Errol Flynn's Captain Blood...by the creator of Flash Gordon!

How many of you have seen this classic movie poster...

...and knew it was the work of Alex Raymond, of Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, and Secret Agent X-9 fame?

Yep!

Since Captain Blood and Arabella Bishop do not look like Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, it's a reasonable bet that this was done as an advance promo piece before casting, but it was so good, the studio still used it as their half-sheet poster for both the initial release and re-releases!

If you look at the original Flash Gordon strip, you'll see Raymond incorporated a lot of pirate/swashbuckler costume, weapon, and design motifs into Flash's adventures on other worlds!

Space Hero Saturdays ROCKETMAN "Venus Afire" / SPURT HAMMOND "Fiery World"

Apparently, People Being Unwilling to Take in Refugees is Not a New Problem!

In fact, it dates back to the 1950s, when this tale was published...or an unspecified future, where this story is set!

This tale from Ajax/Farrell's Rocketman #1 (1952) ignores some basic science, like the fact that the homeless Venusians would have to pass Earth's orbit to get to Mars!

Perhaps that's because this story originally-appeared a dozen years earlier, when science in comic books was at a somewhat more primitive state!

And, please, no jokes about the lead character's name...

When this tale, part of an ongoing Spurt Hammond series (which ran in Planet Comics from #1 to #12), appeared in Fiction House's Planet Comics #8 (1940), the artist was identified through Fiction House records as Henry Kiefer.

But as for who modified the art at the Iger Studios for re-use in Rocketman, we have no idea!
In addition, the other three Rocketman stories were modified and re-used from earlier Iger Studio-provided art for other features...and other publishers!

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Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3

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Friday Fun ABBOTT AND COSTELLO COMICS "Hail, Hail, the Gangplank's Here"

You Want Fun?
Let the Cry Ring Forth..."Heyyyyy, Abotttttt!"

...as we proudly re-present a fun frolic unseen by readers since its' only reprinting in 1955 (70 years, readers!)

This tale, illustrated by Lily Renee & Eric Peters, was cover-featured in it's premiere appearance in St. John's Abbott and Costello Comics #8 (1949)

It's final appearance was in St John's Abbott and Costello Comics #28 (1955)

So, either way, unless you paid a hefty sum for either issue, this is the first time you're seeing it!

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Sixty Years of "Who's on First?"
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Reading Room MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN COMICS "Small Fry!"

You can't tell me this isn't a "lost" Kirby Klassic from the 1950s...

...with the only question being "who was the penciler and/or inker over Jack Kirby's layouts?"

When Prize Comics' Monster of Frankenstein title was revived during the horror comic boom of the early 1950s, besides a wonderfully-gruesome version of Dick Briefer's Monster, it featured a number of two to four page "fillers".

Most of these tales appear to be, at the very least, laid-out by Jack Kirby.

This never-reprinted story from Prize's Monster of Frankenstein #33 (1954) is a prime example.
Some of the "camera angles" are easily-recognizable from later Ant-Man stories by Jack Kirby.

The Grand Comics Database lists the story's creators as "unknown", but considering the volume of work Simon & Kirby did for Prize before leaving to form their own company, Mainline, it's not unlikely this was an "inventory" story meant for insertion wherever editorial material page count came up short.

Sadly, the writer of the story is, as in so many cases of tale from the 1940s-60s, unknown...

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Wednesday Worlds of Wonder SUPERNATURAL THRILLERS "Valley of the Worm!" Conclusion

We Have Already Witnessed...

James Allison lies on his deathbed, re-living a past life.

A millennia or more ago, he was Niord, a barbarian prince and warrior, defending his people, the Aesir, from all manner of threats, both human and inhuman.

Aided by Gorm, a Pict he defeated in battle but refused to kill, who then became an ally, he guides his people to a new home...

Note: Though Niord says his people are of "Asgard", it's doubtful, even though this tale is now canon in the Marvel Multiverse, that he refers to the mystical Asgard of Norse legend.

Bonus: Here's the title page from the story's first publication in Weird Tales V23N02 (1934), featuring both Niord and the "Worm", illustrated by Hugh Rankin.

Next Week:

A New World of Wonder

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