Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Reading Room: SPEED CARTER: SPACEMAN "BEMS"

There's never a dull moment in the future world of Speed Carter...
...as this tale from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #3 (1954) aptly shows!
The aliens in this story aren't identified by planet of origin or species.
The name given them, "bems", was a popular sci-fi slang term for "bug-eyed monsters"!
So, where are they from?
What species are they?
We'll never know!

Written (as are all the Speed Carter stories) by Hank Chapman.
Illustrated by original artist Joe Maneely in his swan song to the series.
Note: this was the last story in #3, but the first one from that issue we're presenting.
Maneely would later do a Famous Explorers short and a cover, but this was his last Speed Carter story.
There are two more Maneely Speed Carter tales to come.
After #3, each remaining issue features three Speed Carter tales by a different artist or art team...
#4: Mike Sekowsky and Jack Abel
#5: George Tuska
#6: Bob Forgione

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Monday, July 16, 2012

Reading Room: EXPLORERS IN THE UNKNOWN "Demons of Deep Space"

Space, the final frontier...
...where, even if you're in a backup strip in Gold Key's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea comic, if you wear red...WATCH YOUR ASS!
This scientifically-inaccurate tale from VttBotS #7 (1966) was written by Dick Wood (who wrote the entire series) and illustrated by Nevio Zaccara (who remained the strip's artist until the final chapter).

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Sunday, July 15, 2012

22 Panels that Always Work!

Wally Wood came up with a "crib sheet" for himself...
...actually, it was 24 panels, but when Wood's former assistant Larry Hama, who had become the editor / writer/occasional penciler of Marvel's GI Joe series, produced a revised version for fellow artists, he didn't have clean copies of two of the panels!

This year at the San Diego ComicCon, the Wood Estate released a new, authorized version...
Wallace Wood's Panels That Always Work (subtitled, "Or some interesting ways to get some variety into those boring panels where some dumb writer has a bunch of lame characters sitting around and talking for page after page!"), has grown to be one of the Hall of Fame artists' best-remembered works.
While Wood's historic original art for Panels That Always Work survived in the Wood archives for decades, sadly, it was consumed in the tragic fire at the home of the Estate's Director Emeritus, Bill Pearson, in 2004.
The 2012 Comic-Con in San Diego will feature many premiers but none more notable than The Wallace Wood Estate's new print of the classic, Wally Wood Panels That Always Work.
Wood Estate Director J. David Spurlock will be on hand to premiere the new print and other Wood material at booth 1709.
FaceBook readers attending Comic-Con will receive a 50% discount off the manufacturer's suggested $20 retail price on the Wood Panels print.
The print is a revised version of the famous piece, using cleaner art than previously-seen, and in some cases, the final versions of panels that previously were only rough sketches!
Regrettably, none of the press material has included info on how non-SDCC attendees can acquire copies of this kool poster!
When they finally get around to telling us how to get the piece on-line or at your local comic shop, we'll post the links!

On the other hand, the earlier version (the one actually used by comics pros for decades) is now available on a host of kool kollectibles HERE!
So, if you're a comic pro, future comic pro, or comic fan, let your fan-flag fly

Friday, July 13, 2012

RetroBlog Marathons: True Love Comics Tales and War: Past, Present & Future!

We hope you're enjoying our RetroBlog™ summer marathons...
This Week
True Love Comics Tales™ presented a full-length Gothic romance, "Kiss of the Serpent"...
...with evocative art by the late Tony DeZuniga.
Plus a bonus gothic romance prose tale!

Next Week
War: Past, Present and Future™ returns to the future...
...with five tales of Atomic War and World War III!
Now that's entertainment!