Showing posts with label Weird Thrillers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weird Thrillers. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Reading Room: WEIRD THRILLERS "Last Man"

Who will bury...
...and how the hell did Dan Vickerson end up in a situation like this?
The answer will startle you...

This tale from Ziff-Davis' Weird Thrillers #2 (1951) was illustrated by Henry Sharp, who worked for Ziff-Davis  St John (who hired a lot of Ziff-Davis' writers and artists when Z-D went under) and DC Comics from 1951 to 1957.
The writer is unknown.

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Thursday, September 2, 2021

Reading Room WEIRD THRILLERS "Menace of R Day"

In the 1950s, it was thought that war could be ended by 1999...
...and that other menaces would threaten the Earth, instead!
This somewhat-hokey, but entertaining, sci-fi tale from Ziff-Davis' Weird Thrillers #1 (1951) was both penciled and inked by Ross Andru.
Andru would later partner with Mike Esposito with Ross as the penciler and Mike doing the inking.
Whether this was because Esposito was faster at inking than Ross, or Andru enjoyed doing only pencils is unknown.
Considering Andru seemed pretty damn good at inking, it's a pity he eventually gave it up.
BTW, the writer of this never-reprinted tale of mechanical mayhem is unknown.
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Friday, February 14, 2020

Friday Fun WEIRD THRILLERS "Princess of the Sea"

Though the cover may not look like it, this is a love story...
Art by Allen Anderson
...so it's a perfect post for Valentine's Day, 2020!
Well, it sure ain't Little Mermaid, or even Splash!
Penciled by Dan Barry and inked by Frank Giacoia, the writer of this tale of love beneath the waves from Ziff-Davis' Weird Thrillers #3 (1952) is, sadly, unknown.
Note: when the story was reprinted in the Eclipse one-shot anthology Weird Romance (1988), it was again featured on the cover...
...also by an artist named "Anderson", but in this case it was Brent (no relation to Allen) Anderson!
Bonus Note: For an earlier reprinting, in St John's Nightmare #13 (1954), a new cover was provided by noted Black artist Matt Baker...
...who was best-known for his "good girl" art, but could handle any genre, including sci-fi and horror, with finesse!
❤︎HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!❤︎
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Saturday, January 4, 2020

Reading Room WEIRD THRILLERS "Cycle of Time!"

Here's a sci-fi triple-treat: time travel, aliens, and dinosaurs!
This kool tale appeared in the HTF Ziff-Davis' anthology Weird Thrillers #2 (1951)!
Illustrated by Murphy Anderson, who was doing quite a bit of work for Z-D including the second issue of Space Busters and both issues of Lars of Mars as well as various one-shots like this.
We don't know who wrote this tale, but it might be series editor Jerry (Superman) Siegel.

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Reading Room WEIRD THRILLERS "Shadow on the Screen!"

For all those whose parents told them "TV is bad for you"...
...and "comics are bad for you", well, they were right, as this comic tale about TV proves!
This tale from Ziff-DavisWeird Thrillers #3 (1952) was illustrated by Bob Powell.
Powell, besides being a gifted illustrator was also a pioneer in the use of "color holds" in comic books.
The same technique he used on the tv screen was also used in a tale of radio and pulp hero The Shadow HERE, taking artwork that normally would be black-line and making it one of the color plates.
It was a very tricky thing to do back in those days since the interior pages were almost never proofed due to time and cost restraints.
But, Powell does some amazing things with the holds, making them line up exactly almost all the time!
Sadly, the writer of the story is, as in so many cases, unknown...
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Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Reading Room WEIRD THRILLERS "Fisherman of Space"

Weird Thrillers was a 1950s sci-fi comic with painted covers...
Art by Allen Anderson
..which helped set the Ziff-Davis comic series apart from others on the newsstands!
All Ziff-Davis comics, no matter the genre, had painted covers, usually by the same artists who did cover art for their large pulp magazine line.
(Avon Comics also used paintings from time-to-time, but not throughout the line, and not on a consistent basis.)
Z-D was a latecomer to the comics business, publishing their first title in 1950 and canceling most titles by the end of 1952, continuing one book, G.I. Joe, until 1957.
During the comic division's brief existence, Z-D published over fifty titles, mostly one-shots and two-issue runs, covering every genre in fiction...except superheroes!
(The closest they came to superheroes were Lars of Mars and Crusader from Mars, both of whom were Martians operating undercover on Earth, and neither lasted past their second issue.)
Weird Thrillers (and it's one-shot predecessor Weird Adventures) ran a total of six issues.
Here's an example of why they lasted longer than most other Z-D titles...
This time-traversing tale from Weird Thrillers #2 (1951) was penciled by Alex Toth and inked by Sy Barry.
The writer is unknown, which is a shame, since it's a decent story with a clever, scientifically-accurate solution.