Space...Hero??? Saturdays NORGE BENSON "Gang of Hoodlum Penguins"

 Since We're Suffering through a Heat Wave...

..let's return to frigid Pluto for another interplanetary adventure with Norge Benson, as we discover that some penguins on Pluto speak perfect English, and others talk with Brooklyn accents...just like on Earth!

Think I'm joking?

Read on...

So, what'd youse tink?

Or for dose...I mean "those", who don't speak Brooklynese..."What did you think?"

I'll warn you now, future installments only get loonier!

Illustrated by Al Walker, who spent his entire comics career at Fiction House, this second appearance in Planet Comics #13 (1941) presents a somewhat less snarky (though no less humorous) version of the "Earthman on Pluto" concept shown in the earlier Cosmo Corrigan strip, mixing alien versions of both Arctic and Antarctic animals with total disregard to anything even remotely resembling exobiology!

But it is fun, and that's all that matters!

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Planet Comics
Volume 4
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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder GRAPHIC SHOWCASE "Eyes of Mars" Part 2

We Have Already Seen...

...disturbed that, due to the development of warp drive, Earth's scientists are bypassing the planets of the Solar System as uninhabitable, Lt Cezer Leason, a pilot in the Space Patrol, steals his scout craft and heads to Mars!

His ship damaged by a meteor storm, Leason crashes on the surface of the Red Planet and discovers it is, in fact, inhabited!
Rescued by two rebel warriors, he and his new-found friends are captured and brought before the beautiful Queen of Mars...

To Be Continued...Next Wednesday

As we explained previously; the Edgar Rice Burroughs-inspired creator of this story from CCCS's Graphic Showcase #1 (1967) is none other than Mike (The Shadow) Kaluta!
The strip was probably intended as weekly installments in a high-school/college paper, but was repurposed for use in the fanzine.

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Michael Wm. Kaluta: Sketchbook Ser

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Monday Mecha Madness WEIRD THRILLERS "Menace of R Day"

In the 1950s, it was believed that war could be ended by 1999...

...and that other menaces would threaten the Earth, instead!

This somewhat-hokey, but entertaining, sci-fi tale from Ziff-Davis' Weird Thrillers #1 (1951) was both penciled and inked by Ross Andru.

Andru would later partner with Mike Esposito with Ross as the penciler and Mike doing the inking.

Whether this was because Esposito was faster at inking than Ross, or Andru enjoyed doing only pencils is unknown.

Considering Andru seemed pretty damn good at inking, it's a pity he eventually gave it up.

BTW, the writer of this never-reprinted tale of mechanical mayhem is unknown.

Next Week: the Return of

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Taylor Illustrated History

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Reading Room WORLD OF FANTASY "What Went Wrong?"

You think you've prepared for every contingency...but is that truly possible?

Can anyone always account for the "human" factor?

Illustrated by Bob Forgione, whose credits at Timely/Atlas included a number of sci-fi stories including an issue of Speed Carter: SpaceMan, this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' World of Fantasy #1 (1956) is one of those "average guy inadvertently saves the world" tales that writers (in this case, unidentified) love to tell.

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Mars in the Movies

A History
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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder GRAPHIC SHOWCASE "Eyes of Mars" Part 1

 In the pre-Internet days...

...comic creator wanna-bes had to print samples of their work in "fanzines", then sell them at comic conventions and through mailing lists.

Here's the very first published efforts of a wanna-be who made good...

The Edgar Rice Burroughs-inspired creator of this story from CCCS's Graphic Showcase #1 (1967) is none other than Mike (The Shadow) Kaluta!

The strip was probably intended as weekly installments in a high-school/college paper, but was repurposed for use in the fanzine.

Graphic Showcase ran three issues, with "Eyes of Mars" appearing in all three.

You'll see them over the next two weeks...

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Michael Wm. Kaluta: Sketchbook Ser

ies

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Reading Room LOST WORLDS "City That Escaped From Tomorrow"

In the 1950s, the popularity of sci-fi in tv and in movies carried over to comics...

...with a plethora of sci-fi anthology titles from almost every publisher, most of which ran material equal to the bulk of pulp and paperback science fiction of the era.

This never-reprinted tale from Standard's Lost Worlds #5 (1952) was penciled by Ross Andru and inked by Mike Esposito and Jim Mooney.
The writer is unknown.

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Taylor Illustrated History

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Monday Mecha Madness UNUSUAL TALES "Where Does It Go?"

Have you ever seen a bus pass by that you're unfamilar with, and wonder...

..."Where Does It Go?"

This never-reprinted tale behind this never-reprinted Rocke Mastroserio cover offers one possibility!

While the concept is rather kool, I have to ask, why is the robot such an insulting s.o.b.?

Writer Joe Gill, penciler Bill Moino, and inker Vince Alascia probably could have provided the answer when they created this story for Charlton's Unusual Tales #29 (1961), none of them are around now to answer the question...

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Mysteries in Space

The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics
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