Showing posts with label Strange Worlds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Strange Worlds. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Reading Room STRANGE WORLDS "Abduction of Henry Twigg"

Here's a dream come true for all us fanboys and nerds (Yep, I'm one)...
...in this Joe Kubert-illustrated tale from Avon's Strange Worlds #8 (1952)...
Talk about politically-incorrect...from both sexes!
But it's still entertaining, and that's what counts, eh?
Note: we've run stories from two different series named "Strange Worlds".
This tale is from the first one, published by Avon Comics in the early 1950s.
By the late 1950s, Avon Publishing had abandoned comic books and concentrated on "traditional" publishing (hardcovers and paperbacks) in various genres (including sci-fi and horror).
Curiously, when comics became "hot' in the 1960s, Avon did not reprint their comic library in paperback format the way Ballantine Books did with EC ComicsSignet did with DC ComicsLancer did with Marvel. and Belmont did with Archie's super-heroes!
Considering they owned the material and didn't have to pay to reprint it like all the other publishers did, it seems like a lost opportunity for Avon to make some quick cash.
Note: We've re-presented several tales from the other Strange Worlds, published by Atlas Comics in the late 1950s, literally right before they became Marvel in 1961!
It's easy to tell which is which, since the Atlas/Marvel version features work by creatives like Jack Kirby, Don Heck, and Steve Ditko who would be the creative mainstays of the Marvel Age of Comics, while the Avon books have art by illustrators who would make their mark at DC, like Joe Kubert and John Forte!
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Friday, September 27, 2024

Friday Fascist Fun UNQUOTABLE TRUMP "Strange Wombs"

Sometimes Don da Con's incoherent ramblings are sadly, self-explanatory...
...as he misquotes others to make a "point" that doesn't actually exist!
The original cover by Wally Wood and Joe Orlando from Avon's Strange Worlds #5 (1951) is less frightening than the reworked version above!

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Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder CROM THE BARBARIAN "Giant from Beyond!"

Return to a time before Atlantis sank with comics' first barbarian...
...as we present the third and final chapter in the saga of Crom, from Avon's Strange Worlds #2 (1951)
 
Thus do the tales of Crom come to an end, two decades before the coming of Conan in 1970...
His last adventure was produced by co-creators Gardner Fox (writer), and John Giunta (artist).
None of his stories were reprinted, even after the success of Lord of the RingsConan the Barbarian, and others made sword and sorcery a hot genre!
One bit of barbarian trivia; around this time, artist John Giunta took on a 15-year old apprentice who would later illustrate many fantasy characters including Conan, Kull, John Carter of Mars, and Tarzan!
His name?
Frank Frazetta!
Next Wednesday!
A New World of Wonder!
Past, Present, or Future?
This Universe or an Alternate Reality?
The Only Way You'll Find Out is to Be HERE!

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Reading Room STRANGE WORLDS "I Was the Changing Man!"

Here's a beautifully-rendered tale by comics legend Al Williamson...

...that elevates an average tale about mind/body transfer to near-classic status!



Published in Atlas' Strange Worlds #4 (1959), the story was likely-plotted by the book's editor, Stan Lee, but the actual scripter is unknown!
Since publication, it's been reprinted, only once, and only in b/w, in the volume below...

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Thursday, June 13, 2024

Reading Room STRANGE WORLDS "End of His Service!"

...obviously the unknown scripter of this never-reprinted tale from Avon's Strange Worlds #5 (1951) never read the story,or chose to disregard the concept!
No less than three illustrators contributed to this story.
Norman Nodell did the bulk of the art, and inked the others' pages.
Those others were John Rosenberger on Page 3 and Werner Roth on Page 4.
The reason for the artist round-robin is unknown, though it was likely a tight deadline.
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Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Reading Room / Tales Thrice Told STRANGE WORLDS "I Am the Last Man on Earth!"

One thing Stan Lee was really good at was recycling plots (with minor variations)...
...as demonstrated in this first of three tales based on the same premise!
Plotted (and probably scripted) by Stan Lee, this never-reprinted story from Atlas' Strange Worlds #1 (1958) was illustrated by Silver Age mainstay Don Heck.
Yes, it's the "Adam & Eve begin a new Earth in the future/past" tale, which has become something of a cliche in sci-fi/fantasy.
But, it's some of the details that carry-over from one story to another that make this particular variation's multiple versions interesting.
Be here Thursday to see what I mean...
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EXCELSIOR!
Amazing Life of Stan Lee

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Saturday, October 21, 2023

Spooky Space Force Saturdays KENTON OF THE STAR PATROL "Monster-Men of Space!"

It's time for more spooky interstellar adventure with Kenton of the Star Patrol...
...as another talented artist takes the reins from Wally Wood and Joe Orlando for Kenton's final tale!
This Kenton story from Avon's Strange Worlds #6 (1952) is penned by Gardner Fox and rendered by Everett Raymond Kinstler, who left comics for fine art (including numerous official portraits of US Presidents).
Previous Kenton artists Joe Orlando and Wally Wood did the cover for the issue...
...but, when the cover was reused for IW/Super's Eerie #1 (1958), which contained stories from Spook Comics, the art looked decidedly-different!
Was the Eerie cover the original version, which was modified to make the alien match the Kinsler-drawn aliens?
Ironically, when the Kenton story was reprinted, it had a totally-new cover by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito featuring aliens who looked nothing like the Monster-Men...

And there's yet another twist to the tale of this tale, which we'll tell...next week, when we go from Strange Worlds and Strange Planets to Strange Galaxies!
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Volume 1
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