Showing posts with label sci-fi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sci-fi. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder AGAR-AGAR "Village in the Sea"

...we return to the psychedelic universe of an alien woman named after a plant food!
Whoa! 
That's heavy, man.
Pollution is, like, universal, man.
But, like, the Magic of Love can defeat it...
This story from New England Library's Dracula #2 (1971) was written by Luis Gasca under the pen-name Sadko  and illustrated in a Peter Max-esque style by Alberto Solsona.
It's the second of three that were published in the Warren trade paperback that reprinted the first six issues of this British magazine.
The remaining three stories have been unseen by American audiences, but will be posted here starting two weeks from today.
It'll be a groovy trip, baby!

Saturday, November 4, 2023

Space Hero Saturdays CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT "Peril on Venus!"

Alien "space raider" Jagga had already encountered (and lost to) Earth's greatest defender, Captain Midnight...

...now the Sovereign of the Spaceways is about to encounter the Scoundrel of Space again!
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Writer Otto Binder and artist Leonard Frank continue the battle with Jagga (who's gone from Caucasian skin-tone to grey in his second appearance) in this tale from Fawcett's Captain Midnight #53 (1947).
He'll turn green (though not with envy) in later appearances!
Note that the then-current science of 1947 theorized Venus might, in fact, be habitable.
The idea that Atlanteans would've migrated there centuries earlier, when their continent sank beneath the waves, was unique.

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Thursday, November 2, 2023

Reading Room WORLD OF SUSPENSE "Forbidden!"

Here's another never-reprinted tale from the Atlas Comics vault...
...illustrated by longtime comics book artist Ed Winiarski and scripted by a writer whose name is lost to the sands of time, though it may be Ed himself!
This never-reprinted story from Atlas' World of Suspense #8 (1957) is one of Winiarski's last stories in comics before either retiring or switching to other media like advertising after a 20-year career in comics!
Trivia: Ed is one of the creators cited in Stan Lee's book (really a bookletSecrets of the Comics as shown HERE!
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Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder AGAR-AGAR "Rendezvous with Aquarius"

As the world turns prematurely-dark with snow on Halloween...
...we're going to provide a neon/black lite psychedelic saga that'll run every Wednesday from now until Christmas!
♪"This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius...Age of Aquarius..."♫
Oops, sorry, got carried away there for a second.
This trippy mini-series had eight installments, each one weirder than the previous.
Agar-Agar "got physical" (in a PG-13 way) with a variety of life-forms including centaurs, super-heroes, and a human or two.
Illustrated in a Peter Max-esque style by Alberto Solsona.

Written by Luis Gasca under the pen-name "Sadko" and published in England as part of Dracula (1971), a 12-issue partworks by New English Library, the first 3 tales made their American debut in Warren Publishing's Dracula trade paperback which reprinted #1-#6 of the British Dracula's run in 1973.
You'll see those tales, plus the rest of the series, including the five stories that have never been seen by American readers!
It'll be a groovy trip, baby!

Saturday, October 28, 2023

Spooky Space Force Saturdays STRANGE GALAXY "Space Monsters"

Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito
...except, it both was and wasn't the final tale!
The script was used, almost verbatim (but with a renamed lead character), for a new story in the first issue of the short-lived 1970s b/w magazine Strange Galaxies!
All the other names, including the female lead, Maeve, and various locations, remained the same...
In fact, all the stories in Eerie Publications' Strange Galaxy V1N8 (which was the first issue), were re-dos of earlier stories from various defunct comic companies!
I guess they figured that no one would remember the original 1950s tales in 1971...
The rewriter/adaptor is unknown, but could be editor Carl Burgos, who created, among others, the Golden Age Human Torch and the first Silver Age Captain Marvel (the android who said "Split"!).
The stories don't have individual art credits, but according to the Weird World of Eerie Publications by Mike Howlett, the illustrator is one of the artists who were regular contiburors to the Eerie Publications line, Oscar Fraga.
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Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Reading Room WEIRD MEN'S ADVENTURES "I Walked on the Moon"

In the early 1950s, EC Comics set the pace for other companies...
...as this hybrid sci-fi/horror tale from Atlas' Men's Adventures #26 (1954) clearly demonstrates!
You'll note the post's header reads Weird Men's Adventures, but I mentioned earlier the book was  just Men's Adventures.
It's not a typo.
The indicia title was Men's Adventures, and from 1-20 it featured war and high adventure tales.
But, with #21, it became a horror title and "Weird" was added in a graphic burst to the logo (but not the indicia).
Six issues later, the brief revival of the Golden Age Human Torch and Toro took over the book for two issues before it was cancelled.
Though the writer for this tale from is unknown, the artist (doing a credible Wally Wood imitation) is Gene Colan!
Trivia: When the story was reprinted in Marvel's Weird Wonder Tales #17 (1976), it was retitled and the splash panel was rewritten (including removing the "Weird Men's Adventure" blurb)...
Considering that, in 1976, it was over five years since the first Moon landing, I'm not certain why the editor made the change...
BTW, note the "originally-presented" caption references the wrong issue!
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Saturday, October 21, 2023

Spooky Space Force Saturdays KENTON OF THE STAR PATROL "Monster-Men of Space!"

It's time for more spooky interstellar adventure with Kenton of the Star Patrol...
...as another talented artist takes the reins from Wally Wood and Joe Orlando for Kenton's final tale!
This Kenton story from Avon's Strange Worlds #6 (1952) is penned by Gardner Fox and rendered by Everett Raymond Kinstler, who left comics for fine art (including numerous official portraits of US Presidents).
Previous Kenton artists Joe Orlando and Wally Wood did the cover for the issue...
...but, when the cover was reused for IW/Super's Eerie #1 (1958), which contained stories from Spook Comics, the art looked decidedly-different!
Was the Eerie cover the original version, which was modified to make the alien match the Kinsler-drawn aliens?
Ironically, when the Kenton story was reprinted, it had a totally-new cover by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito featuring aliens who looked nothing like the Monster-Men...

And there's yet another twist to the tale of this tale, which we'll tell...next week, when we go from Strange Worlds and Strange Planets to Strange Galaxies!
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Saturday, October 7, 2023

Spooky Space Force Saturdays KENTON OF THE STAR PATROL "Vampires of the Void"

Strap on your blasters and activate your ato-jets, kids...
Art by Joe Orlando and Wally Wood
...as we join our space-faring hero against gorgeous aliens who suck the life from humans!
Now that's a sci-fi horror tale...and illustrated by Wally Wood and Joe Orlando!
Gardner Fox scripted the story published in Avon's Strange Worlds #4 (1951) and it actually makes sense, given the scientific knowledge of the era.
Add a kool (if slightly misleading) cover by Wood and Orlando...and you've got a cult classic!
Hard to believe it's only been reprinted twice!
But...it has been re-told twice more!
What do we mean by that?
Be Back Next Week to Find Out!
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