Friday, September 21, 2012

Reading Room: SPACE RANGERS "Operation PLUTO"

We continue the scientifically-silly adventures of the Space Rangers...
...with a tale from Space Adventures #2 (1952) that, even in the 1950s, didn't make sense!
You'll note the Space Rangers are now referred to as "Space Officers".
We're not certain why, since tv's Rocky Jones: Space Ranger didn't debut for another two years, and DC Comics' Space Ranger didn't appear until 1958, so it's not a trademark or copyright problem!
For whatever reason, the "Space Officers" moniker will remain for the duration of the series.
This tale from Charlton's Space Adventures #2 (1952) was illustrated by Art Cappello, who followed Al Fago & Lou Morales' costume and character designs.
The writer is unknown.


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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Reading Room TIME TRAVELERS "Date with Danger"

Sci-fi of the 1950s wasn't limited to space opera...
...as this series from the AGC adventure anthology comic Operation: Peril demonstrates!
Operation: Peril was an interesting multi-genre anthology featuring on-going strips about time travel (as seen above), a hard-boiled private eye (Danny Danger), and high adventure in the Pacific (Typhoon Tyler), as well as a historical short story.
While the other series featured stand-alone stories, Time Travelers presented a couple of on-going plotlines, as you'll see in future posts.
Though Time Travelers didn't appear on the first few covers, by issue #4, they took over the cover spot until their final appearance in #12, after which the book changed focus and became a war comic.
This premiere tale from Operation: Peril #1 (1950) was written by Richard Hughes and illustrated by Ken Bald.
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

RetroBlogs™ Updates...

A never-reprinted tale of the 1970s biker hero Hell-Rider...
...can be found in three parts; HERE, HERE, and HERE at Hero Histories™!

A retro-kool sci-fi love story is HERE...

A rarely-seen Masked Western Hero returns HERE...

A never-reprinted crossover between two heroes can be found at...
and

And, Gorgo (as rendered by Steve Ditko) cometh...
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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Reading Room: SPEED CARTER: SPACEMAN "Slaughter in Space"

We meet a new alien race, the Vegans...
...who, it turns out, are no more trustworthy than most other alien species.
(We humans are scrupulously honest, of course!)
Don't ya just love a happy ending?
What I want to know is why Speed is suddenly wearing shorts!
Thankfully, it's the only story in the series where he does so.
This story from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #5 (1954) was scripted (as were all Speed Carter tales) by Hank Chapman!
Illustrator George Tuska later became the final artist on the original Buck Rogers comic strip (1959-67) and then assumed the art duties for almost a decade on Marvel's Invincible Iron Man!

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Monday, September 17, 2012

Reading Room: LOST WORLDS "City that Escaped from Tomorrow"

In the 1950s, the popularity of sci-fi in tv and in movies carried over to comics...
...with a plethora of sci-fi anthology titles from almost every publisher, most of which ran material equal to the bulk of pulp and paperback science fiction of the era.
This never-reprinted tale from Standard's Lost Worlds #5 (1952) was penciled by Ross Andru and inked by Mike Esposito and Jim Mooney.
The writer is unknown.

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