Merry Christmas

Santa Claus' World War II-era attempt at updating his transportation...

...doesn't quite go as planned in this wraparound cover from Dell's Santa Claus Funnies #1 (1942).

Unfortunately, the artist didn't sign it, and the experts at various comic indexing sites have been unable to offer possible illustrators.

Personally, I'm thinking Walt Kelly.

(The snarky reindeer are an obvious giveaway)

Any suggestions?

Merry Christmas to All!

Tomorrow is Memorial Day

...but we have a kool Monday Madness post I didn't want to wait on!

So pay tribute to our defenders (active and retired) today and tomorrow!

BTW, this is a World War II-era flag!

That's why it has only 48 stars!
Alaska and Hawaii didn't become states until 1959!

Monday Madness: How Repugs Think We Can Fight Russkies in the Ukraine!

I'd say they read these comics as kids...

#2 (1953) Art by Jim McLaughlin

...presuming they could actually read!

#3 (1953) Art by an unknown illustrator

Click on the links to our "brother" RetroBlog War: Past, Present & Future...and read about...

Atomic War

&

World War III

...which were two different 1950s series with two different plotlines and histories of the same potential future (the 1960s) from the same publisher!

Space Force Saturdays SPACE BUSTERS "Remember Makano"

It's the final battle in the series that may have inspired Don (the John) Trump's fantasy about a "Space Force"...

...appropriately enough, a tale that places emotion over logic!

This never-reprinted tale from Ziff-Davis' Space Busters #2 (1952) is the final story for the short-lived series.

Oddly, none of the sci-fi books about specific characters (this one and Lars of Mars, Crusader from Mars, and Space Patrol) lasted more than two issues!

But the anthologies lasted longer...Amazing Adventures ran six issues and Weird Thrillers ran five!

It must be admitted that Murphy Anderson's revamp gave the book a solid "shot in the arm" artistically, so why it was cancelled so abruptly remains a mystery!

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Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

Space Force Saturdays SPACE BUSTERS "Victory on Valda"

Editor Jerry Siegel wanted Space Busters to look more like...

... the recently-revamped and revitalized Buck Rogers strip!

But artist Marvin Stein ended up using the original Buck strip as reference in his tryout, and lost the gig!

With a looming deadline, Siegel contacted the Buck Rogers strip's artist, Murphy Anderson (who had recently left the series) to provide redesigns...

...as well as the cover-featured story!

(Note: the cover is by Allen Anderson...no relation to Murphy!)

Personally, I'm not crazy about the purple-red color scheme, but at least it matches the uniform on the cover.

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Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

Space Force Saturdays SPACE BUSTERS "Mission to Baldor!"

We're on to Ziff-Davis' Space Busters #2, and the first of the "redesigned" stories...

...as artist Marvin Stein takes a crack at making the "Marines in space" series look more like Buck Rogers!

This never-reprinted story appeared in the back of Ziff-Davis' Space Busters #2 (1952) because editor/writer Jerry Siegel had nothing else to fill the empty pages!
Unfortunately, Stein had gone "old school" 1930s-40s Buck Rogers, when Siegel had wanted "modern" 1950s Buck Rogers.
So Siegel got the guy who had been illustrating the modern Buck Rogers...Murphy Anderson!

You'll see his work in two weeks!
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Showcase Presents

Weird War Tales
Sci-Fi/Horror/Fantasy Military Tales

Space Force Saturdays SPACE BUSTERS "Death Rite of the Dwarfs"

In space no one can hear you die...

...as we present the third chapter of the Mars Campaign from Ziff-Davis' SpaceBusters #1 (1952)

This Bernie Krigstein-rendered story concludes the Space Busters tales from issue #1!

But we're not proceeding to #2 when we return to SpaceBusters after another two=part InterPlanetary Police tale!

There was a major artistic shift between issues, resulting in much of the already-completed work for #2 by Krigstein being "written-off" and later published by other companies who acquired the comic division's assets after Ziff-Davis dropped the line (except for G.I. Joe) in 1953!

The second issue contains an artistically-rebooted series with a new "look" created by illustrator, Murphy Anderson, fresh off a run on the Buck Rogers newspaper strip!

That's what you'll see in three weeks as we present those missing tales in the correct order (Space Busters #1.5, as it were!)

Don't forget to check out our 

 SpaceBusters

Collectibles Shop!

Space Force Saturdays SPACE BUSTERS "Charge of the Battle Women"

Continuing the Mars Campaign of the Earth-Belzar War from Ziff-Davis' SpaceBusters #1.

Part One can be found HERE.

It's a fascinating look at male-female relationships as shown in comic books of the 1950s, proving those Lois Lane comics and their attitudes towards women weren't an aberration.

Note: Jerry Siegel, the writer who co-created Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane, was the editor (and possibly writer) of this series!

BTW, you'll notice the Amazons on the cover by legendary pulp/comics/paperback/trading card artist Norman Saunders (shown above) are wearing considerably less...armor!

Don't forget to check out our 

 SpaceBusters

Collectibles Shop!

Monday Mars Madness WAR COMICS "Greg Gilday and the Martians" Part 2

We Have Already Seen...

...wow!

This strip is running at mach speed, adding genres every minute!

Greg Gilday isn't just Superman!

He's Moses, too!
In the Golden Age, creators, unrestrained by preconceptions, tried genre mash-ups we wouldn't dream of doing today, hoping to find a "hook" to grab readers!
Drawn (and probably written) by Richard Fletcher, this never-reprinted series only ran three chapters (this is the second, from Dell's War Comics #3, published in 1940) before disappearing despite the final strip ending with a caption promising more adventures!
Note: the Richard Fletcher who did this strip is not the Dick Fletcher who worked with Chester Gould before taking over as the artist on the Dick Tracy newspaper strip in 1977.
This guy is Richard Martin Fletcher.
The Dick Tracy artist was Richard E Fletcher and didn't begin his art career until after being discharged from the Army in 1945.

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Ray Bradbury's

Martian Chronicles