Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Reading Room: BEYOND THE FARTHEST STAR "Adventure On Poloda"

Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote much more than Tarzan and John Carter...
...but not every concept "took off" and became a hit series!
Written by Burroughs in 1940 and published in 1942, the story is basically an updating of John Carter or Carson of Venus but set "present-day" and with no hope of return to Earth since his body was destroyed in the rocket explosion.
In addition, the world our hero ends up on is not the high-adventure fantasyland of Barsoom, but a technologically-advanced version of the Cold War between America and the USSR (with elements of Nazism) in the 1950s!
(There's an excellent piece about history behind the story HERE.)
Adapted by Marv Wolfman and illustrated by the highly-underrated Dan Green, this never-reprinted premiere from Tarzan #213 (1972) takes considerable liberties in condensing whole chapters into six pages.
The comic adaptation continued in DC's Tarzan from #214 to #218 and one issue of Tarzan Family.
There have not been any other comics or adaptations in other media to date.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Reading Room: ALARMING TALES "KIng of the Ants"

Here's a story done before Lee & Kirby's "Man in the Ant Hill"...
...which served as a "pilot" for Marvel's Astonishing Ant-Man series.
Did it help inspire that creation from studio-mate Jack Kirby?
Read and judge for yourself...
This tale from Harvey's Alarming Tales #6 (1958) was produced by writer Dick Wood, and illustrators Al Williamson and Angelo Torres.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Reading Room: ALARMING ADVENTURES "Secret of the Mountain"

Many humans think we've explored every inch of our home world, the Earth.
They'd be totally-wrong, as shown in this tale from Harvey's Alarming Adventures #3 (1963).
Penciled by Al Williamson and inked by Angelo Torres, this tale was probably intended for the never-published Race for the Moon #5.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Design of the Week: CAMPUS ROMANCES

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another.
This week: Vacation is over, time to get back to work or school!
But what goes on when class is not in session?
This vintage comic book cover from Avon's Campus Romances #2 (1949) gives you the answer!
NOTE: The art was originally used on an Avon paperback novel, entitled Where the Girls were Different by Erskine Caldwell [1948].
The comic does not adapt any Caldwell stories.
Available on adult t-shirts, mugs, e-reader, laptop, and phone cases, and many other goodies!

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Reading Room: JET POWERS "Thing from the Meteor"

We ran this tale in our old, smaller format, but it deserves a bigger presentation...
More 1950s alien invaders, this time with a never-reprinted tale from Magazine Enterprises' Jet #1 (1950)!
Of course,  if the insectoid alien invaded today, Earth would've been totally-screwed since both lead-based paint and DDT are now banned!
It's a tale that '50s state-of-the-art special effects would've been hard-pressed to do convincingly, but for illustrator Bob Powell, it took only his talented pencil and brush to make you believe a sentient insect could...dare I say it...rule the world!

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