Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ROCKET TO THE MOON Part 3

When Last We Left Our Space-Spanning Hero, Ted Dustin...

...he had arrived on the Moon to try to negotiate with the inhabitants, who are bombarding Earth after they mistook a reconnaissance missile sent by Ted as an attack from Earth!

Note: May be NSFW due to racial stereotypes common to eras of both the original novel and the comic.

Can Ted escape?
Is Earth doomed?
Be here next Wednesday for the astounding finale!

This 1951 one-shot comic from Avon Comics was scripted by Walter (The Shadow) Gibson and illustrated by Joe Orlando and Wally Wood, based on the high-adventure sci-fi novel Maza of the Moon by Otis Adelbert Kline..

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Maza of the Moon

by Otis Aldelbert Kline

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ROCKET TO THE MOON Part 2

When Last We Left Our Spacegoing Hero...

...well, now you know the source material for the comic!

(And isn't that a kool Frank Frazetta cover?)

Brilliant young scientist Ted Dustin sends an unmanned test rocket to the Moon, and the inhabitants of the satellite, believing it to be an attack, respond with missiles of their own.

Despite being able to make video contact with the Moon people, the language barrier proves insurmountable and the bombardment of Earth continues.

In desperation, Dustin launches himself in an experimental rocket to the Moon...

Note: May be NSFW due to racial stereotypes common to eras of both the original novel and the comic.

What does Ted encounter?
Be here next Wednesday and find out!

This 1951 one-shot comic from Avon Comics was scripted by Walter (The Shadow) Gibson and illustrated by Joe Orlando and Wally Wood.

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ROCKET TO THE MOON Part 1

Here's a comic story adapted from a sci-fi high adventure novel...

...see if you can guess which one?

Hint: the comic's name is not the same as the novel's!

Note: May be NSFW due to racial stereotypes common to eras of both the original novel and the comic.

Be here next Wednesday, when the story truly lives up to its' title!

And, if you haven't figured out what novel this story is adapted from, you'll see the cover of the book!
(We'll give you a clue, the novel was written in the same era as Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter/Barsoom and Carson of Venus stories by an author who also wrote high adventure series set on Mars and Venus!
This 1951 one-shot comic from Avon Comics was scripted by Walter (The Shadow) Gibson and illustrated by Joe Orlando and Wally Wood, who shared penciling and inking duties! 

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder WEIRD FANTASY "Judgement Day"

This 1950s comics tale is considered the gold standard in utilizing a sci-fi motif for social commentary...

...rightfully-so, I must say!

Perhaps it's a tad slow-paced, even pedantic, by today's standards and the pay-off isn't as shocking as you might expect, but this oft-reprinted tale by writer Al Feldstein, artist Joe Orlando and colorist Marie Severin from EC's Weird Fantasy #18 (1953) was quite controversial when it first appeared.
Even when it was reprinted in the Comics Code-approved Incredible Science Fiction #33 (1956), it caused hassles.
The Code wanted Tarlton changed to a White guy!
Publisher Bill Gaines refused!
The Code tried to get EC to, at least, remove the beads of sweat from Tarlton's brow!
Bill Gaines, again, refused!
The Code refused to approve the comic.
Gaines said he didn't care.
As it was, "Judgement Day" was a reprint fill-in for a new story ("An Eye for an Eye") the Code refused to approve, and, since it was EC's last color comic ever, they'd print it without the Code stamp.
The Code gave in and approved the reprint without changes.

No less a personage than Ray Bradbury praised "Judgement Day" effusively in the final letter (among many...except one...that praised the tale) in Cosmic Correspondence...

Public praise from one of the Masters of Science Fiction/Fantasy!

Can't argue with that...

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Judgement Day and Other Stories
Illustrated by Joe Orlando

Fantagraphics' EC Comics Library

Reading Room LEGEND OF "COMIC BOOK" McFIEND "Bella Button Caper"

You thought Golden Age characters SuperSnipe and "Comics" McCormick were fanboys?

They were mere dilettantes compared to this Bronze Age guy!

This origin story actually ran a year after the character's previous published appearance (shown HERE)!
Published in the final issue of DC's Plop! (#24 in 1976), neither story has ever been reprinted, but probably served as one of the inspirations for the 1990s DC character FanBoy!

"Bella Button" was based on NY Congresswoman Bella Abzug, famous for her kick-butt attitude.

Though Abzug never tried to do a "Seduction of the Innocent"-type purge of mass-market comics, she did influence government military comics in the 1970s, when she and fellow Congresscritters William Proxmire and Orrin Hatch urged PS Magazine to"tone down" the mag's female leads Connie and Bonnie to less-sexy imagery.

(PS Magazine was provided to tech/mechanical support personnel with info and updates about equipment in an easy-to-absorb comic format)

The duo had been played as cheesecake from the 1950s through the 1970s, targeting the male GIs.
But with an increase in female recruits for non-combat/support services after the Draft ended, the characters were redesigned more as "buddies" than "babes", since women were now also reading and utilizing the magazine!

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Bella Abzug
How One Tough Broad from the Bronx Fought Jim Crow and Joe McCarthy...

Reading Room "COMIC BOOK" McFIEND "Collector"

We've presented stories featuring fanboys SuperSnipe and "Comics" McCormick...

..now we present the too-brief run of DC's Bronze Age fanboy, starting with his second tale, which was published first!

Appearing in DC's b/w magazine, Amazing World of DC Comics #6 (1975), this piece was meant to show off cover-featured creator Joe Orlando's editorial skills.

(Exactly how, I have no idea!)

Written by Don Ewing and rendered by Dave Manak, this was the second in a series of fanboy misadventures featuring the character, who was meant to be a semi-regular feature in Plop!

Oddly enough, the book was still going strong at this point, and there was no room for this particular strip.

A year later, the book was being cancelled, and the first McFiend story (his origin) was used to fill out the final issue.

You'll see that one next Monday!

Trivia:

1) there were few comic shops in 1975, so this ongoing magazine was available by subscription from DC or at conventions.

They're HTF and expensive!

2) neither of the Comic Book McFiend tales have been reprinted since their initial appearances in 1975-76!

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Amazing World of DC Comics #6 (1975)

Special Joe Orlando Issue!