Showing posts with label Speed Carter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Speed Carter. Show all posts

Saturday, May 15, 2021

Space Force Saturdays SPACE SQUADRON & SPEED CARTER: SPACEMAN "Famous Explorers of Space" Part 5

Both Atlas' Space Squadron and Speed Carter: SpaceMan had "future history" features...
...set in the "past", like this never-reprinted story from Atlas' Space Squadron #5 (1953), which took place in the then-future of 1976!
Ah, the year of America's Bicentennial...when we discovered valleys with oxygen, water, and edible vegetation on the Moon!
In contrast, let's look at how such "Future History" was told in Speed Carter...
Oh, dear!
We're not off to a good start, are we?
Makes you wonder what, exactly, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and several others are investing in...and why, eh?
Besides "Famous Explorers", Space Squadron also presented "future history tales" about the guy who was young hotshot Jet Dixon's crusty Commander-in-Chief when he was a young hotshot pilot...
 Think a space cadet named James T Kirk would've considered Blast Revere a role model?
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Saturday, May 8, 2021

Space Force Saturdays SPEED CARTER "Slaughter in Space!"

We meet a new alien race, the Vegans...
...who, it turns out, are no more trustworthy than most other alien species.
(We humans are scrupulously honest, of course!)

Don't ya just love a happy ending?
What I want to know is why Speed is suddenly wearing shorts?
Thankfully, it's the only story in the series where he does so.
This story from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #5 (1954) was scripted (as were all Speed Carter tales) by Hank Chapman!
Illustrator George Tuska later became the final artist on the original Buck Rogers comic strip (1959-67) and then assumed the art duties for almost a decade on Marvel's Invincible Iron Man!
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Saturday, April 24, 2021

Space Force Saturdays SPEED CARTER "Die, Spaceman, Die!!"

Speed Carter gets a new look (again) as another artist takes over...
...as Space Squadron artist George Tuska assumes the art chores.
As we mentioned, everything from uniforms to tech to the look of aliens is re-conceived yet again with the debut of another artist who will do all three Speed Carter tales in the issue.
This story from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #5 (1954) was scripted (as were all Speed Carter tales) by Hank Chapman!
Illustrator George Tuska later became the final artist on the original Buck Rogers comic strip (1959-67) and then assumed the art duties for almost a decade on Marvel's Invincible Iron Man!
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Saturday, April 10, 2021

Space Force Saturday SPEED CARTER "Invaders from the Moon!"

The Chinese Commies of space strike again...
...as the Saturnians unleash another diabolical plot against Earth!
Let's overlook the fact that Earthmen are about to move in on Lunar natives the way settlers overran Native Americans in the Old West, and wonder how the Saturnians knew the PositPeople and NegaNatives (not to mention the Lunanimals) were even on the Moon, when humans (who presumably had explored the Lunar surface) had no idea anyone lived there!
Mike Sekowsky's redesign of everything in the Speed Carter universe apparently extended to existing aliens as well, since the Saturnian shown in this tale doesn't match their original appearance in this story, illustrated by Joe Maneely.
But at least the Saturnians in this never-reprinted story from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #4 (1953) act the way they did previously, no doubt attributable to the fact that the same writer, Hank Chapman wrote both tales!
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(under the pen-name "Paul French") 
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David Starr: Space Ranger, Pirates of the Asteroids, Oceans of Venus, Big Sun of Mercury, Moons of Jupiter, Rings of Saturn

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Space Force Saturdays SPACE SQUADRON & SPEED CARTER: SPACEMAN "Famous Explorers of Space" Part 4

Both Atlas' Space Squadron and Speed Carter: SpaceMan had "future history" features...
...set in the "past", like this never-reprinted story from Atlas' Space Squadron #4 (1951), which took place in the then-future of 1965!
So the scientist let a guy with no depth perception fly his experimental ship?
He's lucky they didn't crash into anything!a
Let's look at how such "Future History" was told in Speed Carter...
Ah, the good ol' days of 2006, when a spaceport sat outside New York City...
...funny, I don't remember the skyline looking like that in 2007!
I guess I developed amnesia after I hit my head falling out of my flying car...
I'm wondering what Joe's gonna do when he runs out of cigarettes!
Nicotine withdrawal is rough enough on Earth.
But on Jupiter...without even nicotine gum...
This story from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #4 (1953) references previous Famous Explorers tales in its' first paragraph, mentioning the explorations of Venus, Mercury, and Mars.
Written by Hank Chapman, and illustrated by Joe Maneely, in his final Speed Carter interior art job.
Joe would later do the cover for #6, the final issue of the series.

Note: the astronauts in this story, which takes place three generations in the "past" of Speed Carter, have different uniforms and lower-end technology than what's shown in the Maneely-rendered Speed Carter tales.
But since Mike Sekowsky, who illustrated the rest of this issue, redesigned both the uniforms and tech in the "present-day" stories, that whole aspect now falls by the wayside for the remainder of the series' run.
Besides "Famous Explorers", Space Squadron also presented "future history tales" about the guy who was young hotshot Jet Dixon's crusty Commander-in-Chief when he was a young hotshot pilot...
While the writer for this never-reprinted tale (also from Atlas' Space Squadron #4 [1951]) is unknown, the artist is George Klein, who's best known as an amazingly-versatile inker, but could pencil (albeit slowly) as well!
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(under the pen-name "Paul French") Omnibus of ALL Six Space-Opera Sagas!David Starr: Space Ranger, Pirates of the Asteroids, Oceans of Venus, Big Sun of Mercury, Moons of Jupiter, Rings of Saturn

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Space Force Saturdays SPEED CARTER "Mosquito Men and the Multiple Menace"

When you're summoned to a "secret experimental laboratory"...
...you just know there's gonna be trouble.
But in this case, it'll be triple trouble!
If you have an army of Speed Carters, and they're all captains, then who's in command?
This tale of mosquito men and mathematics from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #4 (1954) was written (as are all Speed Carter stories) by Hank Chapman and illustrated by Mike Sekowsky and Jack Abel.
BTW, though we didn't mention it in the previous Sekowsky-illustrated story, Mike apparently redesigned everything including uniforms, weapons, and equipment.
You'll see this continue in all the remaining issues as each succeeding artist does their own rendition of the universe of 2075 instead of following the previous artist's designs.
Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Order...
(under the pen-name "Paul French")
Omnibus of ALL Six Space-Opera Sagas!
David Starr: Space Ranger, Pirates of the Asteroids, Oceans of Venus, Big Sun of Mercury, Moons of Jupiter, Rings of Saturn