Reading Room BLACK BUCCANEER "The Story Begins..."

In the Golden Age of Comics, pirates with their own strips were a fairly common sight...

...though few were the lead tale in the books they appeared in!

Appearing in every issue of the short-lived Blazing Comics, the Black Buccaneer was typical of the "heroic pirate" strips that most companies gave a test run.

Apparently, unlike mad scientists (who headlined a number of strips), publishers felt pirates who were actually villains wouldn't sell.

So they created pirates who were undercover agents for their governments, or framed for crimes they didn't do, or just misunderstood.

The writer for this intro tale from the first issue of the anthology title Blazing Comics from short-lived publisher Rural Home is unknown.

And, though it's not definitive, the general consusus is that Gil Kane and/or Leonard Starr illustrated it.

Be here tomorrow when we'll have some more pirate-themed stuff during our celebration of the new pirate/adventure series Black Sails!

Reading Room TREASURY OF PIRATE LORE "Origin of the Buccaneer"

Ever wonder where the term "buccaneer" came from?

This interesting bit of historical trivia appeared in, of all places, Charlton's Soldier & Marine Comics #14 (1955).

However, that was not the first time it saw print!

Previously, it was the inside front cover of Fox's Variety Comics 1950 one-shot which took several unsold comics and bound them together under a new cover!

Note: Inside covers were two-color, instead of the usual four-color used for covers and actual comic pages.

In this case, the second color was Magenta, one of the four colors used in standard printing.

BTW, note the changes in the first and second captions between the Comics Code-approved top version and the earlier non-Code-approved version at bottom!

Boy, were they squeamish in those days!

Be here tomorrow when we'll have some more pirate-themed stuff during our celebration of the new pirate/adventure series Black Sails!

Reading Room STAR PIRATE "Meet the Star Pirate"

In space, no one can hear you say "Arrr, matey..."

...as this example of the little-known "pirates in space" sub-genre proves!

Like most pirates (who are romantics at heart), Star Pirate is a sucker for a pretty face.
The Star Pirate became a fixture in Planet Comics, running from 1941 until just before the book's cancellation in 1953.

The name "Leonardo Vinci" on this intro tale from #12 (1941) is a pen-name assigned to this particular strip.

The general consensus is that the artist is Al Gabrielle, but the writer is unknown.
With the new Starz TV series Black Sails reawakening interest in the almost-dead "pirate high-adventure" genre, we're going to take a look at a number of different comics incarnations of buccaneers!
Be here tomorrow as we explore more pirate-themed comics!

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Reading Room MARVEL TALES "Return of the Monster"

One attempt at updating the Monster in the 1950s involved terrorists...

Art by Syd Shores

...who wanted Frankenstein's secrets to create an invincible army!

Illustrated by Gene Colan and Vince Alascia (with a splash panel taken from the cover by Syd Shores), this tale from Atlas' Marvel Tales #96 (1950), this tale was one of several produced by Atlas Comics.

Note, the author is unknown.

Art by Larry Lieber and VInce Colletta

When the story was reprinted in 1974, the Monster's look was modified on the new cover art to look more like Marvel's new version who had his own series!