Reading Room TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED / FROM BEYOND THE UNKNOWN "Cartoon That Came to Life"

Here's an off-beat tale...

Art by Nick Cardy

...that made the cover both times it was published!

Art by Bill Ely

...though I have to admit the original cover (above) is a bit dull compared to the reprint's cover (top)

Written by Otto Binder and illustrated by Bill Ely, it's a nicely-done story with one obvious question?

Why is the Martian called a "dragon-man"?

His wings are feathered and look more like a bird's...or even an angel's!

The new art for the cover of the reprint gives him scales and a beak so it's a little more like a dragon, but still...

Was the original concept much more lizard/dragon-looking, but the Comics Code Authority forced DC to "tone it down" to the rather innocuous-looking alien?

Trivia: This story is one of the few to be the cover feature both for its' original publication (Tales of the Unexpected #1 [1956]) and the reprint (From Beyond the Unknown #24 [1970])

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Thursday Worlds of Wonder ATARI FORCE "Galaxian" Conclusion

Wednesday was Christmas, so we're posting this a day late.

It's All Come Down to This...

The Dark Destroyer, has possessed the minds of normally-peaceful aliens and is using them to destroy Scanner One and the crew in interstellar combat.

The Atarians are trying to protect themselves, incapacitate the alien craft,and avoid killing their crews...who have no such compunctions about the humans!
The crew are using a strategy taken directly from the real-world gameplay of the video game this comic was included with...though not without taking heavy damage...

The storyline of the original Atari Force mini-comics concludes with what appears to be a happy ending!

When the sequel series begins publication a year later, 20 years have passed in-universe and a lot of things have happened.

For one thing, The Dark Destroyer survived!

But that's a story for another time...

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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ATARI FORCE "Galaxian" Part 3

When Last We Left the Valiant Crew of Atari's Dimension-Ship Scanner One...

Original art for the wraparound cover by Gil Kane and Dick Giordano!

This is a double-page spreaad

Control-Click to enlarge!

...after battling their way through multiple universes too hostile for the population of a devasted Earth to migrate to, the crew seems to have found both an ideal planet to colonize and an ideal, peaceful, interstellar community to bond and work with...

Interesting how the aliens' strategy matches the gameplay of the video game Galaxian?

Note: the Dark Destroyer is not in the video game!

To Be Concluded...Not Next Wednesday, but...

THURSDAY!

(Wednesday is Christmas Day!

We suspect you'll be enjoying the holiday...we know we will!)

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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ATARI FORCE "Galaxian" Part 2

We Have Already Seen...

Sent by the Atari Corporation in 2005 to probe the Multiverse to find a habitable planet for mankind to move to after wars and pollution have rendered Earth's biosphere on the verge of collapse, the tired crew of Scanner One are exhausted after months of fruitless exploration.

This particular mission began with them killing (in self-defense) a large worm-like creature whose much-larger parent almost destroyed the ship!

With the crew both physically and emotionally "burned-out", expedition commander Martin Champion has hard decisions to make...

But will the Atarians have to fight for peace?

 To Be Continued

Next Wednesday!
Trivia:
Writers Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway took the backstory from the game and overhauled it, as you can see...

What do you think of their "reconcepting"?

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