Reading Room: OUTER SPACE "Planet Which Had Everything--Almost!"

Here's a tale that takes a concept from one of H.G. Wells' novels...

...a concept which was based on real-life events from Earth's history!

Yep, it's the classic ending from War of the Worlds!

Note: The movie version of Wells' First Men in the Moon also incorporates the "germs kill aliens who haven't been exposed to them" concept, but it's not in the original novel!

As to real-life, European settlers inadvertently brought a plague to North America and caused an epidemic that decimated a number of native tribes that had contact with them.

While the writer of this tale from Charlton's Outer Space #1 (1968) is unknown to me, the art is by Charles Nicholas and Vince Alascia.

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Reading Room: SUSPENSE "Raving Maniac"

People blaming pop culture for violence and evil in society is nothing new...

...as seen in this 60-year old short story from Atlas' Suspense #29 (1953)!

Writer/editor Stan Lee is the model for the story's editor.

Though artist Joe Maneely doesn't use Dr Fredric Wertham's likeness for the screaming loon, the character is clearly based on the impression the "good doctor" made on comics industry workers.

This was the final issue of the pre-Comics Code horror title.

When the similarly-named Tales of Suspense debuted a couple of years later, it was a Code-approved science-fiction/fantasy title until the arrival of superheroes Iron Man and Captain America.

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Happy 75th Birthday, Kal-El!

On this date in 1938, the Man of Steel debuted on the newsstands and drugstore racks of America.

Reading Room: SPACE PATROL "Stranded on the Sands of Mars"

Spacehawk wasn't Basil Wolverton's only sci-fi comic series...

...he also created and produced this strip, which was the first of numerous unrelated series in various media to use the title "Space Patrol", including three different TV series!

The multi-talented Basil Wolverton wrote, illustrated, lettered, and probably colored, this wild tale from Amazing Mystery Funnies #23 (1940).
I'd love to see someone animate these classics of surreal storytelling.

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Reading Room: "Prison Planet"

One of the oldest plots in fiction is "hero fakes going bad"...

...so why not try to "freshen it" by transposing the concept to outer space?

Both the writer and artist(s) for this one-off tale from Ziff-Davis' Crusader from Mars #2 (1952) are unknown.
Neither Jon Barrett nor this version of Space Police ever re-appeared.

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