Baker Reading Room OUT OF THIS WORLD "Spymaster"

With a cover by Dick Giordano...

...and interiors by Matt Baker, this never-reprinted tale from 1959 has a moral that'll be lost on most of the readers of 2021!

If retold in the cynical, dog-eat-dog world of 2021, the "big chain" drugstore would be welcomed with open arms since its' prices would be lower, the little drugstore would be driven out of business, and the Earth would fall under alien control...

An ironic lesson in lost morality originally-published in Charlton's Out of This World #14 (1959) by writer Joe Gill, penciler Matt Baker and inker Vince Colletta.
We're giving artist Matt Baker his own "Reading Room" during Black History Month to showcase his amazing illustrating versatility!

Horror, war, romance, sci-fi, crime...there was nothing he couldn't draw!
One of the few Black artists of the Golden and Silver Ages, Matt drew only one Black character in his own strip...Voodah, whom he co-created.
you can read his premiere adventure HERE!

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Matt Baker

Art of Glamour

Reading Room SPACE ADVENTURES "Jealousy on Kano"

One of comics legend Bernie Krigstein's few non-EC art jobs...

...which was probably unused material that Charlton purchased when they bought out some of Ziff-Davis' inventory when the company closed their comics division in 1953.

Note Panel 3 from the last page.
Though there's a ZZZAAAAB! sound effect, and Dr Lexikon slumps over, there's no ray from the gun or impact on his body.
This was not an uncommon edit on material produced before the Comics Code went into effect, but published after companies complied with its' rules.
Though not explicitly-stated in the very generic regulations, one request the Code made to publishers was to not show a gun or bow being fired and the victim of the shot in the same panel.
This was relaxed a couple of years later for ray guns or other fantasy weapons, but not for bows, crossbows, guns, or other realistic weapons.
The rule of thumb was, if a kid could imitate it using a real weapon, don't show it.
From Charlton's Space Adventures #16 (1955), it has the same look as Kreigstein's Ziff-Davis SpaceBusters or Space Patrol material from the early 1950s, not his much tighter and more-detailed EC work!
It's also his only artwork published by Charlton.

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Messages in a Bottle

Comic Book Stories by B Krigstein

Monday Madness UNUSUAL TALES "Man Who Could See Tomorrow"

When you want a tale that exemplifies "madness" visually...

...it's hard to go wrong with Steve (Doctor Strange) Ditko!

Originally-appearing in Charlton's Unusual Tales #7 (1957), this simple (but effective) story by writer Joe Gill and illustrator Steve Ditko leaves the reader wanting more.

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Steve Ditko Archives Vol 1

Strange Suspense

Reading Room OUTER SPACE "Third Planet"

Some stories are truly a "product of their time"...

...such as this Silver Age story that reflects the pacifist attitudes of the 18-30 year-olds of the era.

That's how the tale ended in the idealistic 1960s.

If they re-did it today, in the far more cynical 2020s, one (or both) commanders would have had a strike force ready to attack the second the other side disarmed.

This tale from the Charlton one-shot Outer Space (1968) was illustrated by Pat Boyette.

As to who wrote it, it could have been Boyette (who had already proven himself as a writer with several stories for Charlton's anthologies as well as a couple of issues of Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt), or Joe Gill, who co-created several pacifist heroes including Peacemaker with Boyette, and GunMaster with Dick Giordano!

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Mysteries in Space

The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder / CoronaVirus Comics SPACE ADVENTURES "Tale About Time: There Shall Be an Ending!"

When Last We Left Our Hero...

...reporter Paul Mann is plucked from 1967 by the Esroms, peaceful humans from the year 4000 AD who travel in time machine/spacecraft that are mistaken for "flying saucers".

Mann and the Esroms pursue the Honjnosians (evil humans also from 4000 AD) to the time before the Big Bang when Paul falls out of the ship into the ether of the pre-universe...

Remember, Bronsky's diagram was for a bioweapon, specifically an unstoppable plague!

You'll note the use of the "breaking the fourth wall" storytelling technique with Mann addressing the reader directly in several panels, (with one panel of other characters thinking Paul's a bit looney).

Denny O'Neil using his "Sergius O'Shaughnessy" pseudonym scripted this conclusion to the book-length tale from Space Adventures V2#2 (1968).
The art is by the highly-underrated Pat Boyette with what looks like minor redrawing by Jim Aparo in several panels featuring Paul Mann to maintain visual continuity.
Sadly, there were no further adventures of Mann and the men from 4000 AD...

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Injection

Volume 1

(which shares a number of plot elements with this story)

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder / CoronaVirus Comics SPACE ADVENTURES "Tale About Time: Race to the End of Time"

We have Already Seen...

...actually, the characters are handling the plot synopsis shtick pretty well, so I'll just let them explain...

Not to be negative (ouch), but things aren't looking good for Paul Mann.

If you want to see how he escapes from the edge of Time and Space, be here next Wednesday!

Denny O'Neil (using his "Sergius O'Shaughnessy" pseudonom) scripted this "part 2 of 3" in Space Adventures #V2N2 (1968).

No, that's not a typo.

This is "Volume 2" of Space Adventures, which had been cancelled the year before with #60!

However, while this is Vol 2, #2, it's the first issue of the revival since there was no Vol 2 #1!

(Geez, the time travel paradoxes in this story are easier to explain than comic book numbering!)

The amazing art is by none other than Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange!

At this point, Ditko had left Marvel and was freelancing for Charlton, Tower, ACG, and Warren, working in every genre imaginable, producing some of the best work of his career, much of which has, sadly, not been reprinted!

BTW, you may have noticed that the primary plot from the first tale...

...biological warfare, has been left by the wayside, in order to simplify the synopsis!

(Remember, there's a year-long gap between the original issues in 1967-68, not just a couple of weeks)

But you and we know that plot element's there, and it's the subtext for the remainder of this saga!

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Injection

Volume 1

(which shares a number of plot elements with this story)