See Psychedelic Sharks & The FIRST Aquatic Super-Hero...THE SHARK!

Before Shark Week Begins,

You gotta see this to believe it!

(If only these had been done as black-lite posters!)

Read the whole tale, based on the TV series Adventures in Paradise, at our "brother" RetroBlog, Secret Sanctum of Captain Video, HERE, HERE, and HERE!
Plus...
Before Aquaman!

Before Prince Namor; the Sub-Mariner!

There Was...

The son of Neptune (who may or may not be the Roman god), The Shark once lived in an undersea kingdom, but set out to fight all crime committed at sea by anyone; human, sea-dweller, or extraterrestrial alien!

He's called "Shark" because sharks often accompany him...and eat his enemies!
The character is also a skilled scientist, who creates and uses technology far beyond then-current human science! 

• His super-powers include...
• The ability to breathe underwater
• Superhuman strength and near-invulnerability (which he loses on land unless he's in physical contact with a magic knife given him by his father)
• Mental control of sea life!
• Ability to create creatures made of water, which he can direct mentally!
  

With a strip appearing in both Amazing-Man Comics and Stars and Stripes Comics, The Shark lasted until Centaur Publishing (which also published pulp magazines) gave up comics. 

You can read six of his tales (including his premiere) at another of our "brother" RetroBlogs, Hero Histories, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE!

Space Force Saturdays ROCKY JONES: SPACE RANGER "Space Infantry"

With the school year over and kids off to summer vacation...

...lets look at the never-revealed school days of the newest space hero in our line up, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger!

Sneaky little SoB, ain't he?

Wonder if he had a classmate named James Tiberius Kirk?
BTW, the character's Space Academy days were never shown on TV.
The series, set in 2054, started with him already an officer!

Scripter of this never-reprinted, totally-original tale from Charlton's Space Adventures #15 (1955) is unknown, but the art is by Ted Galindo, a journeyman artist who did work for Charlton, Prize, and Gold Key from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s.

Oddly, Charlton didn't give Rocky Jones his own title, as most publishers did with licensed characters, but inserted him into the already-established Space Adventures comic for four issues (and gave him the cover each issue).

The tv series itself was a weekly filmed series, not a live videotaped daily series like Captain Video or Tom Corbett: Space Cadet, giving it a slightly "slicker" look (and better special effects) than most of the competitors.

It was syndicated, and ran for 39 episodes over two seasons.

All of the eps are three-part stories and were re-edited into feature-length films which were released to syndication in the 1960s, after the series had ended its' run.

Almost all are available on DVD and two of them, Crash of the Moons and Manhunt in Space, were roasted on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Rocky Jones will return in the near future...

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Rocky Jones: Space Ranger Collection

Featuring Six Three-Episode Compilation Movies

(That's almost half the TV series in one set!)

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Friday Fun FROM HERE TO INSANITY "Build It Yourself"

In the pre-Ikea era, assembling/building your own furniture successfully was a rarity...

...as writer/artist Jack Kirby points out!

This never-reprinted tale from Charlton's From Here to Insanity V1N11 (1955) spoofs the do-it-yourself mania that spread across post-war America thanks to magazines like Popular Mechanics and Mechanix Illustrated.

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Sincerest Form of Parody
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Reading Room WORLD OF FANTASY "Beware the Future!"

Does a never-reprinted tale from the 1950s offer a clue as to how Don (the Con) Trump became President?

And can it happen...again?

Judge for yourself...

This Stan Lee-plotted, Larry Lieber-scripted, Al Williamson-illustrated tale from Atlas' World of Fantasy #16 (1959) points out a uniquely-human foible...if we "know" things will be OK, we don't see the need to take action ourselves to make sure they do turn out OK...and things can go horribly-wrong as a result!

In 2016, many Bernie Saunders supporters, POed because Bernie wasn't nominated as the Democratic candidate figured they'd protest by staying home and not voting in the general election, believing there were still enough Dems and intelligent Repugs and Independents voting to assure Trump wouldn't get into the White House!

Didn't quite work out, did it?

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Al Williamson Adventures

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder UNKNOWN WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION "Day of the Triffids" Parts 4 and 5

When Last We Left an Earth Filled with Vicious Mobile Plants...

First American Paperback Edition.
Normally, I'd explain the plot, but the comic itself will do so in a couple of pages...

(Note: though Rico Rival is credited as the sole artist, this splash page was laid out by the previous chapter's penciler, Ross Andru.)

To Be Concluded
NEXT WEDNESDAY!
Most readers are familiar with the 1963 movie, so this accurate, though condensed, version of the actual novel contains elements that you might not expect.
(Which is all the more reason to not miss the finale next week!)
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Night of the Triffids
Sequel novel by Simon Clark
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