Space Hero Saturdays THE SPACEHAWK "...and the Lost Tribe of Mercury!"

You'll note that, this time around, our hero is called The Spacehawk...

...perhaps because writer/artist Basil Wolverton is trying to give him a "frightening-to-criminals" vibe like The Batman or The Shadow...

This tale from Novelty's Target Comics V1N6 (1940) offers up some fascinating concepts!

Was Spacehawk flesh-and-blood...or a robot/android?

Otherwise, how could he pull off such superhuman feats?

If you return in two weels, you'll find out his startling secret!

In the meantime, a different Space Hero will thrill you with an astounding astral adventure...

NEXT SATURDAY!

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Reading Room LOST WORLDS "Outlaws of Space"

Some say space operas are just Westerns with rayguns instead of six-shooters...

...and here's a story that plays with those cliches, even down to the characters mentioning the parallels!

While we don't know who wrote this never-reprinted story from Standard's short-lived sci-fi anthology Lost Worlds #6 (1952), the art is by Alex Toth (pencils) and Al Rubano (inks).

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Setting the Standard

Comics by Alex Toth: 1952-1954

Space Hero Saturdays SPACEHAWK "and the Creeping Death from Neptune"

How could you not want to read a story with a title like that?

Plus: story and art by the unique (to put it mildly) Basil Wolverton!

This premiere appearance from Novelty's Target Comics V1 N5 (1940), written and illustrated by Wolverton, was just the tip of the iceberg!
SpaceHawk "unmasked" a couple of issues later, but the legend was already well-established, and the fact he was a "mere" human who could take down aliens several times his size and strength only made him even more fearsome to his foes...

BTW, you may have noticed a change in our sub-head to "Space Hero" rather than "Space Force".
That's because we're switching over to the lone wolves of the spaceways as they battle against those who would dominate or destroy the universe!
Since the response to Basil Wolverton's Space Patrol strips has been...dare we say...stellar, we decided his best-known strip, SpaceHawk will be the "anchor" strip every two weeks, with other characters popping up for limited runs!
Who are the "other characters"?
Be here next week to find out the first one!

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Reading Room LOST WORLDS "Quest of the Chlorophyl Monsters"

Before reading this story, lots of kids didn't know what "chlorophyl" was...

...and to think some say comic books aren't educational!

This scientifically-semi-accurate tale from Standard's Lost Worlds #5 (1952) was penciled by Jack Katz and inked by Aldo "Al" Rubano.
(A traveling planet's surface would freeze during the periods it was in interstellar space, making it unusable for growing plants.
Plus, in deep space, the mobile world wouldn't receive enough sunlight to stimulate the chlorophyll in plants to function.
Theoretically, the aliens could use hydroponic gardens with artificially-produced "sunlight" in caverns inside the planet, but that's not mentioned in the story.)
The writer is unknown.

Reading Room OUTER SPACE "Planet Which Had Everything--Almost!"

Here's a tale that takes a concept from one of H.G. Wells' novels...

...a concept which was based on real-life events from Earth's history!

Yep, it's the classic ending from War of the Worlds!

Note: The movie version of Wells' First Men in the Moon also incorporates the "germs kill aliens who haven't been exposed to them" concept, but it's not in the original novel!

As to real-life, European settlers inadvertently brought a plague to North America and caused an epidemic that decimated a number of native tribes that had contact with them.

While the writer of this tale from Charlton's Outer Space #1 (1968) is unknown to me, the art is by Charles Nicholas and Vince Alascia.

Space Force Saturdays INTERPLANETARY POLICE "Mirror of Doom" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Heroes...

Yes, I know we've used this art before, but it's the only time the InterPlanetary Police appeared on the cover!

Tanya, the Space Siren, constructed a giant mirror on the surface of a small planetoid.

With it, she focused the Sun's rays at the frozen planet Simia in order to melt it's icy coating and then mine the previously-unreachable platinum beneath it's surface.

However, without the solar radiation she diverted, Earth is now freezing!

Needless to say, the InterPlanetary Police tracked down the source of the solar energy drain and landed on the tiny planetoid...

It's 68 years later, and we're still looking (she was one hot babe)...

This final high-adventure story from Buster Brown Comic Book #32 (1953) was written by Hobart Donovan, penciled by Reed Crandall, and inked by Ray Wilner.
The book continued for another eleven issues, ending in late 1956.

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