Reading Room / Tales Twice Told THIS IS SUSPENSE "Short Step to Oblivion"

 We saw this tale of terror and justice uncut in Part 1...

Now let's see how it looked after the Comics Code Authority took their censoring scissors to the reprinted version...

The knife, seen in panels 5-7 on the original page, is now missing!

The knife in panels 3 and 5 is missing in the reprint page!

Despite being removed from the previous pages, the knife is shown to be the murder weapon!

But how did the knife get there if it was deleted from the earlier pages?

Ruth's word balloon in the last panel is rewritten to eliminate reference to the knife shown on the original page!

Why is Ruth screaming?

It's not like there's a dead body, like there was in the original page!

Why did the villain fall to his death?

Maybe it's the fact that Holiday shot him in the original version of the first panel!

This Comics Code Authority-eviscerated reprint appeared in Charlton's This is Suspense # 24 (1955).

The writer is unknown and the illustrator is George Evans.

A comic with no more violence or blood than a TV cop show of the period is gutted by the CCA to Protect the Morals of the Youth of America.

Take a good look at your parents.

Did it work?

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Ten-Cent Plague

The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America

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Space Force Saturdays SPACE RANGERS "...Battle the Mad-Man of Mars"

In the '50s you couldn't swing a dead Slime-Cat without hitting an interplanetary policeman...

...so here's the first appearance of Charlton's contribution to the mayhem from Space Adventures #1 (1952)!

At this point, the strip is called "Space Rangers", but that won't last long.

In #2, field commander, Rex Clive takes top billing, which is retitled "Rex Clive and His Space Officers".

Then it becomes just "Rex Clive" until it's final appearance in #7.

Ironically, as of #15, Space Adventures began a new strip adapting a hot new tv show...Rocky Jones: Space Ranger!

I don't think Rex Clive would've found that turn of events amusing...

Illustrated by Lou Morales.

The writer is unknown.

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Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3
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Reading Room OUT OF THIS WORLD "Man Who Stepped Out of a Cloud"

Let's have a look at a Steve Ditko story...

...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.

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Unexplored Worlds

Steve Ditko Archives, Vol 2

Reading Room OUTER SPACE "Repair Stop"

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.

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Steve Ditko Archives

Volume 6

Outer Limits

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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder FLYING SAUCERS "Spawn of Terror"

Was Erich Von Däniken (Chariots of the Gods) the first to tie flying saucers to ancient civilizations?

Nope!

The idea of aliens visiting us in ancient times had been popular for as long as fantasy and science fiction have been around.

Next Wednesday:

First Contact!

Inspired by the flying saucer craze of the late 1940s-early 1950s, this 1950 Wally Wood-illustrated book was one of many one-shot titles from Avon Comics during their short, but prolific existence.

Another one-shot (though it probably wasn't intended to be such), was Fawcett's Vic Torry and His Flying Saucer (1950).

Flying saucers also popped-up in almost every already-running comic book from funny animals to mysteries.

They even appeared in Charlton's Cowboy Western Comics, which changed it's name for a year to Space Western Comics to play up the connection!

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Life and Legend of Wallace Wood

Volume One

and

Life and Legend of Wallace Wood

Volume Two
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Reading Room JUNGLE JIM "Wizard of Dark Mountain"

When Jungle Jim returned to comic books in the 1960s in new stories...

...the usually "realistic" high adventure strip jumped head-first into all-out sci-fi/fantasy!

Written and laid-out by Bhob Stewart, pencilled by Steve Ditko, and inked by Wally Wood. this cover-featured story from Charlton's Jungle Jim #22 (1969) was prepared for the character's previous publisher, King Comics, but ended up at Charlton when King Features Syndicate dropped in-house comic book publishing.

You can read Bhob's account of how this story was produced HERE.

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Official Jungle Jim Annual
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