Reading Room: FLASH GORDON "Chapter Two: Prisoners of Molluskum"

When Last We Left Our Intergalactic Hero...

Flash, Dale, and Zarkov head for Torneo (Mongo's "City of Tournaments", to open the non-lethal Olympic-style games that replaced the annual "Games of Death".
However, Azura, Queen of Black Magic kidnaps Flash for, as yet, unknown reasons!
Flash overpowers the kidnappers and the ship crashes into the sea...

What's Azura's Plan?
Find Out...in Two Weeks!
The opening and closing illustrations by Al Williamson for this post were the inside front and back covers to this tale from Marvel Select's Flash Gordon #1 (1995).

The tale is written (and probably laid-out) by Mark (Xenozoic Tales) Schultz.

Reading Room CAPTAIN JOHNER AND THE ALIENS "Case of Nerves"

While we've been observing aliens serving on a human vessel...

...we've neglected the humans traveling on the alien ship!

Yes, its Tuesday, and we usually run CJatA on Mondays, but it was Memorial Day, and we took the day off!

Now on to the unusual art in this story from Gold Key's Magnus, Robot Fighter #6 (1964).

The areas of color without black lines are called "color holds".

Before computer coloring, they were incredibly-difficult to do properly!

Creator/artist Russ Manning used "keyline" (red line art) to indicate where the areas for color were to be...

...because red ink photographs like black ink on the printer's film and the original negative would have both the red and black lines as guides for the color overlay cutters to trim to.

(note Manning's instructions to the printer on the euuper-left of the page.

But once the colors were cut, the red ink areas would be erased on the black printer's film, leaving just the black line art and the color areas with no holding lines!

Happy Memorial Day!

Remember the guys who went thru THIS for us!
A public service message from your pals at
Atomic Kommie Comics™

Reading Room: UFO FLYING SAUCERS "Read the Real Story of the UFOs and Flying Saucers!"

As we mentioned in an earlier post, Dell and Gold Key published anthology comics about UFOs..

Here's the intro story from Gold Key's UFO Flying Saucers #1 (1968)

Written by long-time sci-fi/fantasy comics scripter Leo Dorfman and illustrated by Golden and Silver Age artist Joe Certa (best known as the co-creator of another alien series; J'onn J'onnz, Manhunter from Mars), the story set the rather straightforward tone for the book, which would run for 13 issues from 1968 to 1977 before changing its' title to UFO & Outer Space and continuing for another 12 issues combining reprints and new material until cancellation in 1980.

Best of Reading Room: GULLIVAR JONES "Martian Genesis"

Concluding our re-presentation of the never-reprinted adventures of the first EarthMan on Mars...

...as we present, from the b/w magazine Monsters Unleashed #8 (1974), the final strip, produced by a team which included a newcomer to Marvel who would become one of the biggest names in the field (read the name in the credits below)...

Yes, this was George Perez's first assignment after breaking into the business as Rich Buckler's art assistant!

Oddly enough, this story isn't listed on George's own website!

And, there's uncredited inking by neophites Bob Layton and John Byrne, who helped inker Duffy Vohland meet the deadline!

Wonder whatever happened to Byrne and Layton?  ;-)

Despite the promise printed above, Gullivar Jones and company never graced another Marvel comic or magazine.
(Monsters Unleashed was cancelled with #10, two issues before Gullivar would have reappeared.)
Note there's no splash page for this story.
Actually, there is!
It was rejected, and a replacement was used for Page 1!
Here's the unpublished splash page...

Think of it!

George Perez's very first page...rejected!

Good thing he didn't give up, eh?