Showing posts with label Wednesday Worlds of Wonder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wednesday Worlds of Wonder. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder DUKE Ray Bradbury's "The Last White Man"

From the first issue of a long out-of-print 1950s Playboy competitor comes this Ray Bradbury tale...
...which was presented only once with this title!
Intended as one of several new stories to link previously-published Mars tales in the now-legendary anthology The Martian Chronicles (1950), specifically as a sequel to "Way in the Middle of the Air", it was delayed due to editorial requests for revisions and ended up initially-appearing in 1951 in a non-science fiction magazine dedicated to short stories in every genre as "The Other Foot"...
...before finally making its' appearance in a later, equally-legendary Bradbury anthology in 1951...
How did this unusual retitling come about?
In 1957, with Playboy dominating the newsstands, a new publisher introduced an African-American counterpart called Duke, which featured Black creatives and cheesecake models.
(The centerfold models were called "Duchesses"!)
Along with acclaimed Black writers Langston Hughes, Erskine Caldwell, and Chester Hines, the premiere issue featured Ray Bradbury's short story "The Other Foot", now entitled "The Last White Man"!
Unlike most of Bradbury's works, this tale has, to date, never been adapted into any other media!
(Sadly, Duke only lasted six issues.)
AFAIK, the only time "The Other Foot/The Last White Man" has ever been cover-featured was in a rare, limited-run book produced by, of all companies, Xerox, in 1967!
Try finding a copy of it at a reasonable price (or even a clean scan of the cover)!
Note: The story this tale was a sequel to; "Way in the Middle of the Air" was also re-titled "The Day Negroes Left Earth".
Duke published it in their third issue...which you'll see next Wednesday!
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Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder GRAPHIC SHOWCASE "Eyes of Mars" Part 3

When Last We Left an Earthman (not named John Carter) on Mars...

...well, now that you know what's going on...jump in!
Sadly, there was no fourth installment!
Happily, writer-artist Michael Kaluta went on to become a full-time comics/sci-fi illustrator, becoming the definitive comic artist for The Shadow...
...as well as working on actual Edgar Rice Burroughs interplanatary fantasy, but not John Carter of Mars...

...but Carson of Venus which you can read by clicking HERE!
Next Wednesday...a new World of Wonder!

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Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder GRAPHIC SHOWCASE "Eyes of Mars" Part 2

We Have Already Seen...

...disturbed that, due to the development of warp drive, Earth's scientists are bypassing the planets of the Solar System as uninhabitable, Lt Cezer Leason, a pilot in the Space Patrol, steals his scout craft and heads to Mars!
His ship damaged by a meteor storm, Leason crashes on the surface of the Red Planet and discovers it is, in fact, inhabited!
Rescued by two rebel warriors, he and his new-found friends are captured and brought before the beautiful Queen of Mars...
To Be Continued...Next Wednesday
As we explained previously; the Edgar Rice Burroughs-inspired creator of this story from CCCS's Graphic Showcase #2 (1967) is none other than Mike (The Shadow) Kaluta!
The strip was probably intended as weekly installments in a high-school/college paper, but was repurposed for use in the fanzine.

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Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder GRAPHIC SHOWCASE "Eyes of Mars" Part 1

 In the pre-Internet days...

...comic creator wanna-bes had to print samples of their work in "fanzines", then sell them at comic conventions and through mailing lists.
Here's the very first published efforts of a wanna-be who made good...
The Edgar Rice Burroughs-inspired creator of this story from CCCS's Graphic Showcase #1 (1967) is none other than Mike (The Shadow) Kaluta!
The strip was probably intended as weekly installments in a high-school/college paper, but was repurposed for use in the fanzine.
Graphic Showcase ran three issues, with "Eyes of Mars" appearing in all three.
You'll see them over the next two weeks...
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Volume 1
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Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder THE ODYSSEY "Conclusion"

We Have Already Seen...

...trying to return to Ithica after a long conflict with Troy, Odysseus and his crew faced numerous dangers and terrors, overcoming them one-by-one for two long decades, but losing fellow travelers at each stage until only Odysseus himself reaches the shores of his homeland...
Based on the classic story by Homer, this adaptation, scripted by Bill Mantlo and penciled/inked by Jess Jodloman appeared in Marvel Classic Comics #18 (1977).

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Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder THE ODYSSEY "Part 3"

...they were about to be drowned in a whirlpool!
To Be Concluded, Next Wednesday!

Based on the classic story by Homer, this adaptation, scripted by Bill Mantlo and penciled/inked by Jess Jodloman appeared in Marvel Classic Comics #18 (1977).

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