Showing posts with label retro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label retro. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder DEATH RATTLE "Xenozoic!" Conclusion

...actually we haven't seen this...nor will we!
It's a "symbolic" cover, designed to hook you into reading the comic.
And, hoo boy, does it work!
On a post-apocalyptic Earth several centuries from now, a rescue team checks up on a scientific research outpost that went mysteriously silent.
They find one mutilated survivor, and the group splits up to search for others...
Wow!
Now THAT'S an introduction!
Up-and-comer Mark Schultz created, wrote, and illustrated this tribute to dinosaurs in general and EC Comics of the 1950s in particular.
Dennis Kitchen, editor-publisher of Kitchen Sink was so sure of the potential for this series, he didn't even wait to see how the sales were on Death Rattle #8, as shown by this ad in the back of the book...
The book ran for 14 issues, and sold well.
There was also a one-shot 3-D issue adapting earlier stories to the 3-D format.
Problem was that Mark Schultz, like Dave Stevens, Mike Kaluta, Neal Adams, and a number of other creatives, though incredibly-talented, was also exceedingly sloooooowww, so the book went from bi-monthly to quarterly to semi-annually.
Kitchen Sink tried using back-up tales (overseen by Schultz) by other writers and artists while Schultz did the lead stories, but the book always had trouble keeping a regular schedule.
Even with that, the series built up a devoted following and tie-in merchandise like t-shirts, action figures and other goodies were grabbed off comic store shelves as fast as they were stocked.
Marvel's Epic imprint reprinted the early b/w tales in color under the name Cadillacs & Dinosaurs.
Interest from licensees in this version resulted in mainstream media tie-ins including a popular arcade game, home video console games, and an animated tv series...which resulted in its' own comic series from Topps that did new stories based on the tv show and sequels to Xenozoic Tales comic stories!
The stories continue to be reprinted (most recently in an IDW "Artists Edition"), and there are rumors of a feature film that could lead to an ongoing franchise!
Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Buy...
Paid Link

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder DEATH RATTLE "Xenozoic!" Part 1

With one simple, invented word and a passion for dinosaurs and EC Comics...
...a young writer-artist named Mark Schultz created one of the more successful comic series of the 1980s!
What has Jack discovered?
Find Out...
NEXT WEDNESDAY!
Plus, we'll toss in some background about both the series and the creator!
Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Xenozoic
by Mark Schultz

Paid Link

Monday, October 19, 2026

Monday Mecha Madness JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Orogo!! The Nightmare from Outer Space!!"

Behind this Jack Kirby-penciled/Don Heck-inked splash...
...lurks a mystery. which we'll delve into after you read the story!
When this Stan Lee-scripted, Don Heck-illustrated (except for the splash) tale was reprinted in Marvel's Fantasy Masterpieces #2 (1967), the cover played-up Heck's Cyclopean robot (and Dashin' Don himself)...
...but when it was first published in Atlas' Journey into Mystery #57 (1960)...
...and reprinted a second time in Marvel's Where Monsters Dwell #12 (1971)...
...it used the original Kirby cover that seems to be a reverse-angle of the splash page above and shows a radically-different Orogo with two eyes!
Did editor/art director Stan the Man have The King do the cover and splash and then pass the rest of the story to Heck to finish,...but, for whatever reason, didn't give Dashing Don the cover as reference for Orogo, so Heck came up with his own version of the robot...with only one eye?
There are several Atlas-era monster stories where Kirby would do splashes, then another artist would complete the tale.
Bookmark us and keep an eye out as we attempt to solve the half century-old mystery....
Support Atomic Kommie Comics!
Visit Amazon and Buy..
Paid Link

Saturday, October 17, 2026

Space Hero Saturdays NORGE BENSON...plus DINOSAURS in ""Plutonian Prehistoric Peril"

When Last We Left Our Hapless Hero...
...he was returning to Pluto after spending a couple of issues on a jungle planet where he met the scantly-clad Princess Jolie...

This tale starring Space Hero Norge Benson from Fiction House's Planet Comics #22 (1943), while out of reprint order, proves artist Al Walker and whoever the writer is haven't lost their sense of the ludicrous!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics!
Visit Amazon and Buy...
Planet Comics
Volume 6
Paid Link

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Reading Room MYSTIC "Dinosaur"

We Recently Ran a Dinosaur-Themed Story Illustrated by the Amazing Bernie Krigstein HERE...

...and this one, done around the same time, is so totally-different, we felt we had to present it!
(BTW, when we ran the previous Krigstein dino-story "Lair of the Thunder Lizard" back in May, we were planning a totally-different Halloween blogathon!)
Note: While Krigstein superbly-illustrated this kool tale from Atlas Comics' Mystic #56 (1957) about a dinosaur you never see, the writer is currently-unknown, but might be the comic's editor Stan Lee!
Sadly, we'll never know!
Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Buy...
Paid Link

Monday, October 5, 2026

Monday Mecha Madness SPIRIT OF FRANKENSTEIN "Dagget's Phantoms"

...disgruntled elderly Professor Lambert Pardway, working as an assistant to Doctor Daniel Warren, tricks Warren into implanting the dying Pardway's brain into an experimental android.
Before Pardway's brain can use the android body to destroy Warren and his girlfriend, it is "short circuited" by Warren...
Writer/editor Richard Hughes and artist Charles Sultan merrily combine science and the supernatural in this wild tale from ACG's Adventures into the Unknown #6 (1949), setting a tone that would countinue for the remainder of the series...
Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Buy...
Paid Link

Friday, October 2, 2026

Friday Fun KANDI THE CAVE KID "Dinosaur"

Creationists believe the Earth is only 6,000 years old...
...so to them, this could be considered a chapter in a history textbook!
This never-reprinted story from Dell's Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Comics #15 (1943) was the final appearance of the Walt Kelly-created character.
Besides both print adaptations of theatrical cartoons and new tales of existing Warner Brothers characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Dell introduced a number of new characters to fill out the pages of the comic anthology, including Kandi and Pat, Patsy & Pete.
Kandi was one of the shorter-lived ones, with only a half-dozen short tales from #3 to #15.