Reading Room SPACE ADVENTURES "Magnet of Magneto"

Nope, it's not the mutant villain/anti-hero/hero of X-Men fame, but an entire planet...

...hell-bent on conquering the universe!

Written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Steve Ditko, this tale of menace and magnetism from Charlton's Space Adventures V2N5 (1969) is scientifically-inaccurate, but fun.

and isn't that what comics are all about?

You may recognize the splash panel as the cover for this issue...

...which we ran when we presented the other cover-featured story a couple of weeks ago.

Charlton had a tendency to re-use/recompose interior art for covers, especially with their anthologies.

Whether it was for budget or deadline reasons has been lost to the mists of history.

Reading Room INCREDIBLE HULK ANNUAL "It is GROOT, the Monster from Planet X!!"

In 1976, an evil alien scientist recreated a number of long-forgotten monsters...

...to battle his old foe, the Incredible Hulk...

...including...awww, you guessed...

The never-reprinted story from Incredible Hulk Annual #5 (1976), written by Len Wein and illustrated by Sal Buscema and Jack Abel was a tribute to the 1950s pre-superhero monster stories Stan Lee and Jack Kirby produced in astounding amounts for Marvel's predecessor Atlas Comics.

Besides Groot, five other classic monsters with silly names appeared...

...including the alien scientist (and monster), Xemnu, who re-created the other aliens!

BTW, Xemnu was originally-known as "the Living Hulk", so when his pre-Marvel stories (he appeared twice!) were reprinted in the late 1960s (after the introduction of the green-skinned Hulk), he was re-named "the Living Titan".

Technically, this was not the "real" Groot, but, it's still considered the character's first appearance in the Marvel Universe...as well as confirmation that some (if not all) of the pre-superhero stories are part of the history of the fictional universe.

Catch Groot in the new movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, this weekend...

Reading Room TALES TO ASTONISH "I Challenged Groot! The Monster from Planet X!"

He's one of the stars of the new Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy...

...but Groot was originally meant as a one-time "monster of the day" prevalent in Atlas Comics' sci-fi/fantasy books before they became Marvel in 1961!

Of course nobody (including writer Stan Lee) considered the super-termites might start eating the surrounding forest once they finished munching on Groot...

The cover-featured story from Tales to Astonish #13 (1960) was penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Dick Ayers was Groot's only appearance (except for reprints) for 15 years until Incredible Hulk Annual #5 (1976) which combined an alien scientist's recreations of several pre-superhero-era monsters against The Hulk...

...including...

...as you'll see tomorrow.

GROOT is Coming!

He's one of the breakout characters in the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie, opening this week...

...but Groot didn't always look like that!

He was much taller...and far more hostile towards humanity!

Art by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko

Be here tomorrow when we present his first (and almost last) appearance!

Reading Room SUPERSNIPE "Strong Medicine" Conclusion

When Last We Left the Kid With the Most Comic Books in America...

Attending a local carnival with his friend Roxy Adams: Girl Guerilla, SuperSnipe is tricked by look-alike Duper Dan into impersonating the midget performer on stage to give the criminal carny an unbreakable alibi while he commits a robbery.

But Roxy smells a rat...

Note that SuperSnipe finally wears an actual costume rather than his grandfather's woolen long-johns and father's lodge cape.

But, ironically, because this was the final issue of his series, he never got to wear it again!

Written and illustrated by George Marcoux, this never-reprinted story from SuperSnipe Comics V5N1 (1949) marked the character's final appearance in his own strip, though he also popped up in his secret identity of Koppy McFad in the other stories starring his supporting cast.