RAUMPATROUILLE "Die Raumfalle" (Space Trap)

Welcome to the penultimate episode of 1960s' Germany's counterpoint to Star Trek...

...as the crew of the Orion is assigned to attempt to prove the theory that life on Earth originated in outer space.

Sounds sedate, eh?

Mix in a passenger who happens to be a science-fiction writer seeking inspiration for his next novel, a stopover at a penal colony, plus a mad scientist who tries to hijack the ship, and you get a space opera episode jam-packed with thrills!

Note: We've tried to embed the English subtitles, but if they don't come up automatically, go to the "gear" icon on the lower right of the video screen, and set them manually.)

Reading Room CALVIN "Root Beer"

Luke Cage was the first Black character to get his own series at Marvel.

Who was the second?

I bet you'll say Black Panther (in Jungle Action)!

But, you'd be wrong.

It was...

Several months before Prince T'Challa took over a reprint book and began a memorable series that's still being talked-about today, this kid took over a reprint book and began a series that nobody remembers!

Written and penciled by Kevin Banks and inked by "NT", this never-reprinted tale from Marvel's Li'l Kids #10 (1972) began a brief, 3-issue run of one-page gags and 3-5 page stories that seemed recycled from vaudeville routines and 1940s-50s comic strips.
What makes the strip somewhat more fascinating is the identity of the little-known writer-artist behind it.
"Kevin Banks" was not a pseudonym, but a staffer at Marvel in the early 1970s!
Even the ever-amazing comics researcher Nick Caputo could find little about the mysterious Mr Banks, as seen HERE.
What Banks did after working at Marvel is unknown.
Did he work in advertising?
Become an art instructor?
Switch careers and become an accountant or fireman?

Reading Room EERIE SMITH AND WALTER WEARY "Variable One: When Ya Gotta Go -- Ya Gotta Go..."

What if Bill and Ted had functioning brains?

They might have been these two guys, who had a brief, never-reprinted run in Pacific Comics' anthology Pacific Presents in 1984.

Written and illustrated by Tim Conrad, this cover-featured premiere in Pacific Presents #3 was moved up on the schedule to fill in a gap due to Dave Stevens being late on the third installment of The Rocketeer!

Despite being promised for the next issue, The Rocketeer never returned to the anthology, instead going on to his own book.

Eerie and Walter did, as you'll see in the near-future...

Reading Room FLICK FALCON IN THE FOURTH DIMENSION "To Mars and Back"

You know the scientist-hero of this strip is bonkers...

...when, after seeing a test item come back through his teleporter inside-out, he leaps into the device!

This premiere tale from Fox's Fantastic Comics #1 (1939) ends right there.

No "To Be Continued" caption or anything else.

The next page begins another strip, Sub Saunders.

But fear not, Flick Falcon will return for 20 more issues of Fantastic Comics!
BTW, "Orville Wells" was a pen-name, probably inspired by Orson Welles, who had, only a few months before, panicked America with the legendary War of the Worlds radio show.
The artist (and probably writer) was Don Rico, who would become one of the premier creatives working in 1940s-50s comics before turning to writing novels.
(You can read one of his wildest comic tales HERE!)
Unlike contemporary Fletcher Hanks, whose Stardust and Space Smith strips also premiered in this issue, Rico's never received the attention and acclaim his equally-offbeat work deserves.
(That's not to put-down Hanks in any way.
His wild creations are equally as deserving of critical study by aficionados of sci-fi/fantasy.)
BTW, this never-reprinted tale was Rico's very first published comics work.

Reading Room SILVER SURFER: THE ULTIMATE COSMIC EXPERIENCE Part 5

We Have Already Seen...

(Yes, this is the Jack Kirby/Joe Sinnott original for the unused cover for the graphic novel.

It served as the basis for Earl Norem's painted version that appeared on both the hardcover and paperback editions from Simon & Schuster.)

While Galactus prepares to devour the Earth, the Silver Surfer attempts to prove to Ardina that the planet and its' people are worth defending from the Devourer of Planets...

What next?

Does the Surfer survive?

Where's Ardina?

And what of the ever-hungry Galactus?

Dare you miss the next, exciting chapter?