Monday, January 5, 2026

Monday Mecha Madness SPACE ADVENTURES "Imitation People" Part 1

Do Robots/Androids Have Souls?
Can they feel "real" (not programmed) emotions?
What does this Don (the Con) Trump wannabe have in mind?
This Joe Gill-scripted, Jim Aparo-illustrated, never-reprinted story from Charlton's Space Adventures V2N4 (1968) will be concluded ...tomorrow!
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Charlton Arrow #4
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Sunday, January 4, 2026

Reading Room OPERATION: PERIL "Time Travelers in 'Date with Danger' "

Sci-fi of the 1950s wasn't limited to space opera...
...as this series from the AGC adventure anthology comic Operation: Peril demonstrates!
Operation: Peril was an interesting multi-genre anthology featuring on-going strips about time travel (as seen above), a hard-boiled private eye (Danny Danger), and high adventure in the Pacific (Typhoon Tyler), as well as a historicalshort story.
While the other series featured stand-alone stories, Time Travelers presented a couple of on-going plotlines, as you'll see in future posts.
Though Time Travelers didn't appear on the first few covers, by issue #4, they took over the cover spot until their final appearance in #12, after which the book changed focus and became a war comic.
This premiere tale from Operation: Peril #1 (1950) was written by the book's Editor, Richard Hughes and illustrated by Ken Bald.
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Saturday, January 3, 2026

Space Hero Saturdays SPACE MOUSE "Beauty Contest!"

In the 1950s, both funny animals and sci-fi were popular comics genres...
...so, it was inevitable that someone would combine the two!
Though it is the cover-featured story in Avon's Space Mouse #1 (1954), "Beauty Contest", written and illutrated by Frank Cairn, is not the origin of the Rocketing Rodent.
That tale, "Atomic Attack", comes later in the book...and we've already presented it in Space Hero Saturdays, HERE.
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(covering the studio where writer/artist Frank Carin got his start)

Friday, January 2, 2026

Friday Fun YAK YAK "TV for All!"

Those of you who grew up with a smart phone in your hand...
...will probably not understand a single thing (either in terms of technology or pop culture) in this feature about living in a household with only one screen and a limited selection of programming!
Ironically, cross-genre programming has become something of a staple in our media-dominated world!
Dell gave MAD mainstay Jack Davis his own title, to do with as he pleased.
The series, Yak Yak (subtitled "A Pathology of Humor") only ran two issues, but they were pure Davis, who wrote, penciled, inked, and colored the whole project as well as providing painted covers for both issues!
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Thursday, January 1, 2026

Holiday Reading Room SPACE ADVENTURES "Mummers from Mercury"

 73 years ago, the world almost ended on New Year's Day...

...but it was saved by the participants of the annual Mummers Parade!
This never-reprinted story from Charlton's Space Adventures #1 (1953) was illustrated by Albert Tyler and Dick Giordano.
The writer (who was probably from Philadelphia) is unknown.
The Mummers Parade is usually held every New Years Day in Philadelphia.
Mummers tradition dates back to 400 BC and the Roman Festival of Saturnalias where Latin laborers marched in masks throughout the day of satire and gift exchange.
This included Celtic variations of “trick-or-treat” and Druidic noise-making to drive away demons for the new year.
Reports of rowdy groups “parading” on New Years day in Philadelphia date back before the revolution.
Prizes were offered by merchants beginning in the late 1800s.
January 1, 1901 was the first “official” parade offered about $1,725 in prize money from the city.
January 1, 2021 was the 120th Anniversary of the event, but, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was cancelled.