FLYING SAUCERS "Far Out Physical"

With all the current mishigas about UFOs/Flying Saucers...

...we thought we'd present a tale or two from the 1960s-70s comic anthologies dedicated to the topic!

You'll note that the aliens' world balloons are left blank!

Editor Don (D J) Arneson wrote all the stories in the four-issue run of Dell's Flying Saucers.
He also made sure the various artists presented a fairly-consistent "look" to the aliens.
(Note: the series ran five issues, but the fifth was a reprint of #1)
In the case of this tale from #1 (1967), Sam Glanzman brought his realistic, natural style to a story using many of the already-established elements of UFO lore.
Trivia: Both Dell and Gold Key produced anthology comics about alien visitors and their kitchenware-shaped vessels during this period.
Gold Key's UFO: Flying Saucers ran for twenty five issues, changing the title to UFO and Outer Space as of #14!

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Voyage to the Deep

TPB reprinting the complete four-issue sci-fi/fantasy 1960s series illustrated by Sam Glanzman, plus some kool features!
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Space Hero Saturdays LOST WORLDS "First Man to Reach the Moon"

In this 1952 tale, Mankind doesn't reach the Moon until 2021!

For the record, most sci-fi stories of the era show a manned Moon landing occurring by 2000!

While we don't know who wrote this story from Standard's sci-fi anthology Lost Worlds #6 (1952), the illustrations are by Art Saaf, a steady contributor to comic books from the beginning of the Golden Age to the end of the Bronze Age (1940-1980).

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Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3
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Reading Room SPACE PATROL COMICS "Push Button Tyrant"

Ziff-Davis' Space Patrol comic featured stories based on the 1950s TV series...

...and unrelated one-shot tales, like this never-reprinted "Cold War of the Future" story from #1 (1952).

Boy, they were obsessed in the 1950s that the Commies would win the Cold War!
The writer and artist are officially unknown, but I see a great deal of Carmine Infantino's penciling style in a number of panels.

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Taylor Illustrated History

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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder RAUMPATROUILLE "Dance!"

While there are many similarities between Space Patrol and Star Trek...

...the one big difference I've seen commented upon over and over again is...

...the dance numbers that occur in almost every episode.

The closest thing I've ever seen on American sci-fi tv was in the pilots for Battlestar Galactica (1978) and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979).

However, Raumpatrouille had their own ongoing choreographer, William Milié, to compose the funky dance numbers that appeared in the background of each episode!

Lunar Reading Room RACE FOR THE MOON "Saucer Man"

From the era when actual space travel was brand new...

 ...and flying saucers were probably real, here's a tale from Harvey's Race for the Moon #3 (1958).

Pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Al Williamson, an absolutely magnificent combo, rivaling Kirby's pairings with Wally Wood and Joe Sinnott!

Science fiction was in a state of flux as real-world science began catching up with our imaginations.

Instead of far-future sagas with warp-drive ships, tales of "the day after tomorrow", when we would make our first landings on the Moon and Mars came into vogue.

That didn't mean that visitors from beyond our Solar System were left out, but the technology we used to respond to them (friendly or not) was much closer to "present-day" (1950s) tech than ray-guns and photon drives.

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Simon & Kirby Library
Science Fiction

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Space Hero Saturdays/Valentine's Day AMAZING ADVENTURES "Asteroid Witch"

In Space, No One Can Hear You Smooch!

Art by Clinton Spooner

Comic book romance stories are geared towards tween/teen/young adult womwn which make you wonder what the 'tween/teen/young adult male attitude on romance is.

This never-reprinted story from Ziff-Davis' Amazing Adventures #1 (1950) offers that viewpoint.

And what have we learned today?

Women, alien or not, are scheming little trollops, plotting to control helpless men, usually by tricking them into marriage.
No wonder there's so much misogyny in America...

While the writer for this story is unknown (but believed to be editor Jerry [Superman] Siegel), the art is by Murphy Anderson, who did a lot of work for Ziff-Davis Comics before moving on to illustrate the Buck Rogers newspaper strip!

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Weird Romance
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Friday Fun AMAZING ADVENTURES "Adonis 2-PX-89"

 This week's Valentine's Day-oriented entry is a weird combo of sci-fi and humor...

Art by Allen Anderson

...which was probably written by the man who created the Clark Kent/Superman/Lois Lane love/hate triangle...

This cover-featured story from Ziff-Davis' Amazing Adventures #4 (1951) was illustrated by Henry Sharp who, during his decade in comics, illustrated only sci-fi or war stories!

Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel was the editor of the Ziff-Davis comics line, and wrote many of the stories that appeared in it, so it's not unreasonable to assume this tale, which contains many plot aspects common to those tales of Superman and Lois Lane, was scripted by the same writer!

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Secret Wars Secret Love
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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder RAUMPATROUILLE "Invasion" (It's the same in English and German!)

These guys are smiling right now...

...but not for long, as we reach the apocalyptic series finale (yes, finale)!

The energy-based aliens known as "Frogs" make their move against Earth, using traitors from within to disable Space Command!
It's all-out war, and you, space cadets have a ringside seat!
Enjoy!

Note: We've tried to embed the English subtitles, but if they don't come up automatically, go to the "gear" icon on the lower right of the video screen, and set them manually.)
We'll be back next week with a detailed look at some of the unique aspects of the series.

Football + SuperHeroes = SuperPro!

35 years ago, Marvel and the NFL teamed up to produce...

...a football-themed superhero!

...who, despite meeting a couple of Marvel's best-known heroes...

...lasted only 13 issues, then disappeared into obscurity!

Due to licensing restrictions, NFL SuperPro will never be reprinted or offered as an e-book!

However, when you can find copies, they're usually pretty cheap, like the one below...

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NFL SuperPro

Super Bowl Special
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Space...Hero??? Saturdays PLANET COMICS "Cosmo Corrigan and the Cosmic Chorus Girls!"

What do you do when you want to heat up a planet that's colder than America's MidWest in February?

Cosmo Corrigan has the answer...cosmic chorus girls!

Sady, Cosmo never got back to Pluto!

He wasn't in the next issue of Planet Comics, nor would he reappear anywhere else in the known universe.
His fate remains a mystery...
Written and illustrated by Seymour Reit (who later co-created Casper the Friendly Ghost), Cosmo's final tale appeared in Fiction House's Planet Comics #11 (1941).
But don't think this is the end of our winter-inspired posts!

There's more frigid fun to come!

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Planet Comics

Volume 3

Reprinting issues 9-12
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