Showing posts with label space opera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label space opera. Show all posts

Saturday, August 16, 2025

Space Force Saturdays WORLDS UNKNOWN "Black Destroyer" Part 1

 In Space, No One Can Hear You MEOW...

...as in this 1940s pulp story that's a clear inspiration for aspects of movie and tv science fiction ranging from Forbidden Planet and Alien to Star Trek and Space: 1999 (among many others)!

Will Coeurl deceive the crew and return with them to Earth?
Or will he simply kill the humans and commandeer the ship?
Find out...Next Saturday!
Plus: read some kool background info about the comic adaptation!
This never-reprinted tale from issue 5 (1974) of Marvel's short-lived science fiction anthology Worlds Unknown was adapted by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Dan Adkins & Jim Mooney.
The story is based on "Black Destroyer", A E Van Vogt's first published story, which appeared as the cover story (a rare honor for a writer's premiere tale) in Astounding Science Fiction (July 1939).
It was later expanded in Vogt's novel Voyage of the Space Beagle, which continued the voyages of the starship and crew!
(BTW, it would make an absolutely dynamite feature film or streaming service mini-series!)
Unlike many other sci-fi stories of the era, it has never been directly-adapted to any other medium, not even radio!
However, the similarities plot elements in the movie Alien to both "Black Destroyer" and "Discord in Scarlet" (which involved an alien who laid eggs in humans) caused Van Vogt to sue 20th Century-Fox, which settled out-of-court for $50,000, with the whole matter sealed with an NDA!
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Voyage of the Space Beagle
(which includes "Black Destroyer")
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Saturday, August 9, 2025

Space Hero Saturdays ALIEN WORLDS "Few and the Far"

In space, things aren't always as they seem to appear...
...as this never-reprinted tale from Pacific's Alien Worlds #1 (1982) demonstrates not once, but twice...
Admit it.
Writer Bruce Jones and artist Al Williamson fooled you!
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Thursday, June 19, 2025

Was INAPAK the Chocolate Drink That NEVER Actually Existed?

Now here's an interesting point...
It apparently never existed!
Really!
From extensive research (we're talking off-line and on-site) thru the archives of several dealers and collectors who handle related food ephemera like Ovaltine and Quik (now Nesquik) packaging and advertising, we've yet to come across anything (besides the comic book itself) relating in any way to Inapak!
Could it have been a proposed project that never got off the ground, like Victor Fox's Kooba Kola?
If so, who was behind it?
Magazine Enterprises, the publishers of the The AvengerFunnyMan, and original Ghost Rider, produced the comic, and it's copyrighted in their name, not an outside corporation, as most licensed comics are!
Bob Powell is obviously the artist, though the writer is unknown.
It's theorized on the Grand Comics Database that Gardner Fox scripted the two stories in the book.
Speaking of which, here's the short tale from the back of the book...
Now, here's my theory about who Major Inapak is and how he came to be...
At this point (1951), there were a number of kids' sci-fi tv shows like Captain Video, featuring characters who also promoted their sponsors' products...

...and there was talk of a tv version of radio/comic/movie serial hero Captain Midnight (who was still owned by Ovaltine) with a heavier sci-fi/space opera flavor to compete with Captain VideoTom Corbett: Space CadetSpace Patrol, et al.
A Captain Midnight TV series eventually aired in 1954-56 with some sci-fi elements, but set present-day to keep the budget down.
(And of course, it had lots of promotion for Ovaltine products...)
Could this book have been a tryout with the original, futuristic, format for Captain Midnight, spotlighting his sponsor, Ovaltine?
And, when it didn't sell to Ovaltine, the story was retitled/relettered with a new character and a non-existent chocolate drink to demonstrate what Magazine Enterprises could do for potential clients, and then used as a trade-show giveaway to drum up business for a licensed-comic division (similar to what both Marvel and DC have today)?
You'll see the action-packed space adventure right here on Saturday!

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Space Hero Saturdays WITCHCRAFT "Hero of the Venus Flyer!"

Being a Space Hero Can Be as Easy as Being in the Right Place at the Right Time...

...and as difficult as being willing to die to save others!




Illustrated by Gene Fawcette and scriped by an unknown writer, this tale appeared twice within a year, first in Avon's WitchCraft #6 (1953), then in Avon's Strange Worlds #18 (1954), where, due to a miscalculation in pagination, the last page of the story ended up on the inside back cover, in black-and-white!

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Wednesday, April 30, 2025

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


...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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Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder STAR RAIDERS "Beginning...the Saga of the Star Raiders!" Part 4

We Have Already Seen...

...successfully stopping a Xylon attack, Jed and Tommy return home to nurse their wounds and make reprairs, not realizing they now have an admiring enourage in tow who are eager to join the battle...












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