Reading Room REALITY "Endless Chain!"

Long before the internet and sites like DeviantArt, up-and-coming artists were published in fanzines...

...to get their work in front of an audience, receive feedback, and make a few bucks!

Originally-drawn for Web of Horror, this early tale by Frank Brunner ended up in the first issue of Reality, a fanzine published in 1970 by 15-year old Robert Gerson.

When Web died after only three issues, a number of writers and artists had no market for their material without losing all the rights to it, so, in order to get it published to make a few bucks for their labor (and retain the copyrights), they let young entrepreneurs use the stories in their fanzines, which were sold at conventions and in used book stores and head shops alongside underground comics.

(There were no comic book shops until the late 1970s.)
NOTE: This story has never been reprinted...anywhere!

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Monday Mars Madness: When the Co-Creator of Superman Helped Mars Invade Earth...TWICE!

The writer who co-created the most famous alien in pop culture...

...tried twice in the 1950s to introduce ongoing Martian superheroes to comics (and potentially other media)!
First up was Lars of Mars!

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

And the aliens were real aliens, including the TV show's hero who was a heroic Martian secret agent pretending to be an American actor playing a heroic Martian superhero?
That was the "meta-before there-was-meta" premise of the 1951 short-lived (two issue) series, Lars of Mars.
During his run, Lars battled other aliens, Commies, and crooks, while protecting his "secret identity" from his nosy producer (who bore a disturbing resemblance to Lois Lane).
That's not suprising since the writer was also the editor of the Ziff-Davis comics line...Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman!
Despite first-rate art by Murphy Anderson (who would later become a major Superman illustrator in the 1970s) the premise didn't sell.
So Siegel tried again the next year, adding a couple of twists to the concept!

Tarka, the Crusader from Mars, was the first Martian to commit murder in over half a century.
(It was actually manslaughter since it was an accidental killing while fighting with another man over a woman.)
Instead of being imprisoned, he was sent to Earth, where he (and the woman he was fighting for) were given cover identities as a businessman and his secretary.
The pair were given assignments by the Martian government with the caveat that if they failed, the Earth (with them still on it) would be obliterated rather than allow a threat they couldn't stop to spread to other worlds!

You can read the entire Lars of Mars series...including a never-reprinted conclusion (in 3-D, no less) by clicking HERE!
You can read the entire Crusader from Mars series by clicking HERE!

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featuring the covers of both issues of Lars of Mars!

Happy Easter!

Art by the legendary Walt Kelly

Time for our annual Feast of the Marshmallow Peeps and the Devouring of the Chocolate Bunnies (always start with the ears)!

Our thanks to all of you who ordered goodies from Atomic Kommie Comics™ line of retro-design collectibles in our Exciting Easter section!

Space Force Saturdays SPACE SQUADRON "Target Moon"

Once more, we join the all-American heroes (and alien allies) of...

...showing life in the early 21st Century as seen from the mid-20th Century!

1) Why wasn't the creature vaporized?

2) If it isn't dead after a direct hit by an atomic bomb, how do we know it won't reproduce before it dies?

3) What about radiation?

At the very least, the Space Squadron should all be sterile, if not dying of radiation poisoning!

Hope Blast isn't counting on grandchildren in his future!

4) Considering, in this future, we've populated the Solar System (as well as other systems), I can't believe we don't have one (or more) moonbases already in operation!

Are they in danger from radiation?

The author of this amazingly scientifically-illiterate tale from Atlas' Space Squadron #4 (1951) is unknown, but we do know the penciler is Werner Roth!

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Friday Fun / Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Buddy Bunny's Problem"

Here's a kool short story by Walt (Pogo) Kelly...

...about the Easter Bunny bringing his son into the family business!

This story from Dell's Four Color Comics #103: Easter with Mother Goose (1946) was written and illustrated by Walt Kelly, whose signature series Pogo wouldn't debut for another three years.
Trivia:
While Pogo as a stand-alone series began in 1949, various characters including Pogo himself and Albert the Alligator had appeared as supporting characters in other Walt Kelly-written and drawn strips since 1941.

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