Showing posts with label jerry siegel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jerry siegel. Show all posts

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Reading Room LARS OF MARS "EarthShaker!"

It's time for another adventure with the Martian posing as an actor playing a Martian on TV...
...in a story of world-shaking (literally) menace!
Lars was co-created by writer Jerry Siegel and illustrator Murphy Anderson, as shown HERE.
This terrifying tale of tectonic turnabout from Ziff-Davis' Lars of Mars #11 (1951) was, sadly, the character's final published appearance.
But, there's still a tale hidden away for decades, so be here next Thursday as we unearth it...and don't forget your 3-D glasses!
You'll need them!
featuring the covers of both issues of Lars of Mars!

Monday, September 16, 2019

Monday Madness FAIRY TALES "Wolf Boy"

...this time, it's another lad, but with a decidedly-different tone in this never-reprinted story from Ziff-Davis' Fairy Tales #10 (1951)!
Feral children are a common concept in folklore, and I was unable to find a published version that corresponded to this tale!
The strip's artist is unknown, but I see elements of Joe Kubert's work from this period, so while he didn't do the entire job, he probably helped whoever the primary artist(s) were!
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Thursday, September 12, 2019

Reading Room LARS OF MARS "Crucial Game"

Even a Martian pretending to be a TV actor playing a Martian reveres the Great American Pastime...
...and won't allow anybody to sully or demean the sport's image...even if it means cheating to do so!
The ends justify the means even if it involves alien manipulation of peoples' minds, eh?
Great lesson for kids!
Written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, illustrated by noted DC Comics artist Murphy Anderson, this tale appeared in Ziff-Davis' Lars of Mars #11 (1951), the second (and last issue) of the series!
Considering the moral lessons the series apparently taught, perhaps it was for the best...
featuring the covers of both issues of Lars of Mars!

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Reading Room LARS OF MARS "Terror Weapon" Conclusion

Art by Allen Anderson
...he was heading for Manchuria to stop a mad Soviet scientist from unleashing a super-weapon that could freeze anything!
After facing several deadly devices, Lars uses his ability to travel at light-speed...
Written by Jerry Siegel, illustrated by Murphy Anderson, this was the cover-featured tale from Ziff-Davis' Lars of Mars #11 (1951), the second (and last issue) of the series!
BTW, the cover artist is Allen Anderson (no relation to Murphy)
And, Allen also did the cover to the second (and last) issue of Ziff-Davis' Space Busters...which was illustrated by Murphy!
Weird, huh? 
featuring the covers of both issues of Lars of Mars!

 

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Reading Room LARS OF MARS "Terror Weapon" Part 1

...they just return in the next issue, as the guy who doesn't just play a Martian on TV, but is a Martian playing an actor playing a Martian on TV while fighting crime in real life (got that?) discovers...
What Next?
Will Lars Stop Raskov?
Will Raskov Stop (and/or Kill) Lars?
You'll note the Communist Chinese were illustrated in a non-cartoony manner, unlike the Japanese in most World War II comics and animated cartoons!
(The unfortunate lemon-yellow skin-tone wasn't artist Murphy Anderson's choice, I'm sure.)
Written by Jerry Siegel, illustrated by Murphy Anderson, this was the cover-featured tale from Ziff-Davis' Lars of Mars #11 (1951), the second (and last issue) of the series!
featuring the covers of both issues of Lars of Mars!

Monday, August 26, 2019

Monday Madness FAIRY TALES "All About Fairies!"

It makes sense a comic called Fairy Tales would have a feature on fairies...
...although classifying witches as "bad fairies" seems to be stretching the concept to the breaking point!
From the inside cover of Ziff-Davis' Fairy Tales #11 (1951) comes this never-reprinted b/w feature by an anonymous writer/artist or writer and artist which raises more questions than it answers!
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Thursday, August 22, 2019

Reading Room LARS OF MARS "Terror from the Sky"

Commies and atomic weapons!
As the song says, "They go together like Love and Marriage..."
Could this be an attempt to set up an ongoing Lex Luthor-esque arch-enemy (but with lots of hair) for our hero in this final story from Ziff-Davis' Lars of Mars #10 (1951)?
Consider the fact that this Lars tale was produced by the duo who created the short-lived character, writer Jerry (Superman) Siegel and and artist Murphy (Buck Rogers) Anderson (who also did a lot of work on Superman during the Silver and Bronze Ages) and you'll see a lot of Man of Steel-style elements.
And, yes, Raskov returned the next issue with new super-scientific weapons...
Trivia:
The cover paintings for both issues of Lars of Mars were painted by Allen Anderson, who was not related to interior artist Murphy Anderson!
Here's a "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon"-style fact (done in four degrees)...
1) Ziff-Davis also published a short-lived adaptation of an actual sci-fi tv series, Space Patrol, illustrated by Bernie Krigstein.
2) Krigstein illustrated the first issue of another Ziff-Davis sci-fi series: Space Busters!
3) Bernie was replaced on interior art for the second (and final) issue of Space Busters by...Murphy Anderson!
4) Allen Anderson did the painted cover for the Space Busters issue illustrated by Murphy! (Norm Saunders had painted the first issue's cover!)
featuring the covers of both issues of Lars of Mars!

Monday, August 19, 2019

Monday Madness FAIRY TALES "Frog King"

Where do you think the cliche of kissing a frog who turns into a handsome prince comes from?
From the fairy tale this story is based on!
But will you notice one important difference between the comic and the fairy tale?
Hoo boy, is she a fickle bitch or what?
Did you note that she doesn't even kiss the frog?
Both the writer and artist of this re-telling of the classic story from Fairy Tales #11 (1951) are unknown.
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Golden Treasury of
Klassic Krazy Kool Kids Komics