Reading Room: CAPTAIN SCIENCE "Martian Slavers"

You'll note a different look to the adventures of...

That's because he's gained a new art team!

(You can see their names in the lower-left corner of the first panel!)

So, buckle up, eager young space cadets...

Wally Wood and Joe Orlando took over the art chores as of Youthful's Captain Science #4 (1951), and you can tell these guys were having the time of their lives, as they cut loose with some of the wildest art ever to grace sci-fi comic books.

They also changed the "linked-stories" concept from the first three issues, making the two-per-issue Captain Science stories stand-alones instead of two-parters.

Unlike the earlier Captain Science stories, which have never been reprinted, these Orlando/Wood stories have been re-published all over the place, but they're still well-worth seeing again!

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Captain Science

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Cover Preview MASKS #7

The BIG crossover of masked mystery-men continues...

...with this cover by Francisco Francavilla for #7, featuring The Shadow, The Green Hornet, and The Spider.

But who's holding the card?

Atomic Kommie Comics' Goodies for YOUR Easter Basket!

Back in the 1940s and '50s, comic book companies produced a prodigious number of holiday annuals and one-shots.

For example, a multitude of Christmas-themed comic books flooded America's magazine racks every November and December!
(In fact, a large part of our popular Cool Christmas collection is based on them.)
But, did you know that several publishers also did Easter-oriented books?
And, that noted comics illustrators including Walt Kelly (Pogo) contributed art to them?
Believing that there's always room for more classic comics collectibles, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ added a new line of goodies to our Happy Holidays section entitled Exciting Easter!
Yes, it's eggs, bunnies, chicks, and other fuzzy animals galore digitally-restored and remastered from Baby Boomer-era classic comics covers on baby bibs, infant creepers / onesies, toddler and kid t-shirts, greeting cards, mugs, and a plethora of kool kollectibles!
They make great Easter basket stuffers! (And they won't rot your kids' teeth like marshmallow chicks or chocolate bunnies!)
So click over and see what's in our basket!

Reading Room: SPACE ACTION "Flight from Destruction"

Here's an apocalyptic tale of the future with a twist...

...direct from the Cold War!

(Considering it was published in 1952, that's not suprising!)

While the writer is unknown, the art for this tale from Ace's Space Action #3 (1952) is attributed to "Jim McLaughlin", who had a short-lived comics career doing work primarily for Ace!

After that publisher dropped comics in 1955 to concentrate on paperbacks, he did a couple of stories for Atlas/Marvel, then a run of Dell's adaptation of the TV series Gunsmoke.

Then "Jim McLaughlin" disappeared.
Totally.
Unlike most comic book artists who went on to do commercial art or newspaper strips, there's no trace of "Jim McLaughlin" after his brief foray into four-color publishing...and no background about his pre-comics career!
Here's another interesting point...his art style altered considerably during his career.
In this story, the inking looks a lot like the work of long-time artist Jim Mooney!
In fact, a number of panels resemble Mooney's work on the DC strip Tommy Tomorrow, which Jim Mooney was both penciling and inking during the same period as "Jim McLaughlin's" work for Ace!
In McLaughlin's later work (particularly his Gunsmoke art), while the layouts look similar, the inking style is totally-different!
Was "Jim McLaughlin" a pen-name for a penciler working with at least two (if not more) different inkers?

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The Future WAS Fantastic!

Comics Collectibles Store!

Reading Room: LOST WORLDS "Worlds Apart"

"Submitted for your approval, a romantic triangle with unequal sides..."

"...because one point of this scalene triangle is firmly entrenched...in the Twilight Zone!"

(It works if you read it in a Rod Serlingesque voice.)

Cue Twilight Zone theme music...

While the writer for this story from Standard's sci-fi anthology title Lost Worlds #5 (1952) is unknown, the art is by Nick Cardy, who began his career in the Golden Age and still does the occasional comics cover today at the age of 91!

Happy Valentine's Day!