Monday Madness BASEBALL COMICS "Rube Rooky Climbs Up from the Pit"

Will Eisner's saga of how a baseball superstar is created continues...

...as Rube leaves his family and girlfriend to pursue his dream...

Wow!

Big-screen TV in 1949?

Who knew?

Next Week: the exciting conclusion to Rube Rooky's amazing saga!
BTW, anybody here see a parallel between Rube and a real-life ballplayer who faced similar problems being accepted by his teammates because he was "different" just a year before writer/penciler Will Eisner and inker Tex Blaisdell created this tale?

Be here in two weeks to see whom I'm talking about.

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Baseball Comics #2

(A follow-up published decades later)

Monday Madness BASEBALL COMICS "Rube Rooky"

Is there anything Will Eisner hadn't done during his long career?

He took chances experimenting with genres like this baseball-themed 1949 comic book...

...which predated a rush of sports-themed comics from various publishers the next year.

Unfortunately, the big problem with being first is that, often, the world isn't quite ready for you, and Baseball Comics lasted only one issue.

But it certainly wasn't for lack of quality, as this Eisner-written and penciled tale, inked by Tex Blaisdell, proves.

There's more to Rube Rooky's one shot at stardom, and we'll be running it here at Monday Madness for the rest of the month, so don't miss it!

(Hey, we said we're running "sports" in February!

We never said "football"!)

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Baseball Comics #2

(A follow-up published decades later)

Reading Room LEFTY FLYNN "and the Diamond Death"

Take me OUT at the ball game...

Who knew baseball could be such a violent sport?

No, you won't!

This never-reprinted story from S&S's Doc Savage Comics V1N4 (1941) was Lefty's first, last, and only appearance anywhere!

Both the writer and artist of this one-shot strip are unknown.

With the baseball season delayed due to the owners' lockout of the players, I just had the urge to re-post this tale from a far more innocent time, so here it is!
Enjoy!

Reading Room HOME RUN "Little Leagues"

With the return of fans worshipping at the temples of the National Pastime (aka "baseball stadiums")...

...we thought we'd look at the origin of how many of us (myself included) first experienced organized baseball!

There was a short-lived surge in sports-themed comic books from 1949 to 1952.

This particular one-shot from Magazine Enterprises, produced in 1952 (but published in '53), was the last gasp of that cycle.

Produced/packaged by writer/artist Bob Powell's studio, this non-fiction historical piece was typical of the high-quality material he supplied to numerous publishers including Magazine Enterprises, Street & Smith, Prize Comics, and Harvey Comics, from the mid-1940s to the early 1960s.

Reading Room LARS OF MARS "Crucial Game"

Even a Martian pretending to be a TV actor playing a Martian reveres the Great American Pastime...

...and won't allow anybody to sully or demean the sport's image...even if it means cheating to do so!

The ends justify the means even if it involves alien manipulation of peoples' minds, eh?
Great lesson for kids!
Written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, illustrated by noted DC Comics artist Murphy Anderson, this tale appeared in Ziff-Davis' Lars of Mars #11 (1951), the second (and last issue) of the series!
Considering the moral lessons the series apparently taught, perhaps it was for the best...

Visit our

MARTIANS! MARTIANS! MARTIANS!

Comic Collectibles Shop

featuring the covers of both issues of Lars of Mars!

JACKIE ROBINSON "Baseball Hero" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

Despite enduring pressure and situations that would've caused a lesser man to falter and give up, Jackie Robinson not only endures, but prospers!

His undeniable talent and skills begin to win over foes on and off the baseball diamond and an even greater joy awaits him at home...

Bonus: An ad from the comic promoting Jackie Robinson licensed products...

Imagine the reaction of racists who saw white kids wearing those items!

Written by Charles Dexter, and illustrated by an unknown artist (whom I suspect was Wayne [Superman] Boring), this book-length tale from Fawcett's Jackie Robinson (1949) detailed his life and career up to mid-1949, so it doesn't cover the even greater achievements yet to come...

Intended as a one-shot, it sold so well that it went to a bi-monthly series the next summer!

We're finishing the interrupted serialization this week in tribute to the legendary baseball player's 100th birthday!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Buy the Cover of This Never-Reprinted Issue...

...as a Collectible Poster or Print!

Digitally-restored and remastered from a scan of the actual original cover!

JACKIE ROBINSON "Baseball Hero" Part 3

When Last We Left the Legendary Jackie Robinson...

Having proven himself one of the top players in the minor leagues, Jackie Robinson is called up to begin the 1947 season at Ebbets Field for the Brooklyn Dodgers!

Be Here Thursday When Jackie Welcomes an Addition to the Family and Hits (Literally) New Professional Highs!

Written by Charles Dexter, and illustrated by an unknown artist (whom I suspect was Wayne [Superman] Boring), this book-length tale from Fawcett's Jackie Robinson (1949) detailed his life and career up to mid-1949.

Intended as a one-shot, it sold so well that it went to a bi-monthly series the next summer!

We're finishing the interrupted serialization this week in tribute to the legendary baseball player's 100th birthday!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Buy the Cover of This Never-Reprinted Issue...

...as a Collectible Poster or Print!

Digitally-restored and remastered from a scan of the actual original cover!