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

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Reading Room EERIE ADVENTURES "Vampires from Venus!"

 It's Freezing, Windy, and Snowy Outside...

...perfect weather for a tale about an invasion by aliens from a hot and steamy planet!


This 1951 tale combining mobila, lethal plants (based on the Triffids from the novel Day of the Triffids which had just been published) and vampires (with their classic weakness, sunlight) from the Ziff-Davis one-shot Eerie Adventures was illustrated by Bob Powell and Howard Nostrand.
The writer is unknown.
Eerie Adventures used leftover material from the recently-cancelled Amazing Adventures with an attempt to market it as horror rather than sci-fi/fantasy.
Only one issue was published as the title was dropped by Ziff-Davis to avoid legal action by Avon who already had an ongoing Eerie comics title.
ZD then did a Weird Adventures one-shot, which sold well, but discovered there was already a title with the same name from PL Publishing which debuted the month before!
So ZD retitled their book Weird Thrillers, before PL could take legal action.
The series ran five more issues before the Dr Wertham-led Seduction of the Innocent witch-hunt forced the cancellation of all horror-related comic books.
(Ironically, the PL series only ran two more issues before the entire company folded.)
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Sunday, January 4, 2026

Reading Room OPERATION: PERIL "Time Travelers in 'Date with Danger' "

Sci-fi of the 1950s wasn't limited to space opera...
...as this series from the AGC adventure anthology comic Operation: Peril demonstrates!
Operation: Peril was an interesting multi-genre anthology featuring on-going strips about time travel (as seen above), a hard-boiled private eye (Danny Danger), and high adventure in the Pacific (Typhoon Tyler), as well as a historicalshort story.
While the other series featured stand-alone stories, Time Travelers presented a couple of on-going plotlines, as you'll see in future posts.
Though Time Travelers didn't appear on the first few covers, by issue #4, they took over the cover spot until their final appearance in #12, after which the book changed focus and became a war comic.
This premiere tale from Operation: Peril #1 (1950) was written by the book's Editor, Richard Hughes and illustrated by Ken Bald.
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Saturday, January 3, 2026

Space Hero Saturdays SPACE MOUSE "Beauty Contest!"

In the 1950s, both funny animals and sci-fi were popular comics genres...
...so, it was inevitable that someone would combine the two!
Though it is the cover-featured story in Avon's Space Mouse #1 (1954), "Beauty Contest", written and illutrated by Frank Cairn, is not the origin of the Rocketing Rodent.
That tale, "Atomic Attack", comes later in the book...and we've already presented it in Space Hero Saturdays, HERE.
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(covering the studio where writer/artist Frank Carin got his start)

Thursday, January 1, 2026

Holiday Reading Room SPACE ADVENTURES "Mummers from Mercury"

 73 years ago, the world almost ended on New Year's Day...

...but it was saved by the participants of the annual Mummers Parade!
This never-reprinted story from Charlton's Space Adventures #1 (1953) was illustrated by Albert Tyler and Dick Giordano.
The writer (who was probably from Philadelphia) is unknown.
The Mummers Parade is usually held every New Years Day in Philadelphia.
Mummers tradition dates back to 400 BC and the Roman Festival of Saturnalias where Latin laborers marched in masks throughout the day of satire and gift exchange.
This included Celtic variations of “trick-or-treat” and Druidic noise-making to drive away demons for the new year.
Reports of rowdy groups “parading” on New Years day in Philadelphia date back before the revolution.
Prizes were offered by merchants beginning in the late 1800s.
January 1, 1901 was the first “official” parade offered about $1,725 in prize money from the city.
January 1, 2021 was the 120th Anniversary of the event, but, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was cancelled.

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Reading Room CAPTAIN SCIENCE COMICS "When Time Stood Still"

It's the gift that keeps on giving...
...a trip through time and space on New Year's Eve!
Illustrated by Myron Fass, this never-reprinted tale from Avon's Captain Science Comics #4 (1952) is a classic example of how weird and wild (and totally-illogical) 1950s sci-fi can be!
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Saturday, December 20, 2025

Space Hero Saturdays FLASH GORDON "and the Space Pirates" Conclusion

...there's more to the plot, but it's easier for you to just read Part 1 & Part 2 than have me explain it.
BTW, Patch has her silver/white hair and original clothes from Part 1 back, while Flash is in a new uniform!
Sadly, we've never seen that showdown!
The tale, illustrated by Gil Kane, appeared in the back of King Comics' The Phantom #20 (1966) and the writer is unknown.
The storyline wasn't concluded in Flash's King Comics title and neither Patch nor Straker have ever appeared anywhere else.

Saturday, December 13, 2025

Space Hero Saturdays FLASH GORDON "and the Space Pirates" Part 2

...wow, the opening caption covered the plotline perfectly!
You'll note Flash is wearing a more ornate outfit while Patch's clothes are the same, but mis-colored (as is her hair, which was silver/white in the previous chapter)!
The story concludes next Saturday!
Illustrated by Gil Kane, replacing Wally Wood.
The writer is unknown.
Though Flash had his own comic at this time, this three-parter appeared in the back of The Phantom's book from the same publisher, King Comics, a division of King Features Syndicate.
(All the King Comics books did this, presumably to expose their target audience to other titles they might not otherwise read.)
Interestingly, Flash's own book ran backup stories of Mandrake the Magician (who also had his own book) and Secret Agent X-9 (who didn't have a book at the time)!
The particular tale appeared in the back of King's The Phantom #19 (1966).