Friday Fun WILD "Frozen North"

A never-reprinted story from one of Atlas Comics' many MAD clones...

...is our snowbound story for today, as a heat wave continues to cover most of America!

Did you catch the cameo by the Golden Age Human Torch on page 3 panel 3, asking if this book was Young Men Comics (where he was appearing in 1954)?

This tale from Wild! #1 (1954) was illustrated by Sol Brodsky, who, while better-known to aficionados as Atlas/Marvel's production manager than as an artist, actually had over 1,000 stories and covers to his credit!

(He inked Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four #3 and #4 as well as Kirby's iconic cover for Avengers #16!)

Sadly, little of the material from Atlas' four humor titles from the 1950s has been reprinted, despite the fact that some of their "big names" like Bill Everett, Joe Maneely, Gene Colan, and Russ Heath all contributed stories that went far afield from their usual "realistic" styles...with amazing results!

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Sincerest Form of Parody

Best 1950s MAD-Inspired Satirical Comics

Reading Room TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED / FROM BEYOND THE UNKNOWN "Cartoon That Came to Life"

Here's an off-beat tale...

Art by Nick Cardy

...that made the cover both times it was published!

Art by Bill Ely

...though I have to admit the original cover (above) is a bit dull compared to the reprint's cover (top)

Written by Otto Binder and illustrated by Bill Ely, it's a nicely-done story with one obvious question?

Why is the Martian called a "dragon-man"?

His wings are feathered and look more like a bird's...or even an angel's!

The new art for the cover of the reprint gives him scales and a beak so it's a little more like a dragon, but still...

Was the original concept much more lizard/dragon-looking, but the Comics Code Authority forced DC to "tone it down" to the rather innocuous-looking alien?

Trivia: This story is one of the few to be the cover feature both for its' original publication (Tales of the Unexpected #1 [1956]) and the reprint (From Beyond the Unknown #24 [1970])

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Mysteries in Space

The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics

Best of Wednesday Worlds of Wonder LOST WORLD "Enter Hunt Bowman"

The Dreaded Deadline Doom has ensnared us...

...but we don't want to deprive you of Lost World, so here's a re-re-presentation of the premiere adventure!

Before KillRaven!

Before Kamandi!

There was...Hunt Bowman, the first post-apocalyptic series hero in comics!

This tale from Fiction House's Planet Comics #21 (1942) written by "Thorncliffe Herrick" (a Fiction House pen-name) and illustrated by Rudy Palais pretty efficiently introduces the main characters and concepts behind the series, which lasted from this issue to #70 in 1953!

The strip evolves over its' run, so be prepared for some surprises to go along with the cliches!

BTW, we mentioned KillRaven in our opening.

Roy Thomas' initial concept for Marvel's 1970s War of the Worlds sequel (which evolved into KillRaven) was inspired by this strip along with H G Wells' novel and Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter and Carson of Venus series!

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Roy Thomas Presents

Planet Comics

Volume 6

(which includes this story and other kool space-oriented stuff)

Reading Room CAPTAIN SCIENCE COMICS "Ghosts from the Underworld"

In the scientific world of the future, there's no place for unexplainable things like ghosts...

...or is there?

So there was a plausible (albeit far-fetched) explanation for the "ghosts"!

This one-shot tale from Youthful's Captain Science #3 (1951) was illustrated by Don Perlin at the beginning of his long (45+ years) comics career.

In fact, it was his first published work!

Don continued working steadily (writing/penciling/inking/editing/art directing) until the mid-1990s, when he went into semi-retirement.

He still does an occasional cover or spot illustration as well as private commissions.

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Ghosts

Monday Mars Madness MAN FROM S.R.A.M. "Madhouse in Hollywood!"

In the Silver Age, comics mixed genres with wild abandon...

...as this tale, which combines no less than three of them demonstrates, albeit a bit ham-handedly!

When the protaganist has to spend half the story explaining his name, you know the writer's really desperate.

Which is surprising since the guy who penned this tale is Otto Binder, a prolific sci-fi writer who not only scripted classic Superman and Golden Age Captain Marvel stories (including The Monster Society of Evil serial!), but also wrote the first Marvel Comics novel, The Avengers Versus the Earth-Wrecker!

But this never-reprinted, Carl Pfeufer-illustrated tale from Harvey's Jigsaw #2 (1966) is so incredibly-silly that it's surprising Binder was so over-the-top!

Personally, I suspect editor Joe Simon rewrote the story, inserting the SRAM = MARS explanation on practically every page.

Note: Though identified as "Jigsaw" in the indicia, the book's working title was apparently "Big Hero Adventures", which appears as a sub-title on both issues' covers and title pages as well as on the original art for the first issue.

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Hero-a-Go-Go

Campy Comic Books, Crimefighters, and Culture of the Swinging Sixties