Space Force Saturdays SPACE PATROL (TV) "Lady of Diamonds"

1950s Media was Loaded with Low-Budget Sci-Fi Series...

...including this one, a saga of those who protect the 30th Century space-lanes in both the video and audio realms!

Tonga later reformed and ended up as the Assistant Security Chief for the entire Space Patrol organization!

Space Patrol ran Monday thru Friday on tv and semi-weekly on radio from 1950 to 1955, using the same performers for both media.

This comic book adaptation from Ziff-Davis Publishing ran for only two issues in 1952, and was written by Philip Evans (who did a lot of movie and tv tie-ins and co-created Drift Marlo, about a special investigator at Cape Kennedy), and illustrated by Bernie Krigstein (who also did SpaceBusters, a comic series about intergalactic Marines which we presented as part of Space Force Saturdays) before moving on to EC Comics, where he achieved his greatest fame).
The book ended not due to poor sales, but because Ziff-Davis left the comic book business during the "comics cause juvenile delinquency" controversy of the early 1950s, deciding to concentrate on publishing magazines instead, and still continuing to this day as seen HERE.

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Space Patrol
Missions of Daring in the Name of Early Television
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THEY'RE Here! THE GREEN HORNET! Yes, That Sentence Actually Makes Sense...

...because over 30 years ago, NOW Comics produced a Green Hornet comic series...

...featuring a multi-generational plotline encompassing the various versions of the character, from 1930s radio to 1940s comics and movie serials to the 1960s TV series.

The primary creatives, writer Ron Fortier and illustrator Jeff Butler, did an amazing job both of tying the original versions together, then adding to the storyline with descendants based in the then-present (1990s)!
Sadly, though Dynamite Comics has reprinted some of the Golden Age Green Hornet books, they've shown no interest in repackaging this particular series, which introduced some of the concepts Dynamite's creatives have used since, such as how the 1930s Britt Reid and Kato met and a contemporary female Kato!
We believe that this now all-but-forgotten series deserves to be seen by present-day fans, so we're running the unseen-for-decades series in weekly chapters on our "brother" RetroBlog Crime & Punishment!

Click HERE to enjoy!

Let's Roll, Kato!
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The Green Hornet
(Limited-edition, HTF hardcover produced in 1990 reprinting the initial storyline)
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Space Heroine? Saturdays CRAZY "Tess Orbit: Lace Cadet"

MAD wasn't the only satire anthology comic in the pre-Code days...

..though it was both the best-known and best written/drawn of an entire herd of titles!

This never-reprinted tale, spoofing the TV/radio series Tom Corbett: Space Cadet, was probably the best story in Atlas' Crazy #1 (1953), and actually feels more like one of the risque PussyCat short features the Marvel Bullpen did for Marvel's publisher Martin Goodman's laddie magazines!

(Goodman owned both Marvel and a magazine publishing company until he sold Marvel in 1972.)
The strip is illustrated by Al Hartley, who did a lot of romance work (along with some sci-fi and horror) and eventually became a mainstay of Archie Comics in the late 1960s through the '70s.
(For the record, Hartley also co-created and illustrated Atlas' Leopard Girl I for her entire run)
But the writer is unknown.

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Sincerest Form of Parody

KOOBA COLA...the Soda Pop That NEVER Existed!

In 1940, Victor Fox, publisher of WonderWorld Comics, Mystery Men Comics, Weird Comics, and other titles featuring The Blue Beetle, Samson, and The Flame, among others, conceived an audacious marketing scheme.

Inspired by the success of Pepsi Cola and Coca-Cola, he decided to promote Kooba Cola, "The World's Newest and Best-Tasting Soft Drink!" in ads across his entire line of comic books!

It was also "Delightfully Refreshing" and "Contained 35 USP units of Vitamin B-1 for the Sake of Health and Nutrition!"

And, when Fox's The Blue Beetle starred in a short-lived radio show that summer, he was sponsored by Kooba Cola!

Wait a second...
What's that?
You've never even heard of Kooba Cola?

That's because it didn't exist, except as a logo, a couple of mocked-up bottles used as props in ads and some art reference for illustrators.

(You'll note they couldn't even figure out what the color scheme for the label was!

It changed from ad to ad!)

Fox thought he could create a demand for Kooba, then license the name to one of the big soft drink companies, let them do the work of actually creating, bottling, and shipping the stuff, then he'd rake in royalties on the name!

It didn't work.

The "buzz" never developed.

The soda pop was never actually produced.

Even Kooba's "sponsorship" of The Blue Beetle radio show was just part of the show's script, not paid ads! (One of the reasons the show only lasted four months!)

But, such visionary hucksterness should not be forgotten!

(Besides, the ads were rather kool.)

So we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ decided to re-present the Soda That Would Not Die on collectibles ranging from Beachwear to mugs, messenger bags (and the irony of doing bags with "Kooba" on them hasn't escaped us!) and hoodies at KoobaCola 1 and KoobaCola 2!

So celebrate what could have been one of the bubbliest success stories of soft drink entrepreneurship, but instead fizzled out and fell flat!

(You just knew we were gonna do a pun like that, didn't you?)  ;-)

Man of Animated Celluloid Steel!

In 1941, Max and Dave Fleischer, the animators who had previously brought Popeye and Betty Boop to the silver screen, presented Superman's first movie appearance in full-color cartoon shorts.
Meticulously-following co-creator Joe Shuster's character designs, the cartoons also contributed several elements to the Superman mythos including; changing clothes in a phone booth, Superman actually flying (Up to this point, he had leaped from point to point) and the catch phrase "Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!"
Voices were provided by the dramatic radio Superman / Clark Kent (Bud Collier) and Lois Lane (Joan Alexander) who would also reprise the roles in the first tv Superman cartoons in 1966!
Trivia: Though nominated for several Oscars, the Superman shorts lost each time!

We're proud to present one of the koolest of the original 1940s advertising posters for the cartoon series, digitally-restored and remastered, both as a limited-edition print and as a collectible t-shirt!
The bold graphic, though deceptively-simple, leaps off the page at you with it's power!
It's also the only Fleischer Superman poster we've seen that commissioned new art, rather than use existing comic book or animation art!
And best of all, it's in Swedish!
Perfect as a gift for an animation aficionado or Superman fan (or someone who's both)!

The clock striking "12" signals the appearance of Santa and...

...Captain Midnight!

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ are big fans of retro pop culture.
And in the 1940s-1950s one of the biggest pop cult phenomenons was Captain Midnight!
Books, Comics, Movies, Radio, TV...He was EVERYWHERE!

Created for radio in 1938, the patriotic aviator ran the Secret Squadron, what we today would call a "black ops" team, supported by the government but functioning outside of legal rules in dealing with spies, saboteurs, and (after the war) criminals!
Trivia note: the Secret Squadron originally used the code "SS" on their messages, decoders, and uniform patches, but changed it to "SQ" after World War II began to avoid reference to the notorious Nazi SS stormtroopers!
Cap replaced Little Orphan Annie as the flagship show for Ovaltine, carrying on the tradition of issuing mail-in collectible premiums in return for Ovaltine labels and jar seals, taking it to far greater levels than any other radio series in history! (The phrase "Captain Midnight Decoder" became synonymous with mail-in premiums.)
The show ran Monday thru Friday in 15-minute segments, with storylines running for several months at a time, ending each episode with a coded message which required a Captain Midnight Decoder to translate.
A series of Big Little Books, a newspaper comic strip, and two different comic book series quickly followed, as well as a 15-chapter movie serial.
You can read a couple of stories from the 1940s comic book HERE.
The radio show ended with a bang in 1949, as Cap's archenemy Ivan Shark (an evil aviator) was killed in the final episode! Talk about "closure"!

Ovaltine revived Cap (but not Ivan Shark) in 1954 as a weekly tv series with a heavier science fiction emphasis.
Midnight was now a civilian adventurer operating out of a mountaintop base in the SouthWest US, battling criminals and the occasional Communist spy.
Though it only ran for 39 episodes, the show reran continuously until the mid 1960s.
Trivia note: the syndicated version was retitled Jet Jackson: Flying Commando because Ovaltine owned the "Captain Midnight" trademark and didn't sponsor the reruns!
One actor redubbed "Jet Jackson" over everybody (men, women, children) when they said "Captain Midnight", producing some rather surreal moments in the syndicated reruns!

Ovaltine continued to use "Captain Midnight" on advertising and occasional tie-in premiums until the late 1990s, when they finally abandoned the trademark.
He's now part of our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics group with six different vintage designs including five classic covers and his stylish logo!
As a unique Xmas gift for collectors of pop culture kitch, you can't go wrong with one of our klassy and kool kollectibles as a stocking stuffer!

Our FREE Early Christmas Present to you: downloadable mp3s of the Captain Midnight radio show!
BONUS FREE Early Christmas Present: downloadable episode of the Captain Midnight tv show, complete with commercials!
EXTRA FREE BONUS Early Christmas Present: Another downloadable episode of the Captain Midnight TV show, complete with commercials!

Please support Atomic Kommie Comics this Christmas!

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Captain Midnight

the Movie Serial!

(which would make a great present with one of our Captain Midnight collectibles!)

It's Crime Time at Christmas Time!

Ah, Christmas...

What do we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ think of?

Peace on Earth!

Good Will towards Men!

25-to-Life at Sing-Sing!

What...?
Yep, you heard right!
For a subject-specific gift for the lawyer, or other legal professional in your life, the crew at Atomic Kommie Comics™ suggests you have a look at the Daring District Attorneys and other Legal Eagles section of our Crime & Punishment™ collection, featuring the long-running radio/tv character Mr. District Attorney!
Inspired by the racket-busting exploits of New York City DA Thomas E. Dewey (who later became Governor of New York State), law student-turned radio writer Ed Byron created a nameless "everyman" DA who maintained law and order in an unnamed Big City (implied to be NYC).
The stories, while rarely based on actual cases (like rival show GangBusters) followed actual legal procedures to the letter, even introducing CSI-style "lab boys" to analyze evidence and present testimony during courtroom sequences!
A couple of kool trivia items:
The narrator was known as "The Voice of the Law" who defined both the DA's case at the beginning of the episode and pronounced the criminal's sentence at the end of the show. (A conceit picked up by rival radio / tv show Dragnet!)
Though several actors played Mr. District Attorney, the DA's secretary, Edith Miller, was played by the same actress, Vicki Vola, for the entire run of the show both on radio and tv (1939-1953)!
The comic book series, from which we draw our imagery, was packaged by the Bob Kane comic book studio. Bob Kane was the co-creator (with Bill Finger) of the most famous fictional detective of the 20th Century--The Batman!
We offer four different classic comic book crime-busting covers on items ranging from mugs to mousepads to t-shirts.
And, if attorneys aren't your thing, we also have Real Life Criminals, Police--the REAL Heroes!, Sherlock Holmes, Top Secret--Images without Words, All-True Detective Cases, Crimes by Women, Gangsters, Private Dicks, and G-Men T-Men & Spies!
Use them responsibly this Yuletide season, citizens!

BONUS: A FREE Christmas present, to you, our faithful readers: mp3s of the Mr District Attorney radio show!

The Clean-Cut, All-American Hero!

Perhaps the first comic strip to be created as a military recruiting tool...

Don Winslow U.S.N. was launched in 1934 to encourage enlistments in the U.S. Navy, which at that point had reached an all-time low.

A clean-cut role model for American Youth, Don battled spies, saboteurs, and criminals on the home front, and even made brief forays to both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of war!

The strip proved to be a big success, not only improving Naval enlistments, but launching a series of novels, comic book series from several publishers, a dramatic radio show, and two movie serials (Don Winslow of the Navy and Don Winslow of the Coast Guard)!
Don finally retired from service in 1955.

Atomic Kommie Comics™ has returned Don Winslow to active duty as part of the War: Past, Present & Future™ line's enhanced World War II section of classic cover art collectibles which also includes Women of World War II and Aviators.
Any of the shirts, fridge magnets, mugs, or other kool kollectibles in these series would make fun retro-style 4th of July gifts for the veteran in your life!
(I sent a set of all four Don Winslow mugs to my Dad, a retired swabbie! He loved them!)

A Free pre-4th of July bonus from us to you: downloadable mp3s of the Don Winslow dramatic radio show!

Visit Our Other RetroBlogs: Secret Sanctum of Captain Video

Specializing in comic adaptations of tv shows, movies, and dramatic radio shows, Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™ runs material unseen since first publication years and sometimes decades earlier.

Recent posts include...

The Avengers

Conan the Destroyer

Man from U.N.C.L.E.

and both the radio and movie versions of The Shadow!

Check it out!

Best of Reading Room: RACE FOR THE MOON "Invasion"

Some people called early television "just radio with pictures"...

...a premise taken to an obvious extreme in this tale...

Unfortunately, the technological level of tv fx in 1958, when this story was published in Race for the Moon #1, make the events of the story highly unlikely.
The primary reason the inspiration for this story, the 1938 War of the Worlds radio hoax by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre of the Air, worked was because peoples' imaginations ran wild, fueled by sound effects and well-written dialogue!
The "visuals" were in their heads!
Nonetheless, the unknown writer and artist Bob Powell did their best in only five pages.
And, the comic's intended audience, kids aged 9-15, could accept the premise, especially if they had no knowledge of the Welles radio show, which wasn't often rebroadcast until old radio show reruns made a comeback in the mid-1960s on college radio stations and lp albums.

NOTE: This story is a radically toned-down version of a tale that appeared a decade earlier!
Tomorrow we'll show you how it ORIGINALLY looked...pre-Comics Code, which has NEVER been reprinted!

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The Future WAS Fantastic!

Comics Collectibles Store!

75 Years Ago Today...the World was Destroyed...

...by Invaders from Mars!

Art by Francesco Francavilla

You can hear the original October 30, 1938 radio broadcast HERE!

And a 10-minute funky dance remix of the radio show HERE!

BONUS: Here's a kool documentary from the radio show's 60th Anniversary, narrated by James (Avatar) Cameron...

Wind up "Lone Ranger Month" with a Classic LONE RANGER Comic Story!

Here's a tale written by the co-creator of the Lone Ranger...

...originally-published in the newspaper strip, and probably based on a radio show episode!

Click on the link HERE to read it!

Defeat of the Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger has met the one enemy he couldn't conquer..

The box office.
His new (and somewhat controversial) movie has bombed...badly.
To be fair, it did do better than John Carter...which didn't have any "marquee name" performers like Johnny Depp.
Despite this, our brother blog, Western Comics Adventures™ will continue entries all this month about the most famous Western duo in fiction (whom we've covered a number of times previously).

This Monday, you'll see a classic retelling of the team's origin.
Who knows, we may pull in more eyeballs than saw the movie...

Coming Monday: the ORIGIN of the Lone Ranger and Tonto...

...as told by Dan Reid...

...nephew of the Lone Ranger and father of the Green Hornet!

Read it Monday, only at Western Comics Adventures™!

It's Lone Ranger & Tonto Month at Western Comics Adventures!

With a new (and somewhat controversial) Lone Ranger (and Tonto) movie opening next Wednesday, our brother blog, Western Comics Adventures™ will be dedicating July to entries about the most famous Western duo in fiction (whom we've covered a number of times previously).

This Monday, you'll see a classic feature on Tonto; his biography, cultural background, and skills & abilities, that was consistent through the various versions in radio, tv, comics, pulps (yes, pulps) and movies up to the late 1990s!

There'll also be entries about the incarnations of the duo in various media with lots of hard-to-find stuff to link to and/or download.

And maybe an explanation for the bird on Johnny Depp's head...

Design of the Week Redux: GangBusters!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another...unless it sells really well, as this one is doing...so it'll run for one more week!

Celebrate the law-enforcement professional in your life with this retro-kool comic cover from the long-running GangBusters radio show.

Note: there was also a movie serial, TV series, plus two features re-edited from the TV show!

Trivia, the last season of the radio show was narrated by narrated by Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr., retired head of the New Jersey State Police and father of US Army General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.!

Noted Fantasy Artist Bob Larkin Needs Our Help!

The perils of being a freelance artist are numerous...including not having medical insurance!
Bob Larkin, who’s done hundreds of paintings for Marvel, DC, Fleer and numerous others, is in desperate need of help.
Bob’s wife, Fran, has been battling various forms of cancer for the past 12 years and the endless medical bills have put an incredible financial strain on the family.
Fran is currently recovering from her latest surgery and Bob has become her caregiver 24/7 leaving him unable to take on new work.
To help pay the bills Fantom Press is offering numerous items for sale...including a new sketchbook (see cover above) of Larkin's art featuring never-seen roughs, prelims, and sketches!
The books are square bound, 8 ½ x 11″ 48 black and white pages and each one is individually signed and numbered by Bob. The paperback edition is $20.00 and there are two deluxe hard cover editions available that are in short supply. 100% of the sales from this book, as well as anything else that might interest you on site are going directly to the Larkins.
So, if you can, pick up a kool collectible and help one of our own in the process!
Talk about a win-win proposition!

Let's Go to OZ!

To celebrate the new movie Oz: the Great & Powerful...

...we'll be doing a week of goodies featuring the people and places of L Frank Baum's Oz!
Be here tomorrow!

Cover Preview MASKS #7

The BIG crossover of masked mystery-men continues...

...with this cover by Francisco Francavilla for #7, featuring The Shadow, The Green Hornet, and The Spider.

But who's holding the card?

My Uncle is The Lone Ranger and My Son is The Green Hornet!

Status quo-changing events are not a new phenomenon in fiction.
Even in the Golden Age of Comics, series and characters received revamps (or even total reboots) if sales weren't meeting expectations.
Sometimes, the revamp extended through a character's other media incarnations as well!
And, at least once, through two different characters' incarnations with a crossover character...Dan Reid!
Much has been written about the radio show episodes that tied The Green Hornet and The Lone Ranger together, using Dan Reid, who was both Britt (Green Hornet) Reid's father, and John (Lone Ranger) Reid's nephew!
Though Dan was the same character in both shows, different actors played him on the two series, because Dan was a 'tween/teen on the 1880s-set Lone Ranger, and a middle-aged/elderly man on the contemporary (1940s) Green Hornet!

The 1940s Harvey Green Hornet comic book series had been loosely-adapting the radio show's scripts into comic stories, but when this storyline (spread over four episodes) ran on the radio show, the comics' creatives had to do some serious juggling to fit two hours of dramatic radio into two eight-page chapters in a single issue!

(And, yes, a subtle Lone Ranger reference is in the comic story, too!)

It's so historically-important that we couldn't confine this tale to a single blog!

You can see the results at Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™, with the conclusion at Hero Histories™.
In both entries, we're providing not only the comics tales, but the radio show episodes as well, so you can compare them!

Plus, we're presenting the introduction of Dan Reid (as a kid) into the Lone Ranger series, which added another ongoing character with whom the Masked Rider of the Prairie could interact (especially when the actor playing Tonto went on vacation or was out sick) in both comics and mp3 formats!
You'll find Part One HERE at Western Comics Adventures™ and Part Two HERE, back at Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™.
Enjoy!

And, don't forget to visit...

The Classic Green Hornet Store