Wednesday Worlds of Wonder PSYCHO "Swordsman of Sarn in 'City of Living Light!' "

Created in 1971 for Skywald's b/w magazine Science Fiction Odyssey...

...this cover by Jeffrey Catherine Jones and the following story by writer Gardner Fox, penciler Jack Katz, and inker Vince Colletta were left homeless when the book was cancelled before publication.

However, both were presented in Skywald's Psycho #12 (1973!)!

Enjoy!

This was obviously-meant to be an ongoing high-adventure series in the John Carter/Gullivar Jones mold.

Sadly, there was no follow-up!
Note: Though the cover for Psycho #12 didn't really display Jeff Jones' art to best advantage...

 ...when the cover was reprinted in Toutain Editor's 1984 #36 (1982) in Spain...

...it got the treatment it deserved!

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Monday Madness PSYCHO "Weird Way It Was"

If ever a story qualified as "mad" (as in "insane")...

...it would certainly be this never-reprinted terror tale from Skywald's Psycho #12 (1973)

Written by Psycho's editor, Al Hewetson, and illustrated by Pablo Marcos, this story has plot elements from and visual references to Lewis Carroll's surreal Alice tales.

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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder NIGHTMARE "Massacre of Mankind!"

Look at this tale and tell us...if you can...when was it created?

Was it
The Golden Age (1940s)?

The Atomic Age (1950s)?

The Silver Age (1960s)?

or

The Bronze Age (1970s)?

The answer will surprise you!

One hint: The artist who drew it worked in all four eras!

It was written and laid-out in the 1950s, but penciled and inked in the 1970s!

Scripted by Walter (The Shadow) Gibson and laid-out by Gene Fawcette back in 1952, the tale was fully-penciled and inked by Bill (Sub-Mariner) Everett for Skywald's b/w anthology Nightmare #2 (1971)!

It's actually the first chapter in a three-part tale, but the other two parts were never re-done!
You'll see the complete original tale starting next Wednesday!

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Heroic Tales

Bill Everett Archives Volume 2

Earth Day Reading Room NIGHTMARE "Pollution Monsters!"

"The Devil made it do it!" is given new meaning...

...in this never-reprinted tale from 51 years ago (the year Earth Day was first celebrated) which reads like one of Atlas' (pre-Marvel Comics) late 1950s-early 1960s monster stories!

Before we continue, two points:

1) Penciler Don Heck was one of the primary artists of both Atlas era and Silver Age Marvel comics stories, including numerous giant monster tales.
(Inker Mike Esposito, though he entered the field at the same time as Heck, didn't do much work for Atlas or Marvel until the late 1960s.)

2) The story is broken into two parts, even though it's only 10 pages, much like those Atlas Comics stories.

Is it a deliberate homage?
Writer Mike Freidrich was one of the first generation of comic fanboys turned professional creatives, so he was very familiar with the inherent tropes...

One big difference between this story and those Atlas-era giant monster stories...we don't win!

We might, but there's no guarantee in this cover-featured tale from Skywald's Nightmare #1 (1970)!

It's over 50 years later...and it's still frightening!

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Climate Change
A Personal Journey Through the Science

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ZANGAR "Lost Beyond the Bog of Darkness!"

We Have Already Seen...

...read through the synopsis on the title page below and see if you follow the rather confused narrative which mentions characters like Narcor whom we haven't seen previously!

Plus, who is...Koalrack?

Was this never-reprinted Bronze Age tale from Skywald's Jungle Adventures #3 (1971), penciled by Jack Katz, and inked by Frank Giacoia, a lead-in to an unexpected change in direction?
Conan the Barbarian had been introduced by Marvel less than a year earlier, and was selling amazingly-well!
Was Zangar going to go the barbarian-adventurer route, instead of staying a jungle lord?
And what of Tellana?
Was she going to be an ongoing villainess/love interest?
The writing is confusing, so it's unlikely co-creator Gardner Fox, noted for his precise, logical storylines, scripted this tale.
Sadly, this was the final issue of Jungle Adventures as Skywald phased out the color comics line to concentrate on their better-selling b/w horror magazines!

Next Week: the High Adventure Tales of a Different, Rarely-Seen Character Begin!

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Skywald

The Complete Illustrated History of the Horror-Mood!

(which covers the company's b/w magazines and color comics!)