Kirby Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Propaganda"

It's ironic that, with the extensive use of misinformation in politics today...

...this never-reprinted tale from 1962 seems as timely as ever!

Note: because of racial stereotypes common to the era of publication, this may be NSFW!

This story from Atlas' Journey into Mystery #80 (1962) by plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, penciler Jack Kirby, and inker Dick Ayers, is, like many of the tales we're presenting this week, a reworking of an earlier story, also called "Propaganda", from Atlas' Uncanny Tales V1N9 (1953). That one was reprinted in Marvel's Uncanny Tales V2N1 (1973) and you'll be seeing it on our "brother" RetroBlog, Seduction of the Innocent, next week!

In the meantime, here's a special treat...scans of the complete original art for this tale!

Enjoy!

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Jack Kirby and the Moonlighting Artists at Martin Goodman's Empire

Kirby Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Sorcerer"

Behind a never-reprinted Jack Kirby/Dick Ayers cover...

...lurks a never-reprinted tale rendered by Jack (King) Kirby!

Enjoy...

Was this tale from Atlas' Journey into Mystery #78 (1962) originally a seven-page story?
The fight between the dragon and the knight that begins on the bottom of page 5 ends in a flash in the first panel of page 6!
Considering that battle is the focus of the splash page, I really expected a bit more!
Was there a page between 5 and the last page?
Only plotter Stan Lee, writer Larry Leiber, penciler Jack Kirby, and inker Dick Ayers could tell us.

Trivia: The story is the same as "Handyman", illustrated by Gray Morrow, from Atlas' Journey into Unknown Worlds #48 (1956), which was also the cover-featured story for that book, with a Bill Everett-rendered cover!
It's also never been reprinted!

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Kirby Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Midnight in the Wax Museum"

To celebrate Jack Kirby's 99th Birthday...

..we're re-presenting never-reprinted tales by the King, so the odds are, unless you're over 60, or have a really-large back issue collection, you've never seen these stories!

Let's begin with a tale of a comic book artist and some of the koolest Kirby Kreatures you've ever laid eyes on...

Plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby, and inked by Dick Ayers, this fun little tale was one of two featured on the cover by Kirby and Ayers on Atlas' Journey into Mystery #74 (1961)!

BTW, the other tale, "Thing in the Black Box", has been reprinted in Marvel's Where Monsters Dwell #30 (1974) under a new cover by Larry Lieber and John Romita, so we're not running that one this week!

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available in a variety of formats, including e-book!

Reading Room CAPTAIN JOHNER AND THE ALIENS "Crystal Crawler"

We Have Already Seen...

...alien-controlled humans kidnapped Captain Jay Johner and brought him to Venus.

Friendly aliens led by Commander Zarz, along with M'Reema (the un-possessed sister of one of the "False-Men") free Johner, but they're stranded on Venus...

Side note: this book was selling 250,000 (a quarter of a million copies) per issue, and Gold Key was only issuing it quarterly?
What were the sales figures for their monthly books?
These days, if a book sells 25,000 (one tenth of that), it's considered successful!
The mind boggles...
In Gold Key's Magnus, Robot Fighter #18 (1967) creator/writer/artist Russ Manning not only reveals a previously-unknown weakness of the aliens, but their name, "Ploorans", as well!
Is it the name they give inhabitants of their world (like "Earthmen", "Terrans", or "Earthers") or is it also their species' name (like "humans" or "homo sapiens")?
Every time we learn something new, there's an additional mystery to go along with it!
Several friendly aliens, a former girlfriend (whose brother is one of the leaders of the conspiracy) and Johner, trapped on a hostile world where the nearest Earth forces don't know where they are!
What could go wrong?
Find out next Monday!

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Captain Johner and the Aliens
Mini-Series

It's Jack Kirby's 99th Birthday...

...now re-read his final Marvel project, unseen by the general public since 1980...

...Marvel's first original graphic novel.

It starts as a retelling of the "Coming of Galactus" storyline from Fantastic Four #48-50, but set in a reality without any of the myriad characters that inhabit Earth and the solar system of the Marvel Universe.

No Fantastic Four.

No Watcher.

No Alicia Masters.

However, there is Norrin Radd, who becomes the Silver Surfer, as well as Shalla Bal, his true love, and their home world, Zenn-La, and of course, Galactus!

After stranding the Surfer on Earth, the story goes off on a totally-new tangent and introduces new characters, the golden Ardina (whom Galactus uses to emotionally-manipulate the Surfer), and Master of Guile, a manifestation of Galactus' "Dark Side" who advises the planet-eating alien!

It's a unique take on the character, and, as we said, the last joint project by the two guys who co-created most of the Marvel Universe!

As to how and why it came about...

According to Bill Bagnall at T'aint the Meat... It's the Humanity, the basis of the graphic novel was a never-used story for a Silver Surfer movie rock musical that would've featured Olivia Newton-John as Ardina!
Unusual note, the copyright to the graphic novel is not Marvel's, but jointly-held by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby!
As of January, 2016, it's only available as a HTF, expensive, limited-edition hardcover or paperback.
But, in the interest of historical research, we've re-presented the entire tale starting HERE.

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Silver Surfer

The Ultimate Cosmic Experience

by

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby