Thursday, August 24, 2017

Reading Room AN EARTHMAN ON VENUS Part 4

Inside front cover art by Wally Wood
WOW!
Don't just sit there!
Start reading!
Well, that's it for our presentation of Avon's Earth Man on Venus (1950) one-shot comic adaptation illustrated by Wally Wood with Joe Orlando and Sid Check doing inking and minor redrawing.
(The adaptation's scripter is unknown.)
BTW, both Doggo's and Yuri's "deaths" were exaggerations.
Both survived to return in the sequel novels, Radio Beasts and Radio Planet.
Only the first novel, Radio Man/Earth Man on Venus, has been adapted into comics form.
Too bad, since the later novels are even better.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Reading Room AN EARTHMAN ON VENUS Part 3

Cover art by Gene Fawcette
...an experiment in "teleportation by radio wave" inadvertantly sends technician Miles Cabot to the planet Venus, where he discovers humanoids (including a ravishingly-beautiful woman) known as "Cupians" and giant intelligent ants (who've enslaved the humanoids) who call themselves "Formians"!
Both species communicate only via telepathy on a frequency close to radio waves, so Cabot builds a device to comunicate with them.
He becomes friends with Formian Doggo and Cupian Princess Lilla, which leads to his involvement with Lilla's evil cousin Yuri, who betrays Cabot to the Formians with whom he's formed an alliance...
Continuing our presentation of Avon's Earth Man on Venus (1950) one-shot comic adaptation illustrated by Wally Wood with Joe Orlando and Sid Check doing inking and minor redrawing.
(The adaptation's scripter is unknown.)
Ironically, the comic book version has been reprinted numerous times, and is probably far more familiar to current sci-fi fans than the original story by Ralph Milne Farley (which is a shame, since the novel is pretty good)!

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Reading Room AN EARTHMAN ON VENUS Part 2

Reprint cover art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito
...an experiment in "teleportation by radio wave" inadvertantly sends technician Miles Cabot to the planet Venus, where he discovers humanoids (including a ravishingly-beautiful woman) and giant intelligent ants (who've enslaved the humanoids)!
Both species communicate only via telepathy on a frequency close to radio waves, so Cabot attempts to build a device...
Continuing our presentation of Avon's Earth Man on Venus (1950) one-shot comic adaptation illustrated by Wally Wood with Joe Orlando and Sid Check doing inking and minor redrawing.
(The adaptation's scripter is unknown.)
Ironically, the comic book version has been reprinted numerous times, and is probably far more familiar to current sci-fi fans than the original story by Ralph Milne Farley (which is a shame, since the novel is pretty good)!

Monday, August 21, 2017

Reading Room AN EARTHMAN ON VENUS Part 1

After the success of Princess of Mars and the other Barsoom tales...
..."scientific romances" became a major genre in pulp fiction, with tales of Earthmen transported to alien worlds appearing in both genre and mainstream magazines!
One of the more successful "high-adventure on other worlds" series was the Radio Man saga by Ralph Milne Farley.
Set on Venus, the tales of radio expert Miles Cabot were different enough from John Carter's adventures to warrant a half-dozen magazine serials, all of which were compiled as stand-alone novels.
Here's a kool article about the series at ERB.com.
The first story, Radio Man, was retitled Earth Man on Venus when Avon reprinted it in the 1950s.
Art by Ray Johnson
Simultaneous with the reprint was a one-shot comic adaptation illustrated by Wally Wood with Joe Orlando and Sid Check doing inking and minor redrawing.
(The adaptation's scripter is unknown.)
Ironically, the comic book version has been reprinted numerous times, and is probably far more familiar to current sci-fi fans than the original story (which is a shame, since the novel is pretty good)!

Sunday, August 20, 2017

A Halloween Treat (No Trick!)...Horror Comics of the 1950s!

Before videogames came along, comics, tv, and movies were said to be the contributing factors to...(gasp)...JUVENILE DELINQUENCY!
Noted psychiatrist Dr Fredric Wertham SAID SO in his classic book Seduction of the Innocent!
I say...CELEBRATE the stuff your grandparents said would warp your parents' minds!
After all, they turned out OK, didn't they?
Didn't they?
Oh, well...
What could be more appropriate for Halloween than the frightening images of Horror Comics of the 1950s™ on tote bags, t-shirts, mini-buttons,and other ghoulish goodies?
Are you ready to be scared?
Click HERE...if you dare!