Reading Room STRANGE WORLDS "Mystery of Asteroid 9"

Yesterday, we brought you the 1970s tale "Terror Asteroid"...

...today, we're presenting the original version of the story...from 1952!

Gene Fawcette and Vince Alascia illustrated the first telling of this tale in Avon Comics' Strange Worlds #9 (1952).

The writer is, sadly, unknown.

The issue also had this kool inside cover contents page illustrated by Everett Raymond Kinsler...

...who also illustrated the story Ransom--One Million Decimars! inside the book.

Reading Room STRANGE GALAXY "Terror Asteroid"

With a kool title like this...

...you can bet there'll be thrills aplenty in the dark void of space!

If you think this story from Eerie Publications' b/w magazine Strange Galaxy V1N11 (1971) has a curiously-1950s feel to it, you'd be right...sort of.

Though the art by Antonio Reynoso is new, the story itself is lifted, with only minor caption and dialogue changes, from a tale in Avon Comics' Strange Worlds #9 (1952)!

We'll bring you that one, tomorrow!

Note: Reynoso was one of numerous South American artists used by Eerie to re-interpret old comics stories in an updated, usually gorier, style for the b/w magazine market.

In fact, he did more stories (over 80 of them) than any other artist!

And, unlike most of their other illustrators, he worked exclusively for Eerie in the American comics business!

Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Humans, Keep Out!"

While the Mighty Thor stories in the front of Journey into Mystery have been reprinted over and over...

...the backup stories have rarely appeared since their initial publication over 50 years ago!

The last page demonstrates clever use of "camera angles", witholding the secret of how the humans avoid being destroyed until the next-to-last panel!

In fact, a 1970s "how-to" book for aspiring filmmakers used Silver and Bronze Age Marvel comics to graphically-demonstrate such things as camera work, film editing, sound effects, etc.

You can read the entire book HERE.

Writer Stan Lee and artist Don Heck produced a clever little tale in Marvel's Journey into Mystery #85 (1962) that's only been reprinted once, in Marvel's Giant-Size Man-Thing #4 (1974)!

Reading Room FLIP FALCON IN THE FOURTH DIMENSION "Doomed World"

We Have Already Seen...

Returning from Earth in the year 1,001,939, Flip looks where no man has looked before...

Wow!

Much attention has been given recently to fellow Fox Comics creator Fletcher Hanks for his way-out work on strips like StarDust and Fantomah.

But writer/artist Don Rico could come up with equally-astounding stories (and was a better draftsman) as this never-reprinted story from Fox's Fantastic Comics #5 (1940) proves.

Reading Room CAPTAIN JOHNER AND THE ALIENS "Day of the Nightmare"

We Have Already Seen...

...Commander Zarz and his crew of aliens have discovered "false men" among the humans who greeted them when they arrived on Earth!

Are humans fickle, or what?
Make you wonder why aliens would even want to interact with us!
Creator/writer/artist Russ Manning is certainly using the "color hold" technique to best advantage when showing other dimensions, giving the strip a distinctive "look" at a time when other artists like Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby were doing their own wild (and equally-unique) versions of alternate realities!
This tale from Gold Key's Magnus: Robot Fighter #13 (1966) adds the worrysome aspect of a wide-ranging threat that won't be easily-stopped.
But that's a story for another time...