/space coordinates!
If he does decide to collaborate with others when he rebuilds, I'd hope he register a patent for for the system first!
Better safe, than sorry!
Marvin Stein does a fine job visualizing this tale by an unknown writer.

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Marvel Masterworks

Atlas-Era Journey into Mystery

Volume 1
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Space Force Saturdays ALIEN ENCOUNTERS "Earth Invasion"

There's a twist ending to this alien invasion tale you won't see coming...

...if you're under 35!

I'm serious!

Ah, video arcades...

Kids today have no idea how important those darkened chambers filled with video consoles and pinball machines were to us in the pre-XBox/PlayStation/Nintendo days...and how much money we spent, quarter-by-quarter, in them!

Yeah, there's still Chuck E Cheese, Dave & Busters, and their ilk, but those are kiddie venues!

Written by Larry Shell and illustrated by Steve (Swamp Thing) Bissette, this never-reprinted tale from FantaCo's Alien Encounters one-shot (1981) captures the long-lost era perfectly.

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Encyclopedia of Arcade Video Games
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Halloween Reading Room PHANTOM WITCH DOCTOR "Out of the Deep!"

 Avon's Phantom Witch Doctor (1952) was a unique one-shot...
...with a lead story featuring the title character and a trio of totally-unrelated tales (including this one) backing it up!

Whether the creature is a Lovecraftian-type Elder-God, a stranded alien, or just a sentient life-force is never really explained.

Another unsolved puzzle is who the writer and artist(s) for this short story were.

But what's life without a few mysteries, eh?

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Horror Comics of the 1950s
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Space Hero Saturdays CRUSADER FROM MARS "Mission Through Space"

Lars of Mars wasn't the only Martian Sent to Fight Evil on Earth by Jerry (Superman) Siegel!

This guy, along with a female "friend and companion" was sent to Earth to do similar work...but for a very different reason!

If I follow the "logic" of this concept correctly, the Martians send a proven murderer (along with someone who may be either an accessory to murder or an innocent who had nothing to do with the crime except having a murderer obsessed with her) to fight evil on Earth.
Send a convicted killer with emotional control issues (and advanced weaponry) to a primitive planet and tell him to clean it up?
And then, when he screws up. send a fleet of flying saucers in to straighten out the mess.
(Martians apparently don't have a non-interference Prime Directive.)
Also note that the American military seems to be made up of idiot bureaucrats!
The writer for this premiere tale from Crusader from Mars #1 (1952) is unknown, but probably is the book's editor, Jerry (Superman) Siegel, who co-created another short-lived Martian crime-fighter, Lars of Mars, the year before.

The artist is believed to be Marvin Stein, but the layouts have a strong Jack Kirby feel to them.
Considering Stein was doing a lot of work for the Simon/Kirby studio at the time, and Jack was reputed to be very generous in terms of helping his friends, it seems likely he provided roughs for Stein to render full pencils and inks over.
BTW, you may note that Tarka wears a very Superman-style costume in this tale, but on the cover, and in the next (and last) issue, the colors are reversed.

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Pre-Code Classics

Lars of Mars / Crusader from Mars

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Reading Room COSMIC BOOK "UFO and the Perts vs Experts"

Feeling just a wee bit...paranoid?

Feel like the world just doesn't make any sense at all?

Well, you ain't alone, kiddo!

While it's been reprinted several times, this version from Wandering Star Press' Cosmic Book #1 (1986) is the only time it's been presented in color!

The Cosmic Book was a personal obsession for Pat Boyette who packaged it (as well as doing the covers and a couple of tales inside), then shopped it around to numerous publishers until Ace Comics agreed to co-publish it.

Though there were rumors of a second issue, sadly, it never appeared.

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Reading Room FANTASTIC WORLDS "Boy Who Saved the World!"

The short-lived anthology Fantastic Worlds featured Earth-based stories...

...contrasting with the other anthology from Standard Comics, Lost Worlds, which was a space-opera book.

This superb kid-friendly tale from Standard's Fantastic Worlds #6 (1952) was drawn by Alex Toth and Mike Peppe, though the writer is unknown.

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Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 
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