Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Reading Room: STRANGE GALAXY "Planet of Horror"

Well, here it is again, right down to the original captions, dialogue balloons and character names!
Eerie Publications editor Carl Burgos thought the story from Fiction House's Planet Stories #72 (1953) was good enough to have Argentinian artist Oswal re-draw it almost 20 years later in his b/w magazine Strange Galaxy V1N8 (1971)!
(In fact, all the stories that appeared in the Eerie Publications line-up were either reprints or re-drawn versions of 1940s-1950s tales from defunct publishers!)

Monday, January 28, 2013

Reading Room: PLANET COMICS "Last Expedition"

In space, things are not always as they seem...
...as this story of the rescue of personnel of a science research colony aptly demonstrates!
This tale from Fiction House's Planet Comics #72 (1953) was illustrated by Bill Benulis, but the writer is unknown.
That's a pity, because Eerie Publications editor Carl Burgos thought the story was good enough to re-do almost 20 years later...as we'll see tomorrow!

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Preview: THE SHADOW #13 Cover by Francesco Francavilla

Who Knows What Evil...?
Francesco Francavilla does, as this cover for #13 of Dynamite's Shadow comic book demonstrates!
BTW, if you want more The Shadow stuff, have a look at...
The never-reprinted 1994 Alec Baldwin movie adaptation HERE!
(PLUS, a never-reprinted Gene Colan spoof of The Shadow radio show called "The Shadower", and a comic adaptation of a radio show episode HERE!)
The Shadow's never-reprinted Bronze Age adventures with The Batman and The Avenger as well as never-reprinted Frank Robbins-illustrated stories (as well as the first part of the Shadow radio show adaptation) HERE!
The Shadow's never-reprinted, campy costumed Silver Age adventures HERE!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Reading Room: WEIRD ADVENTURES "Man Who Lived Backwards"

What if someone tried to prevent you from reaching tomorrow...
...and the only way you could move forward was to kill him in the past?
Check out this never-reprinted tale from Ziff-Davis' one-shot Weird Adventures #10 (1951) for the answer!
So, even though Paul had a change of heart, and tried to save David, his rival for Peggy died anyway, and Paul ended up with the woman they both loved!
What's the moral?
You can change history, even if you don't intend to?
Being good, even if it may be to your personal detriment, will be rewarded in the end?
Ah, well, I guess there are some things we're not meant to understand...
It may be just as well that both the writer and artist are unknown.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Reading Room: "Robots of Ra"

For sheer weirdness (not to mention incomprehensibility), few stories can top this tale...
...from the back of Youthful's Captain Science #2 (1951)
You'll note the art style for this never-reprinted story varies wildly from page to page.
The credited artist, Walter Johnson, depended heavily on assistants to produce a high volume of pages for the various comics companies (including Avon, St John, Fiction House, and Youthful Publications) he supplied art to!
The work of several different illustrators with varying levels of draftsmanship is apparent on this one story, including one or more who swipe from both Flash Gordon's Alex Raymond and Phantom Lady's Matt Baker!