Wednesday Worlds of Wonder MERCHANTS OF VENUS Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

Charming, rougish (yet honest) tour guide Audree Walthers is engaged by a rich couple to visit (hopefully) untouched Heechee archeological sites on Venus, hoping to find artifacts.

(The Heechee were the inhabitants of the planet, but none are currently known to be alive, so their cities and habitats are considered "abandoned" and legally-salvageble!)

Things take an unexpected turn when Audree discovers his clients are, in fact, totally-broke and hope to cash in on Heechee artifacts he'll lead them to.
But would that mean cutting him out of their contracted profit-sharing deal...

...one way or another?

Sadly, DC's Graphic Novel Series ended before a sequel, based on Frederik Pohl's then-ongoing Heechee series, could be developed!

If you haven't read it, you should...because the Heechee aren't gone!

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Gateway Trip

Tales and Vignettes of the Heechee

by Frederik Pohl

(which reprints Merchants of Venus and adds nine new short stories all illustrated by the legendary Frank Kelly Freas!)

Tales Twice Told WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE "Jonah"

In 1950s science fiction, the technology available in the year 2000 was truly amazing...

...it's a pity we didn't really have this stuff when the Millennium came about!

When this story was published in Key's Weird Tales of the Future #6 (1953), we really thought we'd have moving sidewalks, flying cars, interplanetary travel, and shrinking rays by 2000!

The writer is unknown, but the artist is Tony Mortellaro.

Be here Thursday, when we show how this story was retold in 1971!

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Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3

Monday Madness THIS MAGAZINE IS CRAZY "Russians are Stealing Our Comics!"

Russians using pop culture to spread disinformation is nothing new...

...as this never-reprinted feature from Charlton's MAD clone This Magazine is Crazy V4N8 (1959) by an unknown writer and artist (or writer/artist) demonstrates!

The really sad thing is how few of these strips survive to this day!

Nancy, Dennis the Menace, and Beetle Bailey are still being published.

Peanuts is in reprints only, with no new strips since creator Charles Schultz retired.

Abernathy and They'll Do It Every Time are gone and pretty much forgotten.

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Sincerest Form of Parody

Holiday Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Easter Sunday"

Our final Walt (Pogo) Kelly post for Easter...

...is a never-reprinted piece from Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #220 (1949).

We hope you've enjoyed our presentation of these long-lost pieces by one of the field's masters.

Now go eat a chocolate bunny and some marshmallow chicks!

Space Secret Agent Saturdays MYSTERY IN SPACE "Secret of the Double Agent"

It was 1965, and secret agents were everywhere...

...even DC's Mystery in Space, whose 100th issue, introed a cover-featured "space spy" series!

(With a cover by Dick Dillin and Sheldon Moldoff!)

Written by Dave Wood, illustrated by Gil Kane, and guest-starring a Sean Connery-lookalike, an ongoing Interplanetary Investigations series seemed like a sure bet, but it disappeared after only one more appearance two issues later!
(BTW, neither of them have been reprinted!)

Instead, a new character, Ultra: the Multi-Alien took over the book until cancellation with #110!

Pity, since the Interplanetary Investigations strip showed such promise.

Considering DC had the rights to James Bond (which is why there were no comic adaptations of any of the 007 flicks after Dr No, which didn't do well due to being released months before the movie came out), could you imagine what Gil Kane could've done illustrating any of the other pre-Roger Moore Bond movies?
Sadly, we'll never know.
Two notes:
1) The comic rights to 007 eventually lapsed and Marvel did two movie adaptations in the 1980s, For Your Eyes only and Octopussy.
Neither were big sellers.
2) DC released Doctor No as part of the Showcase tryout comic as shown HERE.)

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Mystery in Space

Pulp Fiction Library

(which contains only a couple of stories from this previously-listed volume)