Reading Room OUT OF THIS WORLD "Antique Collectors"

What's "antique" really depends on your point of view...

...as this tiny tale (from 1959) demonstrates!

Cars from 1959 are extremely collectible now, and it's only 66 years later!

Both the writer and artist of this story from Charlton's Out of This World #13 (1959) are, sadly, unknown.

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Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

Space Force Saturdays ROCKY JONES: SPACE RANGER "Forbidden Frequency"

With so much modulated energy (wi-fi, digital tv, am-fm, etc) floating in the ether...

...I'm truly surprised something like this hasn't come to pass by 2012!

Or...has it?

The concept of subliminal programming goes back to the 1860s.

Usually, it involves audio or visual stimulation beyond human perception, but in this case, it's an energy frequency that interferes with the human mind's function.

Queen Cleolanthe was the ongoing villainess on the Rocky Jones series...

Played with fun "bad girl" panache by Patsy Parsons, Cleolanthe both fought against Rocky and was uncontrollably-drawn to him!

Note: From Flash Gordon and Princess Aura to Rocky Jones and Cleolanthe to James T Kirk and (insert Girl of the Week here), scantly-clad space babes just can't resist square-jawed Earthmen on tv and in movies!

(Not that I'm complaining...)

This story from Charlton's Space Adventures #16 (1955) was illustrated by Ted Galindo and Ray Osrin.
The writer is unknown.
Almost all of the Rocky Jones tv episode-compilation movies are available on inexpensive DVDs and two of them Crash of the Moons and Manhunt in Space were roasted on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Rocky Jones will return in the near future...

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Rocky Jones: Space Ranger Collection

Featuring Six Three-Episode Compilation Movies

(That's almost half the TV series in one set!)

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Reading Room OUT OF THIS WORLD "What Happened?"

It's a question I've groggily-asked on more than one New Year's Day...

...but here it's the title of an example of classic Ditko storytelling!

Most likely scripted by Joe Gill, this taut tale from Charlton's Out of This World #3 (1957) is one of those fun "gotcha" shorts in the vein of both EC Comics' sci-fi line and, later, TV's The Twilight Zone.

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Unexplored Worlds

Steve Ditko Archives, Vol 2

Reading Room SPACE ADVENTURES "You Are the Jury"

We Close Out 2024 with a Trial...

...unlike any we've ever seen...with the stakes being the survival of the planet Earth, itself!

What would you decide, considering the state of the planet (and the USA) as of December 31, 2024?

Illustrated by Steve Ditko and scripted by an unknown writer, this tale from Charlton's Space Adventures V1N11 (1954) presents an interesting dilemma.

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Steve Ditko Archives Vol 1

Strange Suspense

(Which reprints this story)

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Space Force Saturdays ROCKY JONES: SPACE RANGER "Velocity X"

"Warp drive" didn't begin with Star Trek...

but lightspeed (or faster) travel was a rarity in 1950s' tv science fiction, where rockets dominated the skies!

Of all the 1950s Space Heroes we present here, Rocky Jones seems closest to the most famous tv Space Hero of all--Capt James T Kirk!

While the credits for this story from Charlton's Space Adventures #15 (1955) list Ted Galindo and Vince Alascia as the artists, there's enough difference from the other stories credited to them for me to believe it's actually Alden McWilliams.

Rocky Jones will return in the near future...

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Rocky Jones: Space Ranger Collection

Featuring Six Three-Episode Compilation Movies

(That's almost half the TV series in one set!)

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Reading Room / Tales Twice Told THIS IS SUSPENSE "Short Step to Oblivion"

 We saw this tale of terror and justice uncut in Part 1...

Now let's see how it looked after the Comics Code Authority took their censoring scissors to the reprinted version...

The knife, seen in panels 5-7 on the original page, is now missing!

The knife in panels 3 and 5 is missing in the reprint page!

Despite being removed from the previous pages, the knife is shown to be the murder weapon!

But how did the knife get there if it was deleted from the earlier pages?

Ruth's word balloon in the last panel is rewritten to eliminate reference to the knife shown on the original page!

Why is Ruth screaming?

It's not like there's a dead body, like there was in the original page!

Why did the villain fall to his death?

Maybe it's the fact that Holiday shot him in the original version of the first panel!

This Comics Code Authority-eviscerated reprint appeared in Charlton's This is Suspense # 24 (1955).

The writer is unknown and the illustrator is George Evans.

A comic with no more violence or blood than a TV cop show of the period is gutted by the CCA to Protect the Morals of the Youth of America.

Take a good look at your parents.

Did it work?

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Ten-Cent Plague

The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America

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Space Force Saturdays SPACE RANGERS "...Battle the Mad-Man of Mars"

In the '50s you couldn't swing a dead Slime-Cat without hitting an interplanetary policeman...

...so here's the first appearance of Charlton's contribution to the mayhem from Space Adventures #1 (1952)!

At this point, the strip is called "Space Rangers", but that won't last long.

In #2, field commander, Rex Clive takes top billing, which is retitled "Rex Clive and His Space Officers".

Then it becomes just "Rex Clive" until it's final appearance in #7.

Ironically, as of #15, Space Adventures began a new strip adapting a hot new tv show...Rocky Jones: Space Ranger!

I don't think Rex Clive would've found that turn of events amusing...

Illustrated by Lou Morales.

The writer is unknown.

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Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3
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