Remember INAPAK, the Amazing Chocolate Drink?

Bosco?

Bah!

Quik?

Crap!

Ovaltine?

Ewww!

You want serious chocolate flavor in your milk?

Here it is...

It must be true!

Major Inapak says so!

And Major Inapak wouldn't lie!

In fact, he uses science to prove his point...

Major Inapak returns to tell the Youth of America what to do...

You'll pardon me while I scamper out to the supermarket to get a box!

Be back Thursday for more on...Inapak!

Reading Room MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN COMICS "Small Fry!"

You can't tell me this isn't a "lost" Kirby Klassic from the 1950s...

...with the only question being "who was the penciler and/or inker over Jack Kirby's layouts?"

When Prize Comics' Monster of Frankenstein title was revived during the horror comic boom of the early 1950s, besides a wonderfully-gruesome version of Dick Briefer's Monster, it featured a number of two to four page "fillers".

Most of these tales appear to be, at the very least, laid-out by Jack Kirby.

This never-reprinted story from Prize's Monster of Frankenstein #33 (1954) is a prime example.
Some of the "camera angles" are easily-recognizable from later Ant-Man stories by Jack Kirby.

The Grand Comics Database lists the story's creators as "unknown", but considering the volume of work Simon & Kirby did for Prize before leaving to form their own company, Mainline, it's not unlikely this was an "inventory" story meant for insertion wherever editorial material page count came up short.

Sadly, the writer of the story is, as in so many cases of tale from the 1940s-60s, unknown...

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Science Fiction

Reading Room STRANGE TALES "Beware of Meeks Bringing Gifts!"

A couple of days ago, we brought you a never-reprinted sci-fi comics tale...

...but, while it has never been reprinted, that doesn't mean the story wasn't reused...this time with an oddly-contemporary aspect...

WTF???

Newspeople have a responsibility to uncover and tell the truth objectively and honestly?

Please don't tell FoxNews that...

We do know that Jack Kirby penciled this (also) never-reprinted story from Atlas' Strange Tales #86 (1961).

However, everything else is pure speculation.

It's thought Sol Brodsky inked the story (though it has aspects of Dick Ayers' style as well).

And, since it's not signed "Stan Lee" (as most confirmed Lee-scripted tales were),  the consensus is that Stan's brother Larry Lieber penned the story.

Yesterday Was Free Comic Book Day, and I Couldn't Help Wondering...

...What If Comics Were All That Remained of Humanity?

This never-reprinted short from Warren's Heavy Metal knock-off 1984 #1 (1978), written by Bill DuBay and illustrated by Alfredo Alcala, offers a more-than-likely answer!

Reading Room CAPTAIN 3-D "Man From the World of 'D'" IN COLOR!

You won't need a pair of red/blue 3-D glasses to read this version of...

...as presented in the hardcover anthology Simon & Kirby SuperHeroes from Titan Books, restored from scans of both the original art and first-generation photostats used in the original book's production in 1953.

...and here's the original text intro to the character...

(For this you will need 3-D glasses.)

BTW, if you want to see the original 3-D version of this tale, click HERE!

Script by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Art by Jack Kirby (pencils) and Joe Simon, Mort Meskin and Steve Ditko (inks).
Taking comic book line art and modifying it to produce a 3-D effect with red and blue colored art was technically simple, so almost every company attempted at least one 3-D book between 1952-55.
Most were 3-D versions of existing comics including Superman, Batman, Tales from the Crypt, even Katy Keene.
However, Captain 3-D was the Simon & Kirby team's attempt to jump on the 3-D bandwagon with NEW material.
As you've just read, Captain 3-D had both a cool premise and nice set-up, playing up the use of glasses to both empower the hero and perceive villains. (The John Carpenter movie They Live! used a similar gimmick)
Unfortunately, a legal battle involving the 3-D process all but killed the financial viability of producing 3-D books, and, though material was already finished, there was never a second issue of Captain 3-D!

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Monday Madness 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.

Space Hero (& Heroine) Saturdays BUZZY BEAN AND HIS FLYING SAUCER "Space Pirates of Callisto"

When Last We Left Our 'Tween Astronauts...

...but the aliens are about to discover humans (even young ones) are not easy prey!

This never-reprinted third tale in the all-too-brief series appeared in Good Comics' Johnny Law, Sky Marshal #3 (1955).

Written by publisher Edmond Good and illustrated by Robert Martinott, it ends on a cliff-hanger that may (or may not) be resolved when we present the next chapter...

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Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3

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Monday Madness SPACE ACTION "War Fleet of the Traitor EarthMen"

If you think you can't trust politicians now...

...let's look at the future (as seen from the 1950s), when they'll betray the whole planet!

Penciled by Lou Cameron and inked by Rocco Mastroserio, this tale from Ace's Space Action #1 (1952), was typical of pulp and comic sci-fi of the era.

The writer is, mercifully, unknown.

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Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3

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Space Hero Saturdays STAR TREK Did You Know the Very First Captain of the USS Enterprise...

...was Jesus Christ?

Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus Christ in King of Kings (1961)

 Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike with Leonard Nimoy as Mr Spock in Star Trek "The Cage" (1964)

Here's"six degrees of separation" trivia in only five degrees:

• John Huston, who later did a prequel movie, The Bible: In the Beginning, directed Moby Dick, using a screenplay adapted by legendary science fiction author Ray Bradbury from the Herman Melville novel.
• Ray Bradbury wrote the scripts for the voiceovers in King of Kings spoken by Orson Welles.
• Welles' The Shadow and Mercury Theatre radio series co-star Agnes Moorehead served as dialogue coach to Jeffrey Hunter (Jesus Christ) in King of Kings.
• Jeffrey Hunter later played Christopher Pike, the first captain of the Starship Enterprise in the pilot episode of Star Trek, "The Cage".
• Star Trek did an episode, "Bread and Circuses", about a planet where parallel evolution produced a society that resembled a 20th Century version of the Roman Empire, complete with it's own "Christians" and a Jesus Christ (who doesn't appear on-camera, but is mentioned in dialogue)!
  
  
  How's that for an "Easter Egg"?

Reading Room MAGAZINELAND U.S.A. Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

...on the 50th Anniversary of their current plant's "christening" the operators of the largest comic book/comic strip printing facility in America celebrated with a promotional comic detailing how a comic book was created and printed!

After covering the editorial and preparation processes (and segueing into a photo album about the "early days") we now return to the printing plant itself...

As you can see, this was a major operation...

Besides the comic, there were tours of the facility.

This one, during the June 18th, 1977, featured Phil Seuling, known as the Father of the Direct Market and Comic Book Stores!

And that's how comics were produced from the 1930s until the early 1980s, when going to offset printing resulted in a slow transition to Canadian printers.