Monday Madness REAGAN'S RAIDERS "...Back to Zero!" Conclusion

When Last We Left the Septuagenarian Super-President...

...he and his revitalized cabinet were about to deliver a can of whup-ass to a group of terrorists!

You'll note a cameo by a certain eyepatch-wearing, cigar-smoking soldier usually seen in ripped shirts.

The never-reprinted Solson's Reagan's Raiders #1 (1986) was written by Monroe Arnold, and illustrated by Dick Ayers, Rich Buckler, and Jason Rodgers.
Monroe Arnold was a character actor with numerous tv/movie appearances in the 60s-80s.

His best-known genre role was in the unsold pilot for Dick Tracy (1967), produced by Batman's William Dozier.
BTW, the film Monroe was listed above as writing/directing, Diary of a Terrorist, was never completed.
He suffered a heart attack after shooting a proof-of-concept reel and was unable to continue the project.

Solson Publishing was run by Gary Brodsky, son of Marvel's first Production Manager and occasional inker Sol Brodsky.
One of the many companies created during the b/w comics craze of the 1980s, it was legendary for producing parody/swipes of more-successful b/w books along with somewhat tasteless books about how to draw women.
Reagan's Raiders was one of the few original titles in the lineup, and it lasted only three issues.

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Reagan's Raiders

1-3

The Complete Series

Monday Madness REAGAN'S RAIDERS "...Back to Zero!" Part 1"

With Don da Con fantasizing he looks like Elvis Presley (presumably in his declining years)...

...let's look at a 38 year-old comic that, substituting today's 2024's senile, elderly, obese Republican for the 1980s model...could be published today!

Be here next Monday as the mayhem from the never-reprinted Solson's Reagan's Raiders #1 (1986) ensues and we present background info on writer/co-creator Monroe Arnold and his unusual connection to comics, as well as this little-known comic company with an amazing pedigree!

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Reagan's Raiders

1-3

The Complete Series

Reading Room WORLDS UNKNOWN "Farewell to the Master" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...
Reporter Cliff Sutherland and photographer Ann O'Hara may be on to the scoop of the century.

An alien robot, which went inert after Klaatu (the alien humanoid it accompanied) was shot and killed (without provocation) when he tried to initiate contact with people of Earth isn't as unmoving as the government believes!
The duo conceal themselves nearby, hoping to catch the automaton in motion...which they do!
They witness the robot enter the alien vessel...which sealed up and apparently deactivated after Klaatu was killed.
And now things get really weird...

Cue the Twilight Zone theme...

The original story by Harry Bates appeared in Street and Smith's Astounding Science Fiction V26N2 (1940) with the following illustrations by Frank Kramer...all of which feature Gnut!

"Farewell to the Master" has been reprinted numerous times, usually in anthologies about Astounding Science-Fiction magazine, or compilations of stories which were adapted into films or TV shows.

But the graphic adaptation from Marvel's Worlds Unknown #3 (1973) has never been reprinted, and no other comic book/comic strip version has ever been done!
However, there was another prose adaptation of the short story...

This book, written by Arthur Tofte, published by Scholastic Books in 1976, combined "Farewell to the Master" with the screenplay for the 1951 movie into a new novel which presents Klaatu and a rather verbose Gnut (not "Gort") as a pair of equal partners, representing their respective civilizations within a galactic organization calling themselves "The Watchers"!
Finally, Lux Radio Theatre produced a one-hour radio adaptation in 1954, narrated by Paul Frees and starring Michael Rennie as Klaatu!
Regrettably, it doesn't use Bernard Herrmann's magnificent soundtrack but it's still worth listening to.
You can link to it HERE!

Best of Reading Room: GULLIVAR JONES "Martian Genesis"

Concluding our re-presentation of the never-reprinted adventures of the first EarthMan on Mars...

...as we present, from the b/w magazine Monsters Unleashed #8 (1974), the final strip, produced by a team which included a newcomer to Marvel who would become one of the biggest names in the field (read the name in the credits below)...

Yes, this was George Perez's first assignment after breaking into the business as Rich Buckler's art assistant!

Oddly enough, this story isn't listed on George's own website!

And, there's uncredited inking by neophites Bob Layton and John Byrne, who helped inker Duffy Vohland meet the deadline!

Wonder whatever happened to Byrne and Layton?  ;-)

Despite the promise printed above, Gullivar Jones and company never graced another Marvel comic or magazine.
(Monsters Unleashed was cancelled with #10, two issues before Gullivar would have reappeared.)
Note there's no splash page for this story.
Actually, there is!
It was rejected, and a replacement was used for Page 1!
Here's the unpublished splash page...

Think of it!

George Perez's very first page...rejected!

Good thing he didn't give up, eh?