Best of Reading Room: STRANGE WORLDS "A Nation is Born"

As we mentioned yesterday, here's the Golden Age version...

..of a Bronze Age b/w magazine story we already ran HERE!
(Click to open in new window)

Illustrated by Golden Age journeyman Rafael Astarita, this tale appeared in Avon's Strange Worlds #4 (1951) and was reprinted in IW's Strange Planets #9 (1959).

It was then re-illustrated, with only minor changes to the script (including a re-titling), in Eerie Publications' Strange Galaxy V1N8 (1971) as shown HERE.

Best of Reading Room: STRANGE GALAXY "The Moon is Red"

In the late 1960s-early 1970s, numerous b/w comic magazines popped up...

...to publish the risque material the Comics Code Authority banned from color comic books!

Despite being drawn in 1970, this tale from Eerie Publications' Strange Galaxy #V1N8 (1971) has the feel of a 1950s tale, which wouldn't be surprising since the publisher both reprinted stories from defunct publishers when they could find photostats/printing film or re-illustrated stories using old scripts nearly verbatim.
In fact, this story's script is adapted from a tale in Avon's Strange Planets #4 (1951) called "A Nation is Born", which we'll re-present tomorrow so you can compare them.

BTW, this issue, despite being #8, was actually the first issue under that title.
What it was before then is unknown, since the publisher did numerous titles in various categories including astrology, romance, crime, etc.

"Oswal" was the pen-name of Osvaldo Walter Viola, an Argentinean writer/artist who began his career in the early 1960s creating Argentine's first super-hero, Sónoman.

His only American comics work was for Eerie Publications' titles.

Best of Reading Room: "Space Speedsters"

Combine When Worlds Collide, Damon Runyon's Broadway tales, Flash Gordon, and Front Page...

...and you get this really-weird one-shot tale!

So, we got...Armageddon, gangsters, intrepid spacemen (and women) and spaceships, newspaper reporters, and some comedy relief.

Did I miss anything?

This never-reprinted tale from Black Terror #23 (1948) seems like part of an ongoing series, but I can't find any other stories featuring the lead characters!

Illustrator (and possible writer) Stan Asch was one of the steadily-working artists who were the backbone of the comics industry in the Golden Age.

With over 300 stories and covers to his credit, he co-created Johnny Thunder and Dr Mid-Nite for DC Comics, and assisted both Milton Caniff (on Terry and the Pirates) and Al Capp (on Lil' Abner) during his long career.

Was this a try-out for an onoging series that didn't sell?

We'll never know...

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Re-Presenting: Was INAPAK the Chocolate Drink That NEVER Actually Existed?

Yesterday, we presented the miracle chocolate drink Inapak...

Now here's an interesting point...

It apparently never existed!

Really!

From extensive research (we're talking off-line and on-site) thru the archives of several dealers and collectors who handle related food ephemera like Ovaltine and Quik (now Nesquik) packaging and advertising, I've yet to come across anything (besides the comic book) relating in any way to Inapak!

Could it have been a proposed project that never got off the ground, like Victor Fox's Kooba Kola?

If so, who was behind it?
Magazine Enterprises, the publishers of the The Avenger, FunnyMan, and original Ghost Rider, produced the comic, and it's copyrighted in their name, not an outside corporation, as most licensed comics are!
Bob Powell is obviously the artist, though the writer is unknown.
It's theorized on the Grand Comics Database that Gardner Fox scripted the two stories in the book.
Speaking of which, here's the short tale from the back of the book...

Now, here's my theory about who Major Inapak is and how he came to be...
At this point (1951), there were a number of kids' sci-fi tv shows like Captain Video, featuring characters who also promoted their sponsors' products...

...and there was talk of a tv version of radio/comic/movie serial hero Captain Midnight (who was still owned by Ovaltine) with a heavier sci-fi flavor to compete with Captain Video, Tom Corbett: Space Cadet, Space Patrol, et al.
(A Captain Midnight show eventually aired in 1954-56, with some sci-fi elements, but set present-day to keep the budget down.
And of course, it had lots of promotion for products...)

Could this book have been a tryout with the original, futuristic, format for Captain Midnight, spotlighting his sponsor, Ovaltine?
And, when it didn't sell, the story was reformatted with a new character and a non-existent chocolate drink to demonstrate what Magazine Enterprises could do for potential clients, and then used as a trade-show giveaway to drum up business for a licensed-comic division (similar to what both Marvel and DC have today)?
Think about it...

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