Reading Room VANGUARD ILLUSTRATED "Tangled Web"

One of the joys of doing a blog like this is discovering people who, all too briefly, worked in comics...

...then moved on, sometimes without a trace!

This never-reprinted tale from Pacific's Vanguard Illustrated #4 (1984) is written and illustrated by Ruth Raymond.

It's her only comics credit, and, sadly, I can't find a single reference to her outside of the Grand Comics Database!

Was "Ruth Raymond" a pseudonym?

Both the scripting and art, though a tad awkward, show enormous potential.

It's sad to think this talented creative wasn't given a chance to grow.

If anybody has any info, please leave a link in the comments section!

Reading Room UFO FLYING SAUCERS "Life on Other Worlds"

Themed anthologies are difficult to keep going more than a few issues at a time...

...but Gold Key's UFO Flying Saucers / UFOs and Outer Space managed an impressive 25-issue run!

The series combined stories using documented UFO sightings with features based on reasonable speculation and tales that were flights of sheer fantasy,

Written by Leo Dorfman and illustrated by Luis Dominguez, this short from  UFO Flying Saucers #1 (1968) falls into the "reasonable speculation" category...albeit with aliens who look right out of a Golden Age pulp magazine!

BTW, Gold Key's former publishing partner Dell, had their own 1960s anthology, Flying Saucers, which began before UFO Flying Saucers, but only managed a five-issue run!

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Flying Saucers from Outer Space
by Major Donald E Keyhoe

Bring Home a Cave Girl This Christmas!

In the 1940s-50s, one of the most popular genres in comics was the "jungle hero", the most famous one of all being Tarzan.
A horde of imitators followed, with some interesting variations, including an entire sub-genre--the "jungle heroine"!
While many had weird names like "Sheena", "Rulah", or "Zoot", one of the best-illustrated was known only as "Cave Girl"!
Rendered by noted "good girl" artist Bob Powell, Cave Girl cut a svelte path thru Africa's villains for four exciting issues!
The Atomic Kommie Comics™ crew has found a home for two of her best covers on shirts, mugs and other stuff in our Heroines™ section.
As a cool retro-styled Christmas gift, she appeals both to guys who enjoy seeing an attractive woman in dynamic action, and gals who like viewing an empowered woman who stands tall and proud in a male-dominated world!
And, you might want to combine one of our collectibles with a spectacular Cave Girl reprint book from Dark Horse Comics!
And, you can check out some of her tales at our fellow RetroBlogs™ HERE and HERE!
So put Cave Girl under the tree or in someone's stocking this Christmas.
But do it quickly, 'cause she won't stay put for long!

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Complete Cave Girl

by Bob Powell

Cover Gallery: STRANGE WORLDS Inside Front Covers featuring "Kenton of the Star Patrol"

Avon Comics often put their "contents page" on the inside front cover...

Issue #3 art by Wally Wood

...with an all-new illustration by the best artist available, instead of clip-art from the stories, as this gallery of the ifcs of Strange Worlds issues featuring Kenton of the Star Patrol shows!
(Note, BTW, that Kenton gets top billing, being the first image on each IFC!)

Issue #4 art by Wally Wood

Issue #5 art by Wally Wood

Issue #6 art by Everett Raymond Kinstler

Marvel, and several other publishers, now use the inside front cover to do a contents or synopsis page, but they usually use existing art from previous stories or from the current issue.

FYI, when stories from Avon Comics were reprinted by IW/Super Comics in the late 1950s-early '60s, the reprints usually left out the ifcs, since the film negatives and photostats for covers weren't stored with "repro" (as it's called by printers) for the interior pages.

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The Future WAS Fantastic!

Comics Collectibles Store!

Design of the Week THE FIRST CHRISTMAS...in 3-D!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!

This week...it's a never-reprinted comic cover from the 1950, which not only offers a tasteful and beautiful painting of the Nativity scene by legendary sci-fi artist Kelly Freas, but also a kool, kitchy element with the fact it's the cover of a 3-D comic!

Available on mugs, buttins, t-shirts, tote bags, literally dozens of kool kollectibles that would make great stocking stuffers!

BTW, you can read the tale behind the cover HERE!

(Make sure you have your 3-D glasses!)