In space, things aren't always as they seem to appear...
...as this never-reprinted tale from Pacific's Alien Worlds #1 (1982) demonstrates not once, but twice...
Admit it.
Writer Bruce Jones and artist Al Williamson fooled you!
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
Monday, June 14, 2021
Monday Mars Madness (JOURNEY INTO) UNKNOWN WORLDS "End of the Earth"
There's a lot of never-reprinted Atlas/Marvel comics out there...
...including almost all of this anthology series!
By not accepting handouts from others, mankind is taught to, once more, be self-sufficient!
Earth will not be a welfare state!
One other point: though the city containing all surviving humans is in Africa, there aren't any non-white people there!
One other point: though the city containing all surviving humans is in Africa, there aren't any non-white people there!
Illustrated by Vernon Henkel, this never-reprinted cover and feature from Atlas' Unknown Worlds #36 (1950) is typical of sci-fi comics of the 1940s-early 1950s (pre-EC Comics' sci-fi line)
BTW, though the book is #36, it's really the first issue!
The previous issues were titled Teen Comics, before that, All-Teen Comics, and before that, All-Winners Comics!
Also note, I called it "Unknown Worlds", even though the cover says "Journey into Unknown Worlds"!
The indicia (which lists the actual title in official records) leaves out the "Journey into...", so that's what we, and indexers, go by.
Sunday, June 13, 2021
Here Come the DARING and DIFFERENT RetroBlog Summer Blogathons...
Our annual summer tradition continues with a twist...PROSE!
Besides Big Little Books, the only books based on superheroes were several reprints (in hardcover) of pulp heroes Doc Savage and The Shadow and one original hardcover novel about Superman based on both the comics and the radio show.
In the 1960s, paperback publishers unleashed reprint series of every pulp superhero/adventurer they could get their hands on!
Doc Savage was joined by The Shadow (with reprints and a series of new novels set present-day), Operator 5, The Spider, The Phantom Detective, G-8 and his Battle Aces, and Captain Future, among others!
DC and Marvel had already been reprinting comics in b/w paperback form.
But Marvel decided to go the next step, joining with Doc Savage's publisher Bantam Books to create two novels, not based on previous comic stories!
DC joined in with a couple of novels, an adaptation of the 1966 Batman feature film and an original novel!
DC joined in with a couple of novels, an adaptation of the 1966 Batman feature film and an original novel!
We'll be re-presenting one of Marvel's titles, Captain America: the Great Gold Steal by Ted White in July!
(If the response is good, we'll run the other 1960s book, Avengers vs the Earth-Wrecker by Otto Binder, next summer!)
August will see Batman vs the Three Villains of Doom by Winston Lyon (William Woolfolk) once more available for fans to read after 55 years!
Note, it's an interesting amalgam of the comic and TV Batman with elements of both!
If that one attracts an audience, the novelization of the '66 Batman movie, Batman vs the Fearsome Foursome will be next!
If that one attracts an audience, the novelization of the '66 Batman movie, Batman vs the Fearsome Foursome will be next!
Both will be re-presented at Hero Histories.
Next week we'll have the exact dates and info on our other, comics-oriented Summer Blogathons
Saturday, June 12, 2021
Space Force Saturdays SPEED CARTER "Kiss of Death"
In the 21st Century, servicemen on furlough still do what they did in the 20th Century...
...except, maybe, for the dagger?
This never-reprinted story of futuristic male/female relations from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #6 (1954) was scripted (as were all Speed Carter tales) by Hank Chapman, and illustrated (as were all Speed Carter tales in #6) by Bob Forgione.
You'll note that Forgione uses original artist Joe Maneely's designs for the Speed Carter universe, which previous artists Mike Sekowsky (#4) and George Tuska (#5) ignored in their issues.
In fact, Forgione tries to match Maneely's rendering style...and does a fair job of it.
It's a shame this was Speed's final issue.
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Friday, June 11, 2021
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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