Showing posts with label comic books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comic books. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Twice-Told Tale of Terror INVASION!

One of the best-known Mars invasion tales is Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio show...
Edited version
...which this twice-told tale "updates" to the television era!
But, it's radically-altered from it's first appearance, and the original version had never been reprinted!
First the toned-down version, then the original, scarier version...
Original version
 Note in the original version, both the wife and singer on tv show a lot more cleavage!
Edited version
Original version
Again, more cleavage in the original version...
Edited version
Original version
Oddly enough, the wife's cleavage is unchanged, but the look of terror in the last panel is toned down!
Edited version
Original version

Panel four in the original version is much more gruesome than the edited version. 
Note the dialogue balloon is 
unchanged, even though there's no actual weapons fire in the edited version!

Edited version
 This last page is radically-different! Prepare yourself!
Ready?
Proceed...but remember, I warned you...
Original version
Wow!
The edited pages were from Harvey's Race for the Moon #1 (1958), which was reprinted in Harvey's Shocking Tales Digest #1 (1981)
The original, never-reprinted, story was from Harvey's Witches' Tales #21 (1953)
As you can see, the Comics Code Authority insisted on some major redos, including most of the last page!
What do you think, fans?
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Terror
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Saturday, September 27, 2025

Space Hero Saturdays CRUSADER FROM MARS "Mission Through Space"

Lars of Mars wasn't the only Martian Sent to Fight Evil on Earth by Jerry (Superman) Siegel!
This guy, along with a female "friend and companion" was sent to Earth to do similar work...but for a very different reason!
If I follow the "logic" of this concept correctly, the Martians send a proven murderer (along with someone who may be either an accessory to murder or an innocent who had nothing to do with the crime except having a murderer obsessed with her) to fight evil on Earth.
Send a convicted killer with emotional control issues (and advanced weaponry) to a primitive planet and tell him to clean it up?
And then, when he screws up. send a fleet of flying saucers in to straighten out the mess.
(Martians apparently don't have a non-interference Prime Directive.)
Also note that the American military seems to be made up of idiot bureaucrats!
The writer for this premiere tale from Crusader from Mars #1 (1952) is unknown, but probably is the book's editor, Jerry (Superman) Siegel, who co-created another short-lived Martian crime-fighter, Lars of Mars, the year before.
The artist is believed to be Marvin Stein, but the layouts have a strong Jack Kirby feel to them.
Considering Stein was doing a lot of work for the Simon/Kirby studio at the time, and Jack was reputed to be very generous in terms of helping his friends, it seems likely he provided roughs for Stein to render full pencils and inks over.
BTW, you may note that Tarka wears a very Superman-style costume in this tale, but on the cover, and in the next (and last) issue, the colors are reversed.
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Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Reading Room FANTASTIC WORLDS "Boy Who Saved the World!"

The short-lived anthology Fantastic Worlds featured Earth-based stories...
...contrasting with the other anthology from Standard ComicsLost Worlds, which was a space-opera book.

This superb kid-friendly tale from Standard's Fantastic Worlds #6 (1952) was drawn by Alex Toth and Mike Peppe, though the writer is unknown.

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Sunday, September 21, 2025

Enjoy an Autumnal ADVENTURE IN ROMANCE with "September Squall"

Since it's September and the cold winds are beginning to blow...
...we thought we'd re-present one of the few romance comic stories actually tied-in with the season from an experimental magazine-sized comic book which featured romance stories with high adventure, historical, and Western tales in a kool cross-genre mash-up!

Saturday, September 20, 2025

Space Force Saturdays PERIMETER PATROL SERVICE "Space Pirates on Xarpot"

Space police/military organizations were ubiquitous in 1950s sci-fi...

...and this story was the second one featuring the short-lived Perimeter Patrol Service.
You can read their premiere tale HERE!
BTW, note the painted cover is by the story's illustrator, Bernie Krigstein...who rarely did painted covers!
Considering the three tales were done by the artists who also did SpaceBusters, we wonder if this was intended as a backup series for that title.
This never-reprinted story from Ziff-Davis' Amazing Adventures #6 (1952) is a superb example of pulp/comic space opera of the era with all the classic elements:
Scantly-clad women!
Square-jawed heroes!
Rockets & ray-guns!
And, instead of bug-eyed monsters...space pirates!
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(either for yourself, or as a gift for a con friend/relative)

Thursday, September 4, 2025

Reading Room / Tales Twice Told TALES OF THE WATCHER "Why Won't They Believe Me?"

...now let's look at the expanded and enhanced rendition!
Scripted by Stan (the Man) Lee, penciled by Gene (the Dean) Colan, and inked by Paul (no nickname) Reinman, this double-length version of the story from the back of Marvel's Silver Surfer V1N3 (1969) has a lot more humor and a bigger build-up to the switch-ending than the original!
BTW, almost all the "Tales of the Watcher" that appeared during the Silver Surfer book's 48-page incarnation (which lasted for the first seven issues before becoming a "regular" 32-page magazine) were expanded remakes of shorter Atlas-era stories!
The exception was the first tale which was a re-vamp of the origin of the Watcher's race from the original run of Tales of the Watcher when it backed-up Iron Man in Tales of Suspense until a brand-new Captain America strip took over the second slot.

Thursday, August 28, 2025

Reading Room STRANGE WORLDS "Invasion from the Abyss!"

Alien Invasions of Earth are a Popular Story Concept...
...even when the "aliens" are from inside the Earth, rather than outer space!
This story from Avon's Strange Worlds #3 (1951) was a "Fleagle Gang" production.
The "Fleagles" were a group of artists including Frank Frazetta, Al Williamson, Roy Krenkel, Wally Wood, Angelo Torres, and George Woodbridge who would help each other out on tight deadlines by doing a "jam" with individuals penciling and inking different pages and even different panels on a single page, producing some absolutely-amazing visuals!
Trivia: the group was named by EC Comics editor/writer/artist Harvey Kurtzman.

The idea of advanced beings living inside the Earth and invading/reconquering the surface was very popular in the early 1950s.
Richard Shaver and 1930s-40s pulp magazine editor Raymond A Palmer caused a media firestorm with a series of stories presenting a theory that combined the "civilization inside the Earth" concept with another pop culture phenomenon...flying saucers!
Numerous readers wrote in, claiming that they had actually seen creatures and vehicles exactly as described in the stories!
The "Shaver Hoax" (as it came to be known) influenced 1930s-50s sci-fi/fantasy ranging from the two-part pilot episode of the TV's Adventures of Superman "Superman and the Mole Men" to movie serials like The Phantom Empire and movies like Brain Eaters!
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Vol 3
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