Sunday, September 30, 2012

Design of the EEEK! Redux: Zombie!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another, unless it's selling really well, as this one is!
Once more, this week...It's an amazingly-detailed graphic of a half-eaten zombie, making the perfect Halloween gift for that loved (or loathed) one in your life!
Grab it now..before it grabs you!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Reading Room STRANGE WORLDS "A Nation is Born"

As we mentioned yesterday, here's the Golden Age version...
..of a Bronze Age b/w magazine story we already ran HERE!
Illustrated by Golden Age journeyman Rafael Astarita, this tale appeared in Avon's Strange Worlds #4 (1951) and was reprinted in IW's Strange Planets #9 (1959).
It was then re-illustrated, with only minor changes to the script (including a re-titling), in Eerie Publications' Strange Galaxy V1N8 (1971) as shown HERE.

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Friday, September 28, 2012

Reading Room: WEIRD MYSTERIES "Planet Eaters"

Perhaps those who don't believe in saving the ecosphere read this story as kids...
...or maybe they're just idiots!
Either way, it's a kool story!
While the writer for this never-reprinted tale from Key's Weird Mysteries #1 (1952) is unknown, the artist has been identified as Frank Frollo.
This story, like numerous others from smaller comics publishers, was redrawn in an Eerie Publications b/w title, using the same script with a couple of minor revisions and retitled "Green Horror".
I don't have scans of that particular story at this point.
But, we'll show you an example of a similar reworking...tomorrow!

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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Reading Room: SPEED CARTER: SPACEMAN "Space Sentinel's Sacrifice"

It is said that every Space Sentinel is ready to die in defense of Earth...
...a belief put to the test in this tense tale from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #5 (1954)!
While it's a good attempt at a poignant tale about how a veteran, even crippled, could contribute to the defense effort, it's hampered by the fact that the story revolves around a character we've never seen before, and thus have no empathy for him.
And, we have to ask, where is the BeastMen's unnamed planet, since the now-diverted meteor crashes into it only a few minutes after being diverted by the impact of Major Ramm's ship!
This story 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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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Reading Room: CAPTAIN AERO "Moon That was Motionless"

What do you do with a wartime aviator character after the war?
 In the case of fighting aviator Captain Aero, you make him into a shirtless extraterrestrial fighter!
Art by Rudy Palais, writer unknown.
Captain Aero was one of numerous costumed aviators who fought the Axis in comic books during World War II.
His distinctive traits included a mustache that came and went depending on the artist and an aircraft that could use its' propeller like a buzz-saw.
In his early days he was assisted by the Sky Scouts, a gang of kids who wanted to be aviators, and who were popular enough to have their own backup strip.
By the time of this never-reprinted story's publication in Captain Aero Comics #26 in 1946, WW II was over, and sales on military-themed comics were dropping.
A number of them, like Blackhawk, shifted to battling criminals and/or Communist spies.
But not Captain Aero!
He was destined for bigger things...like battling Nazis on the Moon, a concept which survives to this day in the recently-released movie Iron Sky!
BTW, this was Captain Aero's final issue, and his last appearance in comics.

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featuring the cover art from this issue of Captain Aero Comics by LB Cole!