Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Reading Room: FLASH GORDON "and the Space Pirates" Part 2

...wow, the opening caption covered the plotline perfectly!
You'll note Flash is wearing a more ornate outfit while Patch's clothes are the same, but mis-colored (as is her hair, which was silver/white in the previous chapter)!
Illustrated by Gil Kane, replacing Wally Wood.
The writer is unknown.
Though Flash had his own comic at this time, this three-parter appeared in the back of The Phantom's title from the same publisher, King Comics.
(All the King Comics books did this, presumably to expose their target audience to other titles they might not otherwise read.)
The particular tale appeared in the back of The Phantom #19 (1966).

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Reading Room: FLASH GORDON "and the Space Pirates" Part 1

Ya want space opera?
Now here's SPACE OPERA!
...starring the one-and-only Flash Gordon as rendered by EC Comics legend Wally Wood!
The story continues tomorrow...with a different artist!
Illustrated by Wally Wood and his studio.
Wood (and writer Harvey Kurtzman) had previously-done the hysterical MAD parody "Flesh Garden" (which you can read HERE), but this is his only "official" Flash Gordon work.
The writer is unknown.
Though Flash had his own comic at this time, this three-parter appeared in the back of The Phantom's title from the same publisher, King Comics.
The particular tale appeared in the back of The Phantom #18 (1966), which was actually the first issue of the series from King Comics.
(They just continued the numbering from the previous publisher, Gold Key!)

Monday, April 22, 2013

Reading Room: WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE "City of Primitive Man"

Instead of the usual "space opera", let's go into the future...
...where it appears the geeks have inherited the Earth, and only jocks can save civilization...
As this tale from Key's Weird Tales of the Future #2 (1952) shows, only extremely-manly men can keep civilization from being over-run when danger threatens.
The story is signed "EJS", but I don't know if that's the artist, or if he/she also scripted the tale as well.
(The credit also appears in one other Weird Tales of the Future story that we haven't run yet.)

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Design of the Week: GangBusters!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week, celebrate the law-enforcement professional in your life with this retro-kool comic cover from the long-running GangBusters radio show.
Note: there was also a movie serial, TV series, plus two features re-edited from the TV show!
Trivia, the last season of the radio show was narrated by narrated by Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr., retired head of the New Jersey State Police and father of US Army General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Reading Room: OUTER SPACE "Planet Which Had Everything--Almost!"

Here's a tale that takes a concept from one of H.G. Wells' novels...
...a concept which was based on real-life events from Earth's history!
Yep, it's the classic ending from War of the Worlds!
Note: The movie version of Wells' First Men in the Moon also incorporates the "germs kill aliens who haven't been exposed to them" concept, but it's not in the original novel!
As to real-life, European settlers inadvertently brought a plague to North America and caused an epidemic that decimated a number of native tribes that had contact with them.
While the writer of this tale from Charlton's Outer Space #1 (1968) is unknown to me, the art is by Charles Nicholas and Vince Alascia.