Wednesday Worlds of Wonder DUKE Ray Bradbury's "The Day Negroes Left Earth!"

Last Week, We Re-Presented Ray Bradbury's "The Last White Man"...

...so today we present the prequel to that tale...which was published after the other story!

This story, better known as "Way in the Middle of the Air", premiered in Other Worlds (July 1950) before being anthologized in The Martian Chronicles.

Duke, a Playboy competitor aimed at Black audiences published "The Other Foot" under the title "The Last White Man" in their premiere issue as we detailed HERE, but didn't run this prequel to it until their third issue in 1957, nor did they provide any introduction or editorial context to the story this time!

There's a scholarly article about "Way.../Day..." HERE which make no mention of this version of the story, but does state it has been left out of recent editions of Martian Chronicles!

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Tomorrow Midnight

Adaptations of Ray Bradbury's sci-fi stories from EC Comics!

Plus a new cover by Frank Frazetta

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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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Tomorrow Midnight

Adaptations of Ray Bradbury's sci-fi stories from EC Comics!

Plus a new cover by Frank Frazetta
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Friday Fun FAST WILLIE JACKSON "Jabar in 'No Way Out' "

In the 1970s, there was an Archie-style comic aimed at Black audiences...

...from the publishers of the Golden Legacy series which featured factual stories about Black historical figures!

Though it looks like it, Fast Willie Jackson was not published  by Archie Comics, but by Black-owned publisher Fitzgerald Publications who had previously published the Golden Legacy non-fiction comic series about Black history.

Fast Willie was their entry into the mass-market comics market.

Though not Comics Code-approved, it received newsstand distribution, and sales were climbing for each successive issue.

Unfortunately, it reached break-even only with the seventh (and final) issue, when other matters caused Fitzgerald Publications to cease producing new material for an extended period.
When Fitzgerald briefly resumed publishing, Fast Willie was not among the titles.

Written by publisher/editor Bertram Fitzgerald, illustrated by "Gus LeMoine".

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Black Comics

Politics of Race and Representation
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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder WEIRD FANTASY "Judgement Day"

This 1950s comics tale is considered the gold standard in utilizing a sci-fi motif for social commentary...

...rightfully-so, I must say!

Perhaps it's a tad slow-paced, even pedantic, by today's standards and the pay-off isn't as shocking as you might expect, but this oft-reprinted tale by writer Al Feldstein, artist Joe Orlando and colorist Marie Severin from EC's Weird Fantasy #18 (1953) was quite controversial when it first appeared.
Even when it was reprinted in the Comics Code-approved Incredible Science Fiction #33 (1956), it caused hassles.
The Code wanted Tarlton changed to a White guy!
Publisher Bill Gaines refused!
The Code tried to get EC to, at least, remove the beads of sweat from Tarlton's brow!
Bill Gaines, again, refused!
The Code refused to approve the comic.
Gaines said he didn't care.
As it was, "Judgement Day" was a reprint fill-in for a new story ("An Eye for an Eye") the Code refused to approve, and, since it was EC's last color comic ever, they'd print it without the Code stamp.
The Code gave in and approved the reprint without changes.

No less a personage than Ray Bradbury praised "Judgement Day" effusively in the final letter (among many...except one...that praised the tale) in Cosmic Correspondence...

Public praise from one of the Masters of Science Fiction/Fantasy!

Can't argue with that...

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Judgement Day and Other Stories
Illustrated by Joe Orlando

Fantagraphics' EC Comics Library
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Friday Fun ACE OF SPADES! The Swinging Seventies Black Super-Hero You NEVER Heard of...

 In 1971, two years before The Black Panther received his own series...

...a Black Super-Hero hit the newsstands of America for a two-issue run almost nobody remembers!

Who is he?

Where did he come from?

And why don't even the most obsessive comics fans remember him?

These, and other equally-valid questions are now answered at...

Not Safe for Work Comics!
In a Two-Part Post!
Part 1
Part 2

Warning!

The Answers May NOT Be Suitable For the Faint-Hearted!

Click at Your Own Risk!

Because Tomorrow is Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day...MAD "Stokley and Bess"

Before we begin the re-presentation of this never-reprinted tale adapting...

...I sincerely suggest anybody under 45 check out the links to these people...

Stokely Carmichael

Dick Gregory

Adam Clayton Powell

and this musical...

Porgy & Bess

...before proceeding.

I'll take it as given that even the youngest among you know who Malcolm X, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and Muhammad Ali/Cassius Clay are...

Is there a reason this particular tale by writer Larry Siegel and illustrator Mort Drucker from MAD #111 (1967) has never been reprinted?

Was it controversial?

Did it generate too much negative reader response?

One thing's for sure...it wouldn't be done in today's cultural climate!

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Porgy and Bess

(note: requires region-free DVD player since it's an import disc)

The movie's NEVER been released in the US on DVD or BluRay!
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Friday Fun / Baker Reading Room MGM's LASSIE "Down to the Sea"

As a dog owner, I say, there's nothing more fun than a playful dog!

Especially one who can do almost anything, except administer CPR!

Note: the b/w page is the comic's inside back cover, which was usually b/w or two-color.
The last page is the comic's back cover!

After the last movie in the original series came out in 1951, the comic continued, with Lassie linked to new humans, including photographer Rocky Langford and his girlfriend Gerry Lawrence on their trip to South America!

Penciled by Matt Baker and inked by long-time artistic partner Ray Osrin (who inked, among other Baker stories, It Rhymes with Lust), this tale from Dell's MGM's Lassie #20 (1955) is from the first issue of Matt's three-issue tenure as the feature's primary artist.

The writer is unknown.

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Matt Baker

Art of Glamour