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!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics this Christmas!

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories
Paid Link

Reading Room: STRANGE WORLDS "Weapon Out of Time"

Barbarians, advanced technology, and beautiful, half-clad women...

...we're obviously back in the retro-cool era of the Golden Age of science fiction!

So, if the fountain was "Old Faithful", where would nearby Anthor be located?

And, what happened to Anthor and it's inhabitants, who obviously weren't around when Paleoindians first migrated across the Beringia land bridge between Asia and North America around 12,000 years ago (or earlier)?

Yeah, I know it's "just a comic book story", but I can speculate, can't I?

Was this meant to be the first in an ongoing series about Prof Chalmers and his time-viewer/matter analyzer?

Art for this wild story from Avon's Strange Worlds #2 (1951) is by Wally Wood.

The writer is unknown, but it's theorized to be Gardner Fox, who created comics' first barbarian, Crom, for Avon the previous year.

Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3
Paid Link

Reading Room WORLD OF SUSPENSE "Lead-Lined Box!"

What lay hidden in the back of Atlas' World of Suspense #5 (1956)...

...something so hideous...so terrifying...that it couldn't even be hinted at on the cover?

WOW!

I hope the SPCA or PETA never sees this tale illustrated by Chuck Miller (aka Charles F Miller)!

The writer is unknown.

Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3
Paid Link

Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3
Paid Link

Reading Room ADVENTURE INTO MYSTERY "Watcher!"

Here's a never-reprinted cautionary tale...

...from Atlas' Adventure in Mystery #7 (1957) whose "moral" is a little lost on me...

All Andrew Morris really needs is someone to doublecheck his time/space coordinates!
If he does decide to collaborate with others when he rebuilds, I'd hope he register a patent for for the system first!
Better safe, than sorry!
Marvin Stein does a fine job visualizing this tale by an unknown writer.

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Marvel Masterworks

Atlas-Era Journey into Mystery

Volume 1
Paid Link

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder AMAZING HIGH ADVENTURE "Saurian Remains"

In the 1980s, Marvel Launched a New Comic...

...an anthology dedicated to 1920s-50s pulp-style "high adventure" tales...but in comics form!













Is this fascinating tale historically-accurate?

The locations, institutions, and some of the characters are real!

There was a controversy in this era among paleontologists about properly-authenticating fossils!
But i don't know if things got as...violent...as presented here!

Only writer Stephen Perry and artist Stephen Bissette (along with Rick Veitch) would knoe the answer, and they've kept mum since the story's sole publication in Marvel's Amazing High Adventure #4 (1986).
And, if they've kept quiet for almost four decades, I doubt they'll blab about it now...

Segueing into a sorta-related topic...publishing paleontology...

Since coming across (and reading) the entire five-issue run, I've found some really kool material by both well-known pros and some up-and-comers, along with a couple of established foreign creatives who don't get enough attention in the Americas!
And it's all OOP/never-reprinted material that deserves your attention!
So, for the rest of the year, Wednesday Worlds of Wonder will re-present these thrilling tales to an audience that likely didn't even know they existed!

We hope you'll enjoy them!

Space Force Saturdays ALIEN ENCOUNTERS "Earth Invasion"

There's a twist ending to this alien invasion tale you won't see coming...

...if you're under 35!

I'm serious!

Ah, video arcades...

Kids today have no idea how important those darkened chambers filled with video consoles and pinball machines were to us in the pre-XBox/PlayStation/Nintendo days...and how much money we spent, quarter-by-quarter, in them!

Yeah, there's still Chuck E Cheese, Dave & Busters, and their ilk, but those are kiddie venues!

Written by Larry Shell and illustrated by Steve (Swamp Thing) Bissette, this never-reprinted tale from FantaCo's Alien Encounters one-shot (1981) captures the long-lost era perfectly.

Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Encyclopedia of Arcade Video Games
Paid Link

Frightful Friday Fun CRAZY "Drag-ula!"

No, it's not a tale of a transvestite Transylvanian...

...(that's Rocky Horror Picture Show) but our final Dracula tale is a humorous look at the original "bat man" from Atlas' CRAZY #2 (1954)

As was usual with the lead tale in Atlas' CRAZY, this tale was lovingly-rendered by the amazing Bill Everett!

Heck, Bill might even have written it, since he had a number of scripting credits already!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Sincerest Form of Parody
Paid Link

Spooky Space Force Saturdays JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS "Planet of Terror!"

 Our Final Halloween-Horror Themed Tale is Illustrated by Basil Wolverton...

...but likely not scripted by him!

Even the Grand Comics Database, which normally attributes scripting of Basil's tales to him is uncertain what to make of this somewhat disorienting ending! of this sinister story from Atlas' Journey into Unknown Worlds #7 (1951)!

You'll note the inset art for the story on the cover, by an unknown artist, has none of the elements of the tale itself!

What's the truth?

We'll likely never know...

Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Brain Bats of Venus

Life and Comics of Basil Wolverton

Volume Two

1942-1952
Paid Link