Reading Room WORLD OF FANTASY "Inside the Tunnel"

Ever wonder where writers come up with their ideas?

Art by Joe Maneely

...well, here's a never-reprinted story from Atlas' World of Fantasy #2 (1956) that offers a clue!

Of course, if it was an original manuscript/draft by Verne (which I think was the writer's intent), it would be in French...

The writer is unknown, but could be Stan Lee or Larry Lieber.

The art is by Al Williamson who did quite a bit of work in the fantasy and Western genres during the late 1950s for Atlas before it became Marvel.

Reading Room "Sinner"

The late Archie Goodwin was an amazing editor and writer...

...who could also illustrate in a unique whimsical style.

In case you have trouble reading the marker, here it is...enlarged...

Originally published in Wally Wood's Witzend #1 in 1966, it's appeared several times since, never losing it's impact.

Reading Room: AMAZING ADVENTURES "Man Who Killed a World"

Who would've thought a War of the Worlds would be decided by hand-to-hand combat?

This never-reprinted tale from Ziff-Davis' Amazing Adventures #6 (1952) gives the details, along with a trick ending...

So, even though the Earthman was defeated, we won!

Heckuva moral lesson there, guys!

Though the writer is unknown, the art is by Paul Parker, who left the field after a decade and over 100 stories to became a news reporter for several radio stations in New York City including the all-news WINS.

Reading Room: CRUSADER FROM MARS "Mission through Space"

Though we've presented a couple of stories (HERE & HERE) about the short-lived...

Art by Allen Anderson

...we haven't shown you his never-reprinted origin!

So let's correct that oversight right now!

If I follow the logic of this concept correctly, the Martians send a proven murderer (along with someone who may be either an accessory to murder or an innocent who had nothing to do with the crime except having a murderer obsessed with her) to fight evil on Earth.
Send a convicted killer with emotional control issues (and advanced weaponry) to a primitive planet and tell him to clean it up.
And then, when he screws up. send a fleet of flying saucers in to straighten out the mess.
(Martians apparently have no non-interference Prime Directive.)
The writer for this premiere tale from Crusader from Mars #1 (1952) is unknown, but probably is the book's editor, Jerry (Superman) Siegel, who co-created another short-lived Martian crime-fighter, Lars of Mars, the year before.

The artist is believed to be Marvin Stein, but the layouts have a stong Jack Kirby feel to them.
Considering Stein was doing a lot of work for the Simon/Kirby studio at the time, and Jack was reputed to be very generous in terms of helping his friends, it seems likely he provided roughs for Stein to render full pencils and inks over.
BTW, you may note that Tarka wears a very Superman-style costume in this tale, but on the cover, and in the next (and last) issue, the colors are reversed.

Reading Room: "Our Amazing Universe"

Who says comics ain't educational?

If they weren't, comics wouldn't include items like this never-reprinted inside front cover one-pager from Ziff-Davis' Lars of Mars #11 (1951).

BTW, either the unknown writer doesn't know how to phrase the statement about the Moon correctly, or he's an idiot.

The combination of the Moon's rotation and it's revolution around the Earth create the phenomenon of our seeing only one side of the sphere from the Earth's surface!