Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Reading Room FANTASTIC WORLDS "Triumph Over Terror"

What if a science fiction writer was the hero of a sci-fi tale?
And, what if the science fiction writer was, initially, just as dumb as any other protagonist in such a tale?
This tale from Standard's Fantastic Worlds #5 (1952) was drawn by Alex Toth and John Celardo, though the writer is unknown.
BTW, though it's #5, this is actually the first issue of the title!
There was no #1-#4!

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Reading Room LOST WORLDS "Quest of the Chlorophyl Monsters"

Before reading this story, lots of kids didn't know what "chlorophyll" was...
...and they say comic books aren't educational!
This scientifically-semi-accurate tale from Standard's Lost Worlds #5 (1952) was penciled by Jack Katz and inked by Aldo "Al" Rubano.
(A traveling planet's surface would freeze during the periods it was in interstellar space, making it unusable for growing plants.
Plus, in deep space, the mobile world wouldn't receive enough sunlight to stimulate the chlorophyll in plants to function.
Theoretically, the aliens could use hydroponic gardens with artificially-produced "sunlight" in caverns inside the planet, but that's not mentioned in the story.)
The writer is unknown.
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Monday, January 16, 2017

Reading Room FANTASTIC WORLDS "Ace of Space"

Not to be confused with Space Ace (who went through several different incarnations)...
...this guy is a Cold War fighter pilot transplanted to a Star Wars setting!
Darn those aliens!
Sending robot "drones" to do their fighting instead of going man-against-lizard as God intended!
Though the scripter for this tale from Standard's Fantastic Worlds #7 (1952) is unknown, the artwork is by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, with a couple of panels redrawn by Mike Sekowsky!

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Live the 1950s like it was tomorrow (and it might well be!) with ATOMIC WAR!

Thanks to the President-Elect, Atomic Armageddon may be here soon!
Duck n' cover and prepare for the inevitable end in style with Atomic Kommie Comics™ radiation-proof (well, not really!) garb and collectibles from our vintage Atomic War collection!

Saturday, January 14, 2017

LOST WORLDS and FANTASTIC WORLDS Cover Gallery

They ran for a combined total of only five issues...
Art by Alex Toth
...but Standard's short-lived sci-fi anthologies Fantastic Worlds and Lost Worlds had some first-rate talent both on the covers and inside them!
Art by John Celardo
Plus, all five covers had something in common quite unique in publishing...
...none of the covers had anything to do with any of the interior stories!
Art by Alex Toth & Mike Peppe
Despite the captions, which did mention titles from stories that ran in the books...
Art by Mike Sekowsky & John Celardo
...the art didn't depict anything even close to what was in the tales!
But they sure look kool, don't they?