Believe it or not, there was a comic book version of this holiday "classic" flick...
...in 1966, from Dell Comics!
Next Friday: Santa's trip to Mars...
(...not to be confused with Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars!)
The writer/adaptor is unknown, but the art is by Bob Jenney, who did quite a few movie and tv adaptations for Dell.
The actual title of the comic is Dell Movie Classic #725. Not only was it sold on newsstands, but it was packaged with an LP album of the movie's audio including dialogue, sound effects and (shudder) the earworm-creating theme song! (Remember, they didn't have streaming services, DVDs/Blu Rays, or even videocassettes back in the 1960s!)
...they will find a way to celebrate joy and happiness even under the most stressful of circumstances, as in this tale behind a very misleading (but extremely-kool) Bill Everett cover!
Illustrated by Bob Forgione and scripted by an unknown writer, this story from Atlas' Journey into Unknown Worlds #47 (1956) is more "hard" science-fiction and less "science-fantasy" than this later tale by a pair of Silver Age legends following the same basic plot...
This long-forgotten Stan Lee/Steve Ditko (You've heard of them, right?) tale from Atlas' Journey into Mystery #78 (1962) amps up the humans' paranoia, but plays down scientific accuracy! (Even in 1962, we knew Mercury was unlivable for humans without extensive protective equipment and clothing!)
But, to be fair, both tales are equally-good at getting the Yuletide message across, eh?
Starring a host of tv and b-movie actors including handsome-but-wooden Leonard Hicks as the benevolent Martian leader Kimar, 60s villain/voiceover artist Vincent Beck (who did lots of work for Irwin Allen's sci-fi shows) as the film's mustache-twirling, scenery-chewing Martian villain, Voldar, and John Call as a pretty damn convincing cuddly Santa Claus, the film is classic kiddie matinee programming at its' retro campy best!
The plot's pretty simple.
The children of Mars are in a funk.
The adult Martians deduce it's due to the children's strict and sterile upbringing, and that to "normalize" them, the kids must have fun!
And what could be more fun than celebrating Christmas?
But, to do a proper Christmas, you need a Santa Claus!
Thus, the Martians journey to Earth to kidnap Santa Claus and force him to create a Christmas celebration on Mars!
Then, as they used to say in TV Guide's plot listings, hilarity ensues! (well, sorta)
As an example of low-budget filmmaking, it's amazingly-effective.
Every penny (what few of them they had) is up on the screen.
The costuming and Santa's Workshop and Mars sets are as good as those of tv shows of the period.
(The Martian robot is probably the weakest element from a design and execution standpoint, but, hey, nobody's perfect!)
There's extensive use of military stock footage (from Dr. Strangelove, no less).
And, the idea to utilize the then-current Wham-O Air Blaster toy guns as Martian weapons was either a stroke of marketing genius or clever use of limited funds. Either way, sales of the guns shot thru the roof after the film hit the kiddie matinee circuit!
If you're between 3-9 years old, the flick's a lot of fun.
If you're between 10 and whatever the local drinking age is, it'll drive you nuts, especially the theme song! And to prove it...here it is!
If you're over the local drinking age...do so before watching! It's available on a host of public domain DVDs and BluRays as well as one of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 snarkfests.
BTW: The image at top is the cover of the comic book tie-in. There was also a 45rpm single of the theme, a spoken-word LP album of the movie's dialogue (which included the comic book), and a novelization, all of which are HTF...and expensive when you do find them!
Be Here Next Friday,
when we begin our re-presentation of the comic book adaptation of the movie!
Now I can't get that damn theme out of my head..."Hoo-ray for Santy Claus..."
"Whimsical" is not a word you usually associate with Jack (King) Kirby...
...but in this case, it's perfectly appropriate!
Though Jack Kirby both penciled and inked (a rare occurrence) this tale from Harvey's Black Cat Mystic #59 (1957), the identity of who wrote it is unknown, but it's probably Kirby himself or ex-partner Joe Simon who was the editor of the book at Harvey Comics!
BTW, Black Cat Mystic, despite the title, was a science-fiction, not horror, comic!
...that shows both his storytelling and rendering talents at their best.
Written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Steve Ditko, this tale from Charlton's Out of This World #5 (1957) is a superb example of how to tell a complete story in just five pages.
While the script isn't the greatest, Ditko tells the story effectively with both "talking heads" (and very distinctive, individualistic talking heads, at that), and kool graphics showing things impossible to portray convincingly with the SFX technology of the 1950s.
Today's comics creators have lost the ability to tell a straightforward story...
...in a short story format!
It wasn't always this way....
Written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Steve Ditko, this efficent, effective tale from Charlton's Outer Space #18 (1958) sets up the minimal plot, conveys multiple points of view, and delivers a satisfying ending...all within four pages!
If it was done today, it'd be a book-length tale!
You'll note Ditko's heavy use of pen, rather than brush for inking, resulting in a less-lush, less organic "feel" and a lot more cross-hatching instead of feathering than his work only a year later, when he was transitioning from Charlton over to Atlas/Marvel.
This never-reprinted story from Atlas' World of Suspense #1 (1956) presents one possible way!
It's a cute story with a kool "gotcha" ending...if you don't think about it too much!
But writer Carl Wessler and artist Al Hartley ignored a number of simple (and obvious) facts...
1) Jet engines aren't rockets.
They require an oxygen-rich atmosphere to function, otherwise they konk out!
2) Commercial aircraft, while somewhat airtight, are not designed for use in a total vacuum, where there's no external pressure!
The hull and windows would blow outward within minutes, if not seconds! (Especially if they were made by Boeing!)
3) Any phenomenon creating a "tunnel" between Earth and Uranus in our atmosphere would've been noticed by scientists, even with the relatively-unsophisticated instruments of the period!
(They wouldn't have understood it...but they would have noticed it!)
4) Nobody paid attention to the little green tourists (in magenta robes)wandering around?
5) Though I love the point that Earth (Most likely just America) was, even then, expensive to live in, I have to ask; what were the Uranians using for money?
This guy will tell you about something even worse...
...in a never-reprinted tale from Atlas' World of Mystery #7 (1957)!
Illustrated by longtime Simon & Kirby Studio artist Marvin Stein, the story seems to have a very Jack Kirby "feel" to the panel structures and character poses.
Could Kirby have helped out by doing uncredited layouts?
