Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Reading Room: RACE FOR THE MOON "The Face on Mars"

Perhaps the most famous story from Race for the Moon...
From Race for the Moon #2. Art by Jack Kirby and Al Williamson.
Why is it so famous?
When the Viking satellite reached Mars in 1976, it took this photo...
Remember, this was the era of Chariots of the Gods?, and to many, this was confirmation that aliens had either come thru the Solar System and stopped off not only on Earth, but Mars, as well, or were from Mars initially!
And, there were those who remembered this little comic tale from their childhood.
The truth was a bit more mundane. Click HERE for NASA's explanation.
There are those who say it's a cover-up, that there is life on Mars, and that "the face" is a relic of their existence.
Judge for yourself.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Of Lanterns & Lensmen...

First part of the series I mentioned yesterday, covering the Golden Age Green Lantern and EE "Doc" Smith's Lensman series.
Presenting a historical context for the Silver Age Green Lantern, who'll be covered tomorrow.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Golden Age Green Lantern Cover Gallery

Sheldon Moldoff
Here's some covers featuring a Green Lantern you won't see in the movie...the Golden Age Green Lantern!
But he will be featured in the Monday entry: Of Lanterns and Lensmen, detailing both his Golden Age run and the story of E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensmen...
Howard Purcell
Gil Kane/Murphy Anderson
Gil Kane/Sid Greene
Neal Adams/Dick Giordano

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Design of the Week--USA is READY!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week...70 years ago, the world was at war, and we knew it was only a matter of time before the United States would be drawn into battle.
To help reassure the Youth of America, the War Department worked with Dell Publishing to produce this comic book detailing how well-prepared we were for the Coming Conflict.
Ironically, looking at it from the perspective of almost three-quarters of a century later, it's a classic example of underestimating the enemy, since most of the "state of the art" equipment shown was hopelessly-outclassed by the weapons produced by both Germany and Japan!
But, it's a great example of propaganda (in a good cause)!
And, we learned quickly!
By 1943, we were able to match or surpass anything the Axis could throw against us.

Available on kool kollectibles including iPhone and iPad cases, t-shirts, mugs, etc.


BONUS: We're presenting the actual comic for FREE at our "brother" blog WAR: Past, Present & Future™, which runs military-themed comic books covering from caveman conflicts to battles beyond the stars.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Reading Room: BARBARELLA 3.2

Barbarella met a number of inhabitants of the labyrinth surrounding Lythion's capital city, Sogo, including Pygar the blind angel, and Earth scientist Durand.
With their help, Barbarella defeated the LeatherMen and is now en-route to the city itself.
While many elements were adapted into the feature film with minimal alteration, there's one startling difference...Durand, the main villain of the movie, is a good guy in the original comic strip!

More Barbarella soon.

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