Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Reading Room / Tales Thrice Told STRANGE WORLDS "I Am the Last Man on Earth!"

One thing Stan Lee was really good at was recycling plots (with minor variations)...
...as demonstrated in this first of three tales based on the same premise!
Plotted (and probably scripted) by Stan Lee, this never-reprinted story from Atlas' Strange Worlds #1 (1958) was illustrated by Silver Age mainstay Don Heck.
Yes, it's the "Adam & Eve begin a new Earth in the future/past" tale, which has become something of a cliche in sci-fi/fantasy.
But, it's some of the details that carry-over from one story to another that make this particular variation's multiple versions interesting.
Be here Thursday to see what I mean...
Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Buy...
EXCELSIOR!
Amazing Life of Stan Lee

Paid Link

Monday, May 13, 2024

Monday Madness MYSTICAL TALES "Man Who Saw Too Much!"

Here's one of those stories that make you scratch your head and ask...
..."what were they smoking/drinking/ingesting whan they created this?"
What's the "speed of time"?
How would it alter the composition of a piece of metal never designed to be played as a musical instrument by a human to allow it to be played. much less to transport the player through time?
Perhaps it's just as well we don't know who scripted this weird story!
The Grand Comics Database attributes Ed Winiarski as the sole artist for this never-reprinted story from Atlas' Mystical Tales #1 (1956), but there are clear aspects of long-time Atlas-Marvel artist Werner Roth's style in there as well.
Did he re-draw panels or did he pencil the entire story with Winarski just inking it?
So many questions, so few answers...
Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Order...

Sunday, May 12, 2024

ROGER CORMAN 1926-2024

Roger Corman and Vincent Price

One of the most influential filmmakers from the 1950s onward, Roger was one of the greatest "hyphenates" (writer/director/producer/occasional actor/etc) in history.
He gave career-starting jobs to numerous future cinema icons from Francis Ford Coppola to Pam Grier to James Cameron to Jack Nicholson to Martin Scorsese to Peter Bogdanovitch.
He revived the slowing careers of numerous 1920s-1950s performers, and made some of them (like Vincent Price and Joan Crawford) pop culture icons!
Plus, Corman brought numerous foreign movies to America that no other US studio wanted to invest in, like Fantastic Planet, The Tin Drum, and Cries and Whispers.

Roger's works are a major part of the entertainment side of my life...and always will be.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go rewatch Gas-s-s-Or-It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It, Corman's final film for AIP!
You'd be surprised how timely it still is!
Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Buy...

How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime
(Roger Corman's Autobiography)

Saturday, May 11, 2024

Space Hero Saturdays FLASH GORDON "Monster Men of Tropica!"

Probably the Last Artist You'd Think of Illustrating Flash and Dale on Mongo...

...would be sword and sorcery/gothic fantasy artist Jeffrey Catherine Jones!


But, Jones was a serious Alex Raymond/Flash Gordon fan, so this work in Charlton's Flash Gordon #13 (1969), while a bit rough, showed enormous love and enthusiasm for the character.
And Charlton's notoriously-bad printing didn't help showcase Jones' art!
Written by Bill Pearson. Penciled and inked by Jeff Jones (as they were known then).
Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Order...

Friday, May 10, 2024

Friday Fun ABBOTT & COSTELLO "Money-Mad"

We've covered the Golden Age comic book adventures of the multi-media superstars HERE, HERE, and HERE...

...now we continue with Lou in a situation which all of us can sympathize with!



Though the scripter is unknown, the art for this tale from St John's Abbott & Costello Comics #8 (1949) is clearly by the team of Lily Renee and and her husband, Erik Peters.
It was reprinted once, in 1955, and hasn't been seen since!
We felt almost 75 years was too long a period to keep this from Lily Renee admirers, Abbott and Costello fans, comic book afficionados, and any combination of them!
Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Buy...