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
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Space Heroine Stories BARBARELLA 4.2 aka Conclusion!

 When Last We Left Our Heroine...

After surviving the Excessive Machine, Barbarella ends up in the bedroom of the Queen of Sogo.
The pair manage to escape and free the blind angel, Pygar.
However, unskilled in piloting the alien craft they are traveling in, Barbarella crashes the ship, and in the ensuing confusion, the Queen escapes...

This multi-part comic strip was turned into a graphic album, and then adapted into a feature film starring Jane Fonda in the title role.

Japanese poster

Barbarella wouldn't have a new adventure until 1974, when Wrath Of The Minute Eater was published in France.
Two more graphic novels, False Moon aka Moon Child (1977) and Storm Mirror (1982), have appeared since.
Dynamite Comics has been running new comics (not by Jean Claude Forrest), both several solo mini-series and a crossover with another space heroine, Dejah Thoris: Princess of Mars!
Nelvana Animation, proposed doing an animated series during the 1990s, but no network was willing to finance it.

Proposal art by Jean-Claude Forrest

Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Spy Kids, and Machete franchises) had a movie remake in development, but it died in 2009, and, to date, no one else seems interested...

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Space Heroine Saturdays BARBARELLA 4.1

It's been a couple of months since we checked up on Barbarella...

...so let's begin the final chapter of her 1960s adventures!

Next Month:

The Fantastic Finale!

Plus some fun facts!

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Space Hero Saturdays SPACE ACE "Nothing Weapon!"

Buckle Up for EXCITEMENT in the Far-Flung Reaches of Space...

...as Magazine Enterprise's Space Ace 2.5 makes his initial appearance, and he's looking good!

Al Williamson does the penciling, showing off his superb design and anatomy skills.
The inking is by Williamson plus the legendary Fleagle Gang (Frank Frazetta, Angelo Torres, Roy Krenkel, George Woodbridge).
If that weren't enough, the script is by Gardner Fox, taking the somewhat more juvenile concepts of "Space Ace 2.0" (as seen HERE and HERE) and making them a superb example of classic, epic space opera.

BONUS #1: the original art for page one...

Is that magnificent, or what? ;-)

Bonus #2

This story in 3-D

Get your Red/Blue glasses out...

From 3-D Zone #10 (1988)
"ZoneVision" conversion by Ray Zone.

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Taylor History of Comics

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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder STAR RAIDERS "Beginning...the Saga of the Star Raiders!" Conclusion

When Last We Left the Heroes of The Resistance...

...if you can't tell from the montage above, to coin a phrase..."Things are about to get busy!"

This particular concept/plotline didn't advance any further.

But it wasn't contradicted or retconned either!

Instead, DC decided to launch an ongoing regular comic-format series as more of a direct sequel to the original mini-comics, featuring original series character Martin Champion, his son, and a new assortment of supporting characters battling original series villain Dark Destroyer!
Elliot S! Maggin wasn't the writer of this version.
Gerry Conway (who co-wrote the mini-comics) returned as writer, but Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez remained as penciler for the first story arc, then contributed covers sporadically over the series' 21-issue run!

Next Week:
A New World of Wonder!

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Modern Masters Volume Five

Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

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