Reading Room REAL FACT COMICS "Rookie of the Year" & PICTURE NEWS "California Flash"

Yesterday we presented a fictional tale about a ballplayer facing prejudice...

...today, it's the "real deal"!

The story from DC's Real Fact Comics #14 (1948) presents the story in a straightforward, if slightly patronizing, manner.

The following tale from Parents Magazine's Picture News #4 (1946) by writer/artist Charles Wessel, predates his being called up to the majors.

Note it does contain a couple of racial stereotypes common to the era, and may be NSFW.

There was also an official Jackie Robinson comic book from major publisher Fawcett that lasted six issues (longer than most other comics based on real-life baseball players) from 1949-52.

We'll show you their covers tomorrow...

Reading Room BASEBALL COMICS "Rube Rooky Climbs Up from the Pit"

The saga of how a baseball superstar is created continues...

...as Rube leaves his family and girlfriend to pursue his dream...

Wow!

Big-screen TV in 1949?

Who knew?

That aside, anybody here see a parallel between Rube and a real-life ballplayer who faced similiar problems being accepted by his teammates because he was "different" just a year before writer/penciler Will Eisner and inker Tex Blaisdell created this tale?

Be here tomorrow and Monday to see whom I'm talking about...

Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Orogo!! The Nightmare from Outer Space!!"

Behind this Jack Kirby-penciled/Don Heck-inked splash...

...lurks a mystery. which we'll delve into after you read the story!

When this Stan Lee-scripted, Don Heck-illustrated (except for the splash) tale was reprinted in Marvel's Fantasy Masterpieces #2 (1967), the cover played-up Heck's Cyclopean robot (and Dashin' Don himself)...

...but when it was first published in Atlas' Journey into Mystery #57 (1960)...

...and reprinted a second time in Marvel's Where Monsters Dwell #12 (1971)...

...it used the original Kirby cover that seems to be a reverse-angle of the splash page above and shows a radically-different Orogo with two eyes!

Did editor/art director Stan the Man have The King do the cover and splash and then pass the rest of the story to Heck to finish,...but, for whatever reason, didn't give Dashing Don the cover as reference for Orogo, so Heck came up with his own version of the robot?

There are several Atlas-era monster stories where Kirby would do splashes, then another artist would complete the tale.

We'll be taking a look at them over the next few months.

Bookmark us and keep an eye out as we attempt to solve the half century-old mystery....

Reading Room FLICK FALCON IN THE FOURTH DIMENSION "Return to Mars"

We Have Already Seen...

...now, unarmed, and with Adele by his side, Flick prepares for another journey through space.

Writer-penciler Don Rico's wild imagination goes full-speed, combining science fiction and fantasy elements with equal aplomb in this never-reprinted tale from Fox's Fantastic Comics #2 (1940).

It's interesting to note the three-armed slavers introduced last time aren't native to Mars, as Flick thought, though no mention is made about whether the giants they control are Martians or not. 

Also rather odd for a kids' story is the fact that sexual attraction can be used to break the alien slavers' control!

Inker Claire Moe (who usually scripted, penciled and inked her own material for Fox, Centaur, and Novelty), helped out probably due to a tight deadline.

Reading Room VENUS COMICS "Storm"

The rather-unnaturally intense storms we've been experiencing lately made me think of...

...the aquaphobic character in this never-reprinted story from Atlas' Venus Comics #17 (1951).

Illustrated by Allen Bellman, this tale presents a typical example of a "karmic payback" for evil actions so often presented in stories of the era.

Usually, though, they're a bit more gruesomely-graphic than shown here.