Space Hero Saturdays STAR HUNTERS Intro and "Part 1: The Farrell Alternative"

In the mid-1970s, tv/movie sci-fi experienced a revival...

...and comics, as they had done since the late 1940s, jumped on the pop culture bandwagon!

But, instead of doing adaptations of popular shows like Space: 1999 (Charlton), or movies like Star Wars (Marvel), DC decided to do a couple of original series using talented, young, up-and-coming creatives.

One of them was The Survivors...I mean The Outcasts...er, make that Donovan Flint: StarHunter...or finally, The Star Hunters!

Here's the explanation of how the project came about, from DC Super-Stars V2N18 (1977)...

And now, from that never-reprinted issue...

To Be Continued...

NEXT SATURDAY!

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Mystery in Space

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Friday Fun HOLY CREAM-FILLED PASTRY!

When Hostess Baking ceased operation in 2012, a chapter of comics history ended...

This wonderfully-looney series of ads featuring all the major comics characters from Archie to Spider-Man to Casper the Friendly Ghost to Wonder Woman appeared in comics for almost a decade, featuring some of the best artists in the business including Neal Adams (above with Dick Giordano), Gil Kane, John Romita Sr, Curt Swan, Jim Starlin, and Frank Miller doing the rendering!

Note: You can see a complete set of the Marvel and DC ones HERE!

Bonus: the original art for this ad...

BTW, Hostess' nigh-indestructible pastries have since returned to supermarket shelves...but the comic advertising never did!

Reading Room CRIME DETECTOR "Ultimate Destiny"

Some comics tales of the 1950s have a real "nightmare" feel...

...such as this rarely-seen story by an underrated master of the genre!

Note: the final page was printed sideways as a single page, but we think it works better as a two-page spread, so...

The writer for this cool comic classic from Timor's Crime Detector #5 (1954) is unknown, but the distinctive art is by Jay Disbrow, who had a long career in comics from 1948 to 2005!

His last new work was the on-line comic Aroc of Zenith, which ran for 312 pages from 2000 to 2005, and you can find HERE.

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EC Horror Library of the 1950s

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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder DONNA MATRIX "Zero & One" Part 1

Though best-known today as a nom de guerre for late pro wrestler Ursula Hayden...

...the name was initially-used for the action-heroine title character in this never-reprinted proto-cyber comic from thirty-one years ago!

To Be Continued...
Next Wednesday!

Written and 3-D modeled by Mike Sanetz, laid-out and illustrated by Norm Dwyer with additional 3-D modeling by Joseph Allen, Reactor Comics' Donna Matrix "Zero & One" (1993), was the first issue of the projected 100% CG 3-D rendered comic book series by Mike Saenz, creator of previous partially-computerized comic books such as Shatter and the Marvel graphic novel Iron Man: Crash.
It never went past the first issue owing to the comic industry experiencing an industry-wide downsizing.
Saenz would later create Virtual Valerie (the first 3-D rendered comptuer porno game) and the video game Spaceship Warlock.

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Donna Matrix "Zero & One"
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Reading Room GREEN GIANT COMICS "Fear the Wrath of...The Researcher!"

Next to "The Listener" (DC), "The Witness", or "The Watcher" (both Marvel), probably the least frightening name for a comic hero is...

...however, this guy could make the name synonymous with "action hero"!

“Criminals are a cowardly superstitious lot, so my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts.”
As if in answer, a book falls from a nearby shelf.
“A book!
That’s it!
It’s an omen…I shall become a RESEARCHER!”
And thus is born this weird figure of the library…this avenger of evil!
The Researcher!"
(Actually, that never happened, it's just a rephrasing of The Batman's origin from Batman V1N1 (1940)!)

Who is The Researcher?

We never learn his real name.

Everyone calls him "Researcher"...even his girlfriend.

Where did he get the money for his kool weaponry and equipment?

Is he independently-wealthy or does he bill clients?

He hob-nobs with the upper crust, including diplomats, politicians and rich businessmen.

Did he start out as a librarian?

Many are the mysteries surrounding...The Researcher!

Unfortunately, this short strip from Pelican's Green Giant Comics #1 (1940) was his only appearance anywhere!

Pity, since he has a lot of potential.

Frank Thomas, the writer/artist behind this strip created a number of detective-themed characters in the Golden Age including The Eye, The Owl, and Dr Hypno.