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

With the revelation that Fredric Wertham lied about comics' effects on kids...

...it seems appropriate to take a look at how his far-reaching deception altered pop culture as we know it!

BTW, most people (myself included) felt that Wertham exaggerated his claims, but altering/modifying evidence to validate his theories went over the line.

This pre-Comics Code tale appeared in Fawcett's Suspense Detective #1 (1952), illustrated by George Evans, but the writer is uncredited.

It seems to be a straightforward tale of mistaken identity and justice served with some violence mixed in, but nothing over-the-top, right?

Not according to the Comics Code Authority!

Be back Thursday to see how the Code altered this story, which they considered too violent!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Order...

Ten-Cent Plague

The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America

Paid Link

Reading Room AMAZING DETECTIVE CASES "Ghost Story"

Here's a never-reprinted 1950s tale...

... that's both about law enforcement and justice from beyond the grave!

You may note the Joe Maneely-illustrated cover doesn't really match the Bill Everett-rendered tale from Atlas' Amazing Detective Cases #13 (1952)

There are several possible reasons for that.

1) the cover and interior art were done at two different points in time, sometimes months apart!

2) The cover artist didn't have copies of the interior pages as visual reference, only plot descriptions from the editor!
3) the cover was done before the interior art as a "springboard" and the actual writer/artist(s) made changes when they were creating the story!
All three of these reasons could (and did) apply to Atlas Comics' books if the story's artist didn't do the cover...as was the case most of the time!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Blackjacked and Pistol-Whipped
A Crime Does Not Pay Primer

Holiday Reading Room JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS "Lady Who Believed"

If you liked this take on Kris Kringle...

....you'll enjoy this (somewhat) gentler tale of him as a Christmas crime-fighter and defender of the innocent!

This never-reprinted tale is from Atlas' Journey into Unknown Worlds #34 (1955), the first issue published under the restrictive auspices of the Comics Code Authority.

I wonder if it was originally-meant to be as gruesome as EC's legendary "...and All Through the House..."?

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Jingle Belle

The Whole Package

by Paul (Harley Quinn) Dini

and Friends

Space Hero Saturdays SPACE DETECTIVE "SpaceShip of the Dead!"

We're about to join Avenger (aka Space Detective) and Teena...

...as they begin their final published adventure, fighting crime in a future time!

Don't worry Teena, you'll meet up with Beast Man and Vulcan Woman sooner than you think...like NOW, by clicking HERE for Part 2 and HERE for Part 3!

Though the writer and inker are unknown, the penciler of this kool 3-part tale (and the b/w inside front cover synopsizing this tale) from Avon's Space Detective #4 (1952) is Gene Fawcette.

Blending the hard-boiled gumshoe, sci-fi and superhero genres, Space Detective burst onto the comics scene in 1951.

Future-era wealthy philanthropist Rod Hathway and his secretary Dot Kenny fight interplanetary evil and helped the innocent as Avenger and Teena using the methods of 1940s gumshoes combined with the technology of the far future!

Blasters instead of revolvers!

Personal jetpacks instaed of taxis!

Stories, whose titles included "Opium Smugglers of Venus" and "Bandits of the Starways", delivered fast-paced action.
And you can read the complete four-issue Space Detective saga by clicking HERE!

Weird Trivia:

1) Despite the fact that neither character wore a mask, nobody ever commented "hey, ain't you that famous Hathway guy?" or somesuch.

(Maybe they were too busy looking at Teena's cleavage?)

2) Nobody ever calls Rod "Space Detective"! He's always called "Avenger".

3) The original user of the name "Avenger", a Doc Savage-style pulp/comic character, hadn't been published since 1944.

The trademark had lapsed, so it was used on this unrelated character from a different company.

This sort of thing is far more common in comics/pulps than you might think.
In fact, only a few years after the final issue of Space Detective, a new Avenger (a Russkie-smashing superhero) popped up, as shown HERE!
And, in fact, Rod Hathaway wasn't even the first "Space Detective"!
There was another one, Lance Lewis: Space Detective, published by Nedor Comics, a few years earlier, as shown HERE!

However, he was only a back-up strip, and never had his own book, though he was featured on the cover of Startling Comics for a while!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

CoronaVirus Comics FEATURE COMICS "Rance Keane and the Anti-Cancer Serum"

Now here's something you don't see everyday...

...a romantic triangle involving a hero, his girlfriend and the comedy-relief sidekick!

We had an anti-cancer serum...in 1940?

Rance Keane started out in Quality's Feature Comics #22 as a present-day cowboy who moonlighted as an amateur sleuth with Pee Wee as his Gabby Hayes-style sidekick.

By the time of this story in Quality's Feature Comics #36 (1940), he migrated to New York City and lost most of his rural affectations.

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Cancer Vixen

A True Story

Reading Room EERIE ADVENTURES "Perfect Hideout!"

It's a sci-fi tale...

...a horror story...

...a parable about how crime never pays!

...it's all these things...and more!

Illustrated by Gerald McCann, this tale from Ziff-Davis' one-shot Eerie Adventures (1951) shares a title with several other 1940s-50s tales from other publishers.

But none of the others were sci-fi, just standard "crime does not pay"-style tales...

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Horror Comics of the 1950s

Father's Day is Coming...

...and to help you out, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ offer some kool kollectible gift suggestions like t-shirts, mugs, messenger bags, and other stuff featuring vintage retro graphics for all those pop-culture-loving paters....Crime & Punishment (including police-oriented goodies)

Scantily-clad Heroines!

Scary Suspense & Horror!

Spectacular Super-Heroes!

Stellar Sci-Fi / Fantasy!

Kitchy Camp Classics! (Flix & Comix)

Wild Westerns!

And, of course, WarTime Action!