Showing posts with label Ziff-Davis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ziff-Davis. Show all posts

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Reading Room EERIE ADVENTURES "Vampires from Venus!"

 It's Freezing, Windy, and Snowy Outside...

...perfect weather for a tale about an invasion by aliens from a hot and steamy planet!


This 1951 tale combining mobila, lethal plants (based on the Triffids from the novel Day of the Triffids which had just been published) and vampires (with their classic weakness, sunlight) from the Ziff-Davis one-shot Eerie Adventures was illustrated by Bob Powell and Howard Nostrand.
The writer is unknown.
Eerie Adventures used leftover material from the recently-cancelled Amazing Adventures with an attempt to market it as horror rather than sci-fi/fantasy.
Only one issue was published as the title was dropped by Ziff-Davis to avoid legal action by Avon who already had an ongoing Eerie comics title.
ZD then did a Weird Adventures one-shot, which sold well, but discovered there was already a title with the same name from PL Publishing which debuted the month before!
So ZD retitled their book Weird Thrillers, before PL could take legal action.
The series ran five more issues before the Dr Wertham-led Seduction of the Innocent witch-hunt forced the cancellation of all horror-related comic books.
(Ironically, the PL series only ran two more issues before the entire company folded.)
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Thursday, January 8, 2026

Reading Room CRUSADER FROM MARS COMICS "Escape to Nowhere"

The idea that we should leave Earth before atomic war destroys it is not new...
...nor is the "surprise ending" to this never-reprinted backup tale from Ziff-Davis' Crusader from Mars #1 (1952)
"You blew it up!
Damn you!
Damn you all to hell!"
Almost two decades before Rod Serling had Charlton Heston scream those words to the sky at the conclusion of Planet of the Apes, artist Mike Becker and an unknown writer presented a much more mellow discovery by space travelers returning to Earth centuries in the future!
The script may be by editor Jerry (Superman) Siegel...
Mike Becker illustrated over 100 crime, horror, romance, sci-fi, sports, spy, war and western stories for various publishers including Timely, Ziff-Davis, Hillman, Youthful, and Nedor/Better/Standard from 1948 through 1956.
What happened after that is, regrettably, unknown.
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Friday, December 26, 2025

Friday Holiday Fun CHRISTMAS CARNIVAL "Saint George and the Dragons"

You Likely Read the Title and Wondered...

...what do dragons have to do with Christmas???
Don't worry, it'll all make sense by the end...





Illustrated by an anonymous artist who signed himself/herself as "Flip", this tale from  Ziff-Davis' Christmas Carnival (1952) hasn't been seen since its' only reprinting in 1955 when St John Publishing, who bought all of the assets of Ziff-Davis Comics when the comic division folded, reprinted the entire 100-page issue!
"Flip" worked in comics, doing funny animal and humor stories for Ziff-Davis and Toby, over a two year period before leaving the industry.
Where (s)he was before comics and where (s)he went after comics is a mystery we'll likely never solve...

Friday, December 19, 2025

Friday Holiday Fun CHRISTMAS CARNIVAL "Wolf Who Didn't Believe in Santa Claus"

Here's a Yuletide Tale I Can Guarantee  You've Never  Read...
...unless you're over 75, involving four of the most famous characters in fairy tales!

This combo of Yuletide and children's fantasy, unseen since the 1950s, appeared in Ziff-Davis' one-shot 100-page Christmas Carnival (1952)!
Sadly, the writer and artist (or writer and artists or writer/artist) is unknown, since few records still exist after Ziff-Davis, which is still publishing other magazines, closed the comics division in 1957, selling most of its' assets (both published and unpublished material) to St John Publishing, which itself closed up shop in 1959!

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Friday, December 12, 2025

Friday Holiday Fun CHRISTMAS CARNIVAL "Santa's Red Red Nose"

What happens if Kris Kringle gets sick on Christmas Eve?
This tale from St John's Christmas Carnival (1952) 100-page one-shot gives you the answer!
It was all a dream!
Thank Heavens!
The thought of a Christmas without Santa is just too much to bear! ;-)
This tale (and the entire Christmas Carnival 100-page 25-cent book) were published twice!
Once in 1952 by Ziff-Davis and again in 1955 by St John Publishing, which bought the Ziff-Davis comics line's material when the publisher liquidated that division after the "Seduction of the Innocent" witch hunt!
Ironic, since Ziff-Davis Comics was one of the least-offensive publishers on the magazine racks!
The writer and artist(s) are unknown.

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Friday, December 5, 2025

Friday Holiday Fun CHRISTMAS CARNIVAL "Twas the Night Before Christmas and All Through the House..."

It's a pretty long title for a one-pager...
...but the pay-off makes it worthwhile!
The writer and artist for this piece from the one-shot anthology Christmas Carnival (published by Ziff-Davis in 1952 and reprinted by St John in 1955) are, sadly, unknown.
But we didn't want this piece, unseen for 70 years, to be forgotten...so here it is for your enjoyment!
In fact, since this 100-page comic hasn't been reprinted in almost 3/4 of a century, we're going to run more material from it for the rest of December, with the finale on the day after Christmas being a story by Dave (MAD magazine) Berg!
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Thursday, November 20, 2025

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.
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Saturday, November 15, 2025

Space Force Saturdays PERIMETER PATROL SEVICE "City of Light"

 Much of early pulp/comic sci-fi utilized military or police organizations in their stories...
...including this tale from Ziff-Davis' Amazing Adventures #6 (1952) which featured members of the "Perimeter Patrol Service" in their third (and last) appearance!
Perhaps Don da Con was remembering a tale like this one when he "brainstormed" Space Force!
Though the writer is unknown, the art is attributed to Henry Sharp, who moved to comics from pulp magazines in 1951 and from comics to television in 1955.
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