Friday Fun SPACE MOUSE "Flying Saucers"

It was the 1950s, and this was a sci-fi (albeit funny animal) strip...

 ...so it was inevitable they'd do at least one tale about...FLYING SAUCERS!

Of course, if they hauled the suitcase/vehicle to the newspaper office, the editor might have believed them...
Writer/artist Frank Carin told this never-reprinted tale of space, saucers...and suitcases in Avon's Space Mouse #1 (1953)!
And you gotta admit, he had a way of making such an implausible concept as "suitcase/flying cars" work, even if the script reads like a "best of vaudeville" compilation!
And no, I'm not explaing what "vaudeville" was!
If you're not old enough to remember (and I am), Google it!

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Golden Treasury of
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Reading Room LARS OF MARS "Villain or Hero?"

What if 1950s sci-fi shows like Captain Video or Space Patrol were real?

Or if the "aliens" shown on the screen were real aliens?

As you've just read, that was the premise of the short-lived (two issues) 1951 Ziff-Davis series Lars of Mars!

Created by Jerry (Superman) Siegel and Murphy (Buck Rogers) Anderson, this story from the first issue of his own title (which was #10!) established the somewhat-silly premise.

During his run, Superm...ahem Lars battled Commies, crooks, and other aliens while protecting his "secret identity" from Lo...ahem June, his nosy producer.
(But then what would you expect from the guy who co-created Superman? )

You'll be seeing all of Lars' stories here over the next few months.

Watch for them!

Trivia:

The cover paintings for both issues of Lars of Mars were painted by Allen Anderson, who was not related to interior artist Murphy Anderson!

Here's a "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon"-style fact (done in four degrees)...

1) Ziff-Davis also published a short-lived adaptation of an actual sci-fi tv series, Space Patrol, illustrated by Bernie Krigstein.

2) Krigstein illustrated the first issue of another Ziff-Davis sci-fi series: Space Busters!

3) Bernie was replaced on interior art for the second (and final) issue of Space Busters by...Murphy Anderson!

4) Allen Anderson did the painted cover for the Space Busters issue illustrated by Murphy! (Norm Saunders had painted the first issue's cover!)
Truth is stranger than fiction!

Visit our

MARTIANS! MARTIANS! MARTIANS!

Comic Collectibles Shop

featuring the covers of both issues of Lars of Mars!

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder MARVEL PREMIERE "Seeker 3000!" Part 1

We're going from the past on other worlds...

...to the future on Earth and other worlds...and a starship exploring the Final Frontier!

To be Concluded
NEXT WEDNESDAY!

Writer Doug Moench and artist Tom Sutton had some kool ideas for this project, which they hoped would go to series.

Yes, there are elements of Star Trek.

But remember, Star Trek took elements from previous sci-fi projects like Voyage of the Space Beagle, Space Patrol, and Forbidden Planet and did something different with the concepts!

Come back next week and see where it goes...

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Marvel Premiere #41
SEEKER 3000!
(the first appearance of the series)

Public Service Ad EASY WAY TO A TUFF SURFBOARD! / IS THIS STORY ABOUT YOUR BOYFRIEND?

The legendary Frank Frazetta did a number of sadly, now-forgotten, pieces...

...like this public service anti-smoking ad that ran through the b/w Warren Magazines line from 1964 to 1971 or so.

Note the main aspect is the financial cost to the smoker, not the physical cost!

Publisher Jim Warren knew how to repurpose material to get additional free use out of it.

Just by changing the title, he found a re-use for this male bonding experience in his short-lived female-oriented Teen Love Stories magazine!

Fascinating, eh?

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Li'l Abner: the Frazetta Years Vol 1

Monday Madness FAIRY TALES "Midas"

Ziff-Davis' short-lived Fairy Tales comic did straightforward adaptations of classic stories...

...without too much embellishment!

Both the writer and artist of this effective re-telling of the classic story from Fairy Tales #10 (1951) are unknown.
(And despite the issue number, this was the first issue of the book's too-short run!)

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Golden Treasury of
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