Best of Reading Room: STRANGE TALES "When a Planet Dies!"

Hoo Boy! Is it HOT!
We need some cooling off!
But maybe not this much...

This splash page from Marvel's Weird Wonder Tales #22 (1973), was actually a reworking of this (literally) cool story from Strange Tales #97 (1962)!

While the art is credited to Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers, who wrote the tale is not entirely clear.

A number of people, myself included, think it's scripted by Kirby himself.

Bonus: Here's the cover from a previous issue of Weird Wonder Tales that supplied the Dr Druid figure on the reworked splash page...

Art by Jack Kirby, John Romita (Dr Druid's face) and Joe Sinnott

 ...and here's the original art for the splash page!

The production artist "flipped" a stat of the Dr Druid figure and fit it where the bearded aliens are on the original.
To paraphrase "the World's Most Interesting Man", stay cool, my friends!

Reading Room: SPACE ADVENTURES "Long Patrol"

Here's a never-reprinted Silver Age tale...

...that has a Golden Age "look" and "feel" to it!

Written by Joe Gill, penciled by Charles Nicholas, and inked by Vince Colletta, this story from Charlton's Space Adventures V2N6 (1969) feels like it's been edited down from a longer version.

Things happen almost arbitrarily, like the astronauts' home base knowing theyve been mind-controlled by aliens, or the crewmen being deliberately-incapacitated by equipment on board we (and proabably they) knew nothing about!

It's an interesting, but unsatisfying, tale...a rarity from Charlton.

How a Spitfire Became a Phantom!

We've begun the summer mini-marathon at our "sister" RetroBlog, Heroines...

... with the explanation of how the tale above was altered/transformed/morphed into this story!

...in a tale of publishing, print production, and paste-ups!

It's a two-for-one deal you won't want to miss!
Click HERE to read it!

Trump Reading Room aka the OutHouse FARMER'S DAUGHTER "Calendar Girl"

With Don the Con's "model" wife Melania dominating the headlines...

..we thought we'd take a look at another blonde poser who would appeal to the RNC crowd!

This never-reprinted story from Stanhall's Farmer's Daughter #1 (1954) was typical of the sort of lowbrow humor the publisher specialized in.

With titles including Broadway-Hollywood Blackouts and G.I. Jane, Stanhall produced adult-oriented (but never more risque than PG-13) humor.

Animator Hal Seegar was the editor/writer/illustrator for the non "good girl" strips, while Bill Williams handled the art over Seegar's layouts for the more risque material (like this one).

Reading Room CAPTAIN JOHNER AND THE ALIENS "False Men"

When Last We Left the First Extraterrestrials on Earth...

After an initial misunderstanding, it seems human/alien relations are going smoothly...

So, it turns out Johner's friends may not be the first aliens on Earth!

These "false men" not the shapeshifters Zarz's people use as spies, but something that can posess other life-forms!

But whether they're a race of previously-unknown Earthlings or from another world is a question for the future...

This tale by creator/writer/artist Russ Manning, from Gold Key's Magnus, Robot Fighter #11 (1965), introduces a new plotline that will run through a number of issues.