...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...
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!
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!)
Or if the "aliens" shown on the screen were real aliens?
As you've just read, that was the premise of the short-lived (two issues) 1951 Ziff-Davis series Lars of Mars!
Created by Jerry (Superman) Siegel and Murphy (Buck Rogers) Anderson, this story from the first issue of his own title (which was #10!) established the somewhat-silly premise.
During his run, Superm...ahem Lars battled Commies, crooks, and other aliens while protecting his "secret identity" from Lo...ahem June, his nosy producer.
(But then what would you expect from the guy who co-created Superman? )
You'll be seeing all of Lars' stories here over the next few months.
Watch for them!
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!)
Truth is stranger than fiction!
Or if the aliens shown on the screen were real aliens?
As you've just read, that was the premise of the short-lived (two issues) Ziff-Davis series Lars of Mars!
Created by Jerry (Superman) Siegel and Murphy (Buck Rogers) Anderson, this premiere story from the first issue of his own title (which was #10!) established the somewhat-silly premise.
During his run, Lars battled Commies, crooks, and other aliens while protecting his "secret identity" from his nosy producer (who bore a disturbing resemblance to Lois Lane).
You'll be seeing all of Lars' stories here over the next few weeks.
Watch for them!
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 1950s 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 (#2) illustrated by Murphy! (Norm Saunders had painted #1's cover!)
Go back 80 years ago, to November 1938 and see...when elves were part of the 99%! (You'll note that the cover is dated January, 1939. But it was actually on sale in November, 1938! Publishers used to cover-date comics and pulps two to three months ahead of the actual on-sale date to keep the books on the stands for as long as possible!)
Thus do we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ present another retro-styled collectible for your Christmas gift-giving consideration, and offer you a bit of media history at the same time!
In this case, we proudly present one of our Christmas in the Comics line from our Cool Christmas collection: nine different digitally-remastered comic covers featuring classic characters celebrating Christmas, including The Green Lama, SuperSnipe, and Edison Bell: Boy Inventor, as well as two long-out-of-print versions of The Big Man, Santa, himself!
Available on a multitude of memorabilia including greeting cards, mugs, hoodies,
and other goodies, these pop-art collectibles are NOT available in any
brick-and-mortar stores, only on-line thru us!
And don't forget our Santa Claus--the Man Himself, A Christmas Carol starring Scrooge, the Hardly-Abominable SnowMan, and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians lines!
There's something for everyone under the tree at Atomic Kommie Comics™!
He's the Jolly Old Elf in a red suit!
They are BIG Green Men from Mars with an even BIGGER robot!
Before Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, they were the ingredients for the weirdest Christmas movie ever!
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians was filmed in 1964 in that bastion of the cinema, Long Island (in an unused aircraft hangar).
Starring
a host of tv and b-movie actors including handsome-but-stiff Leonard
Hicks as the Martian Leader (and kids' father) Kimar, 60s
villain/voiceover artist Vincent Beck (who did lots of work for Irwin
Allen's sci-fi shows) as the film's mustache-twirling villain, Voldar,
and John Call as a pretty damn convincing Santa Claus, the flick is
touted as the debut of future talentless chantuse Pia Zadora as Martian
Kid Girmar. Thankfully, she has rather limited screen time.
As an example of low-budget filmmaking, it's actually pretty effective.
Every penny (what few of them they had) is up on the screen.
They make good use of stock footage (from Dr. Strangelove, no less).
And
the use of then-popular Wham-O Air Blaster toy guns as the Martian
weapons was either a stroke of marketing genius or clever use of limited
funds. Either way, sales of the guns shot thru the roof after the film
hit the kiddie matinee circuit!
If you're between 3-9 years old, the flick's a lot of fun.
If you're between 10 and whatever the local drinking age is, it'll drive you nuts, especially the theme song!
If
you're over the local drinking age, do so before watching! It's
available on a host of public domain dvds as well as one of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 snarkfests.
And you just knew we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ were going to include Santa Claus Conquers the Martians in ourCool Christmas collection on stuff including kid and adult sweatshirts and hoodies, mugs and coasters, tree ornaments, and greeting cards!
BTW:
The image above is from the comic book tie-in, which you can read in three parts...
There was also a single of the
theme, a spoken-word LP album of the movie's dialogue, and a
novelization!
Now I can't get that damn theme our of my head..."Hoo-ray for Santy Claus..." AARRRGGGHHH!
An early Christmas gift from us to you:
The Mystery Science Theatre 3000 version of the film (don't tell Dr Forrester)...
Thought the Martian invasion stuff was over for the year?
Guess again, Earthling!
Even funny animals battled Martians!
Not a Dream!
Not a Hoax!
Not an Imaginary Story!
(though it is the ending of the movie Invaders from Mars, which came out the year before this never-reprinted tale from Avon's Space Comics #4 [1954] appeared!)
If I were a cynical sort, I'd say writer/artist Frank Carin copped that finale...
Concluding our re-presentation of the never-reprinted adventures of the first EarthMan on Mars...
...as we present, from the b/w magazine Monsters Unleashed #8 (1974), the final strip, produced by a team which included a newcomer to Marvel who would become one of the biggest names in the field (read the name in the credits below)...
Yes, this was George Perez's first assignment after breaking into the business as Rich Buckler's art assistant!
Oddly enough, this story isn't listed on George's own website!
And, there's uncredited inking by neophites Bob Layton and John Byrne, who helped inker Duffy Vohland meet the deadline!
Wonder whatever happened to Byrne and Layton? ;-)
Despite the promise printed above, Gullivar Jones and company never graced another Marvel comic or magazine. (Monsters Unleashed was cancelled with #10, two issues before Gullivar would have reappeared.) Note there's no splash page for this story. Actually, there is! It was rejected, and a replacement was used for Page 1! Here's the unpublished splash page...
