Saturday, September 21, 2024

Space Hero Saturdays COSMIC CARSON "Iako's Attack!"

This totally-inaccurate cover from Fox's Science Comics #4 (1940) by Joe Simon...

...featuring characters who never appear in the strip (except for the hero) marks Cosmic Carson's only cover appearance ever!
Ah, but it's who's on the inside that counts...and for this issue, it's Jack (King) Kirby, who penciled and inked this story!
("Michel Griffith" was a Fox Comics pen-name that anybody who wrote or drew this strip used!)








Though this Cosmic Carson tale from Fox's Science Comics #4 (1940) ends on a cliffhanger, the story in the next issue neither resolves nor even mentions it, or the current plotline and characters!
Not surprising, since Kirby had been moved to other strips in the next month's production cycle.
Cosmic Carson, in and of itself, was one of the worst, most inconsistent, poorly-plotted and illustrated strips (with this one exception) in the history of comic books.
(And that's saying a lot!)
So enjoy this appearance, since it's the only one Cosmic Carson will make in any RetroBlog!

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Friday, September 20, 2024

Friday Fascist Fun UNQUOTABLE TRUMP "Trump SuspenStories"

From Now Until Election Day, We'll Be Presenting Examples of How Creatives See Don da Con...
With his current demonizing of legal immigrants...who just happen to be Black, Don da Con returns to his, dare I say, roots!
Interesting to note the Klan leader in the original Wally Wood-illustrated cover from EC's Shock SuspenStories #6 (1952-53)...
...had a red hood!
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by R. Sikoryak
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Thursday, September 19, 2024

Reading Room OUTER SPACE "Repair Stop"

Today's comics creators have lost the ability to tell a straightforward story...
...in a short story format!
It wasn't always this way....
Written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Steve Ditko, this efficent, effective tale from Charlton's Outer Space #18 (1958) sets up the minimal plot, conveys multiple points of view, and delivers a satisfying ending...all within four pages!
If it was done today, it'd be a book-length tale!
You'll note Ditko's heavy use of pen, rather than brush for inking, resulting in a less-lush, less organic "feel" and a lot more cross-hatching instead of feathering than his work only a year later, when he was transitioning from Charlton over to Atlas/Marvel.
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Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder FLYING SAUCERS "Spawn of Terror"

Was Erich Von Däniken (Chariots of the Gods) the first to tie flying saucers to ancient civilizations?
Nope!
The idea of aliens visiting us in ancient times had been popular for as long as fantasy and science fiction have been around.
Next Wednesday:
First Contact!
Inspired by the flying saucer craze of the late 1940s-early 1950s, this 1950 Wally Wood-illustrated book was one of many one-shot titles from Avon Comics during their short, but prolific existence.
Another one-shot (though it probably wasn't intended to be such), was Fawcett's Vic Torry and His Flying Saucer (1950).
Flying saucers also popped-up in almost every already-running comic book from funny animals to mysteries.
They even appeared in Charlton's Cowboy Western Comics, which changed it's name for a year to Space Western Comics to play up the connection!
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and
Volume Two
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Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Reading Room JUNGLE JIM "Wizard of Dark Mountain"

When Jungle Jim returned to comic books in the 1960s in new stories...
...the usually "realistic" high adventure strip jumped head-first into all-out sci-fi/fantasy!
Written and laid-out by Bhob Stewart, pencilled by Steve Ditko, and inked by Wally Wood. this cover-featured story from Charlton's Jungle Jim #22 (1969) was prepared for the character's previous publisher, King Comics, but ended up at Charlton when King Features Syndicate dropped in-house comic book publishing.
You can read Bhob's account of how this story was produced HERE.
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