Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Reading Room WORLD OF FANTASY "Clock Strikes NEVER!"

Here's another never-reprinted tale...
...from the period when Atlas Comics was transitioning into Marvel Comics!
Penciled and inked by Steve Ditko, this story from Atlas' World of Fantasy #18 (1959) has some intriguing concepts, including the idea that nothing can travel back before its' creation date, which would rule out time travel into the distant past!
But my big question is...who is "Fate"?
He pops up at the beginning of Page 4 and remains lurking in the background for the rest of the story, becoming a second narrator!
Besides looking visually-kool, what's his purpose?
He doesn't interfere...or even warn/advise the protaganist!
Since the story's narrator refers to Fate in the third person, we know the blue guy is not the one hosting the tale!
In addition, Fate never shows up in any other Atlas/Marvel story!
Like the identity of the story's writer, it's a mystery that'll never be solved...
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Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Frankenstein Reading Room GHOST RIDER "vs Frankenstein!"

When Titans Clash!
And, it was the cover-featured story for Ghost Rider #10 (December 1952), though not illustrated by Frank Frazetta as were some of the earlier covers!
This particular one was by interior artist Dick Ayers, who illustrated almost all of stories in Ghost Rider.
BTW, as a matter of fact, this book was the Halloween issue!
(Comics were cover-dated 2-3 months ahead of their actual on-sale date, so this issue was on-sale in October, 1952!)
And now, on with the tale...
Aw, shucks, it wasn't really the Monster of Frankenstein!
This was, more often than not, the modus operandi used by baddies (and the hero) in Original Ghost Rider tales.
What seems to be supernatural, is just sleight-of-hand.
However, there were a couple of tales where things were, in fact, what they appeared to be, such as League of the Living Dead!
Enjoy!

Monday, October 3, 2016

Reading Room CAPTAIN JOHNER AND THE ALIENS "Incredible Jewel"

...as creator/writer/artist Russ Manning takes us where no comic strip has gone before!
"Did"...what???
This tale from Gold Key's Magnus, Robot Fighter #22 (1968) proves that even the best creator can have occasional problems working within the 4-page limitation!
This is a concept that deserves at least a solid 8-10 page chapter to clearly-explain, but with half that, it's a bit of a muddle.
Hopefully, the next chapter will clear things up...
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Sunday, October 2, 2016

It's the 200th Anniversary of the Creation of...

...and all through October we'll be running rarely-seen and some never-reprinted tales of the Monster and his creator!
But, its not like we've never presented stories about them before!
On this blog alone, we've run...
...the Classic Comics adaptation of the novel...
What do we have in store for you this year!
You'll have to visit to find out!