Reading Room BUCCANEERS "Black Roger: Straight to the Heart of the Enemy Stronghold!"

Let's return to one of the first Muslim (or Moslem, as they were known then) fighters...

...as he takes on a pirate who, well read for yourself...

You'll note that, in this tale from Quality's Buccaneers #20 (1950) Jaril and his crew look Asian, yet report to an Arabic-looking caliph.
Plus he admits he's not a "true" Moslem.
When superheroes' popularity waned at the end of World War II, comics looked for other genres to fill the gap.

Taking their cue from movie box office sales, several publishers either premiered new books featuring swashbuckling scoundrels or converted ongoing titles from superheroes to pirates.

While most of the strips were pretty blatant copies of various Errol Flynn or Tyrone Power pirate characters, this strip recombined elements of Captain Blood (Educated professional wrongly-convicted) and Zorro (masked avenger) along with our hero concentrating on a particular class of pirate...Moslems along the Barbary Coast of Africa!

Regrettably, both writer and artist(s) are unknown.

Black Roger appeared in every issue of Buccaneers during its'  9-issue run, never once making the cover (That was reserved for an Errol Flynn/Sea Hawk clone named "Captain Daring".

But you'll be seeing them all on this blog over the next few months.

Watch for them!

DESIGN OF THE WEEK "Tales of Horror #9"

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another.

This week, it's the vintage comic book cover from Toby/Minoan's Tales of Horror #9, worn in the new movie The DUFF by Mae Whitman as nerd-girl Bianca..

Note that this is a cleaned-up, digitally-remastered rendition of the cover, not the"homemade look" version seen in the movie that can be achieved with a color copier and laser/inkjet printer on heat-transfer paper.

Available on mugs, blankets, t-shirts, and many other goodies
Note: We presented the comic book story the cover is based on HERE.

Reading Room ROCKET SHIP X "Robot Rebellion"

We're DOOMED, do you hear me?

DOOMED, because tomorrow will bring a...

...as shown in this never-reprinted tale from Fox's Rocket Ship X #1 (1951).

It's actually a decent little tale whose creators, regrettably, are anonymous.
Think James Cameron read it as a kid?

Reading Room NORGE BENSON "Invasion of the Snowmads"

If you're staying in during this cold wave, get some hot cocoa (with marshmallows) and read...

...in this never-reprinted tale from Fiction House's Planet Comics #15 (1941).

Interesting how the "Snomads" are similar to the much-later Marvin the Martian...

Illustrated by Al Walker, who spent his entire comics career at Fiction House, this tale introduces more protagonists for Norge Benson and his crew to deal with besides evil penguins.

Reading Room TALES OF HORROR "It Came from the Bottom of the World"

A new movie, The DUFF, is opening on Friday...

...and one of the stars of the flick. Mae Whitman as Bianca, wears a shirt with a classic 1950s horror comic on it!

Art by Jack Sparling

Here's the story behind the cover...

This never-reprinted tale from Toby/Minoan's Tales of Horror #9 (1954) was illustrated by longtime journeyman artist Jack Sparling.

The writer is unknown.

Now, here's a kool treat:

While it's not the t-shirt seen in the movie (which has a home-made "look" that can be achieved with a color laser or inkjet printer and heat-transfer paper), we took our copy of the comic, scanned and digitally-remastered the cover, then put it on an assortment of kool kollectibles including this large tote bag...

..plus phone and e-reader cases, pajamas, magnets, and, of course, t-shirts, all at inexpensive prices.

(The t-shirts start at $14.95)

Click HERE to see them.

Plus, we have an extensive assortment of other horror comic collectibles (including a different Tales of Horror cover HERE.