Showing posts with label Space Adventures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Space Adventures. Show all posts

Saturday, December 14, 2024

Space Force Saturdays ROCKY JONES: SPACE RANGER "Velocity X"

"Warp drive" didn't begin with Star Trek...
but lightspeed (or faster) travel was a rarity in 1950s' tv science fiction, where rockets dominated the skies!
Of all the 1950s Space Heroes we present here, Rocky Jones seems closest to the most famous tv Space Hero of all--Capt James T Kirk!
While the credits for this story from Charlton's Space Adventures #15 (1955) list Ted Galindo and Vince Alascia as the artists, there's enough difference from the other stories credited to them for me to believe it's actually Alden McWilliams.
Rocky Jones will return in the near future...
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Saturday, October 5, 2024

Space Force Saturdays SPACE RANGERS "...Battle the Mad-Man of Mars"

In the '50s you couldn't swing a dead Slime-Cat without hitting an interplanetary policeman...
...so here's the first appearance of Charlton's contribution to the mayhem from Space Adventures #1 (1952)!
At this point, the strip is called "Space Rangers", but that won't last long.
In #2, field commander, Rex Clive takes top billing, which is retitled "Rex Clive and His Space Officers".
Then it becomes just "Rex Clive" until it's final appearance in #7.
Ironically, as of #15, Space Adventures began a new strip adapting a hot new tv show...Rocky Jones: Space Ranger!
I don't think Rex Clive would've found that turn of events amusing...
Illustrated by Lou Morales.
The writer is unknown.
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Saturday, June 29, 2024

Space Force Saturdays ROCKY JONES: SPACE RANGER "Space Infantry"

With the school year over and kids off to summer vacation...
...lets look at the never-revealed school days of the newest space hero in our line up, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger!
Sneaky little SoB, ain't he?
Wonder if he had a classmate named James Tiberius Kirk?
BTW, the character's Space Academy days were never shown on TV.
The series, set in 2054, started with him already an officer!
Scripter of this never-reprinted, totally-original tale from Charlton's Space Adventures #15 (1955) is unknown, but the art is by Ted Galindo, a journeyman artist who did work for Charlton, Prize, and Gold Key from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s.
Oddly, Charlton didn't give Rocky Jones his own title, as most publishers did with licensed characters, but inserted him into the already-established Space Adventures comic for four issues (and gave him the cover each issue).
The tv series itself was a weekly filmed series, not a live videotaped daily series like Captain Video or Tom Corbett: Space Cadet, giving it a slightly "slicker" look (and better special effects) than most of the competitors.
It was syndicated, and ran for 39 episodes over two seasons.
All of the eps are three-part stories and were re-edited into feature-length films which were released to syndication in the 1960s, after the series had ended its' run.
Almost all are available on DVD and two of them, Crash of the Moons and Manhunt in Space, were roasted on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Rocky Jones will return in the near future...
Support Atomic Kommie Comics
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Featuring Six Three-Episode Compilation Movies
(That's almost half the TV series in one set!)
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Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Reading Room SPACE ADVENTURES "Last Ship from Earth"

Ever hear the phrase "Damned if you do, damned if you don't"?

Well, Commander MacKenzie Smith is about to live it!
This never-reprinted tale from Charlton's Space Adventures V2N32 (1960) asks the questions: "What happens if the cure is worse than the disease?" and "Do you blame the person who found/brought you the cure?"
Sadly, even the Grand Comics Database isn't sure who created this story, though they propose two prolific Charlton contributors, writer Joe Gill and artist Bill Montes as the creatives.
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Sunday, December 31, 2023

Best of Holiday Reading Room SPACE ADVENTURES "Mummers from Mercury"

70 years ago, the world almost ended on New Year's Day...
...but it was saved by the participants of the annual Mummers Parade!
This never-reprinted story from Charlton's Space Adventures #1 (1953) was illustrated by Albert Tyler and Dick Giordano.
The writer (who was probably from Philadelphia) is unknown.

The Mummers Parade is usually held every New Years Day in Philadelphia.
Mummers tradition dates back to 400 BC and the Roman Festival of Saturnalias where Latin laborers marched in masks throughout the day of satire and gift exchange.
This included Celtic variations of “trick-or-treat” and Druidic noise-making to drive away demons for the new year.

Reports of rowdy groups “parading” on New Years day in Philadelphia date back before the revolution.
Prizes were offered by merchants beginning in the late 1800s.
January 1, 1901 was the first “official” parade offered about $1,725 in prize money from the city.
January 1, 2021 was the 120th Anniversary of the event, but, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was cancelled.
The Parade returned in 2022, and will happen on New Years Day, 2024!

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Reading Room: SPACE ADVENTURES "Lunar Rendezvous"

A 1950s-style script with art that tries to offer a 1960s "psychedelic" feel...
...in this never-reprinted tale from Charlton's Space Adventures V2#6 (1969)
Sam Glanzman was an amazingly-versatile artist, whose work in every genre from sci-fi to war to romance to Westerns was usually exemplary.
Whether this was a rush job...or he was experimenting with a new inking style...or he simply had an off-week, it's just not up to his usual high standards.
BTW, you may notice the indicia says "Vol 1 Number 6", but the book is actually from Vol 2 Number 6!
Charlton's first Space Adventures title ran from 1952-56 (1-21), then 1958-64 (23-59) for a total of 58 issues.
(There wasn't a #22 in either part of the run).
This tale was from a 1968-69 revival of the title that lasted only 7 issues.

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Scary Steve Ditko: Space Adventures #12 Cover

Even though it has nothing to do with any of the stories inside Charlton's Space Adventures #12 (1954), it's one of the most famous and most reprinted covers artist Steve Ditko ever did (excluding Amazing Spider-Man and Amazing Fantasy #15 covers, of course)!

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Reading Room SPACE ADVENTURES "Long Patrol"

Here's a never-reprinted Silver Age tale...
...that has a definite Golden Age "look" and "feel" to it!
Written by Joe Gill, penciled by Charles Nicholas, and inked by Vince Colletta, this story from Charlton's Space Adventures V2N6 (1969) feels like it's been edited down from a longer version.
Things happen almost arbitrarily, like the astronauts' home base knowing they've been mind-controlled by aliens, or the crewmen being deliberately-incapacitated by equipment on board we (and probably they) knew nothing about!
It's an interesting, but unsatisfying, tale...a rarity from Charlton.
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