Space Hero Saturdays BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY "...on the Moon of Madness!"

Buck's BACK!

Due to the launch of the Buck Rogers TV series in 1979, the newspaper strip (cancelled in 1967) was revived.

You'll note that it didn't follow the TV show's concepts, characters, designs, or plots, choosing to reboot/update with a more traditional "space opera" style with occasional nods to the original strip!

Written by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Gray Morrow, this never-reprinted tale from Heavy Metal V3N5 (1979) appeared just before the strip debuted in newspapers in September '79.

It's believed to be a "proof of concept/pilot" tale, since there were differences (mostly in costume and ship designs) in the newspaper strip itself.
The strip continued until 1983, with Cary Bates replacing Lawrence and several artists including Gil Kane and Neal Adams doing brief fill-ins until Jack Sparling took over the art for the remainder of the run.

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Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

the Gray Morrow Years

Frigid Friday Fun PLANET COMICS "Norge Benson is Plummeting to Pluto!"

Cosmo Corrigan was apparently caught in a black hole...

...and immediately replaced in Planet Comics (like the very next issue) by this guy, who encountered a whole different group of Plutonians!

Illustrated by Al Walker, who spent his entire comics career at Fiction House, this debut tale from Planet Comics #12 (1941) presents a somewhat less snarky (though no less humorous) version of the "Earthman on Pluto" concept shown in Cosmo Corrigan., mixing alien versions of both Arctic and Antarctic animals with total disregard to anything even remotely resembling exobiology (or continuity)!

But it is fun, and that's all that matters!

And it managed to survive for 19 more issues, some of which you'll see here over the remaining winter months...

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Planet Comics

Volume 3

Reprinting issues 9-12

Reading Room STRANGE TALES "I Am the Abominable Snowman!"

We presented tales from pre-Marvel Atlas Comics of catching and finding "Abominable SnowMen" HERE and HERE!

So this never-reprinted Atlas Comics' story's title seems almost...inevitable!

This story from Atlas' Strange Tales #72 (1959) is the weakest of the three "Snowman" tales, both in terms of writing (by an unknown scripter) and art (by journeyman Paul Reinman).

The plot's too convoluted and illogical.
The art tells the story competently, but not dynamically.
And it's obvious Reinman was rushed while inking it, making it hard to make out details.

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Atlas-Era Marvel MasterWorks

Strange Tales

Volume 6

(The final volume, reprinting issues 49-57)

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder NIOURK Chapter 8: Niourk

We Have Already Seen...

...after numerous harrowing experiences, and gaining an intelligent bear as a traveling companion, the Black Child (as he calls himself) arrives at his destination...

Are these robots and devices merely running automatically?

Or is there an intelligence (organic or mechanical) guiding them?

You'll have to be here

NEXT WEDNESDAY

to find out!

Adapted by writer/artist Olivier Vatine from the novel by Stefan Wul, Niourk is a superb graphic novel deserving of a place on your bookshelf!
Note: the original prose novel is not available in English, only French!

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Niourk
the Graphic Novel

Reading Room STRANGE WORLDS "I Captured the Abominable Snowman!"

Last month, we presented Jack Kirby's epic tale about the Abominable Snowman HERE...

Now let's see a rather intimate story of one man's obsession with Yeti, illustrated by Steve Ditko!

Like the Jack Kirby-illustrated Abominable SnowMan story, no one (including Marvel) is certain who scripted this tale from Atlas' Strange Worlds #1 (1958).
It ain't Stan Lee, because almost everything he scripted featured his name/signature on the splash panel along with the artists' names!

And, you'll note that neither tale shows the "real" Yeti, just people or other creatures mistaken for it!
There's a third variation on this story, by a different artist, which we'll present on Thursday!

BTW, this was the second comic with the Strange Worlds title.

The first one was published by Avon Comics from 1950 to 1955.

This series ran for five issues in 1958-59.

Since then there have been several one-shots with the title from various publishers, usually reprinting stories from the Avon series.

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Marvel Masters of Suspense Omnibus
Volume 1

Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
(which reprints this story)