Reading Room: SPEED CARTER: SPACEMAN "Slaughter on a Star"

The 1950s, when heroic astronauts fought for Truth, Justice, and the American Way...

...in outer space, as seen in the second (of three) tales from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #1 (1953)!

Y'know, this series has "video game" written all over it!

Written by Hank Chapman, illustrated by Joe Maneely, who managed to jam what, today, would be a multi-issue 100-page-plus series into only five pages...and make it work!

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Tribute to Jonathan Frid...the ORIGINAL Barnabas Collins!

Courtesy of the amazingly-talented Francesco Francavilla...

...a graphic tribute to the late Jonathan Frid, who embodied Dark Shadows' Barnabas Collins for two generations of fans, and who passed the torch to Johnny Depp in the new film opening next week.

Plus the cover for #11 of the new Dark Shadows comic book, also by Francesco...

Superb art, eh?

Design of the Week--Captain Future Logo Redux

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
In rare cases, like this, we keep it another week because sales are so good!
It's the logo of the hero of Big Bang Theory's Sheldon and Leonard, hanging in a place or honor by the front door of their apartment...

He's the Wizard of Science!
He's been the subject of pulp magazines, comic books, even an anime series!
He's Captain Future, and now you can wear him on shirts, bags, cellphone & e-reader cases, and other kool stuff!

What's wrong with this cover?

Look closely...
Figure it out?
Clue: One of those Avengers (as shown) doesn't belong there...
Ready for the answer?
Iron Man!
"But..." you say, "Iron Man was one of the original Avengers!"
Quite correct!
But...the all-gold armor Iron Man never appeared with Captain America!
By Avengers #4, when Cap was defrosted, Iron Man was wearing his first red-and-gold armor...

...so this particular assemblage of Avengers, as shown, never occurred!
You could say the cover is "symbolic", but shouldn't "accurate" transcend "symbolic", especially when it's easy to do and would look equally-dramatic?
(The red-and-gold armor was less-bulky and looked kooler!)
Yeah, it's nit-picking, but I expect better from "professionals" who are paid to "get it right".
Hell, it's what I did when I was working full-time in the business...

Reading Room: SPEED CARTER: SPACEMAN "Famous Explorers: Venus"

One of the cool things about the Speed Carter comic was the creation of a "history"...

...of "early" space exploration like this tale set in the "distant past" of 2004!

Hank Chapman, who wrote the entire Speed Carter series, apparently wanted to emulate writers like E.E. "Doc" Smith and Issac Asimov in creating a cohesive universe with an established backstory.

OTOH, the concept of Venusians all being beautiful women was a cliche even then.

The art on this story from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #1 (1953) is by a young guy named John Romita, who had a real knack for drawing gorgeous females.

I wonder whatever became of him?  ;-)

One interesting note: the astronauts in this story, which takes place three generations in the "past" of Speed Carter, have different uniforms and lower-end technology than what's shown in the Speed Carter tales.

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