Reading Room ALARMING TALES Behind the Scenes of "Half-Man, Half-What?"

Here's yesterday's tale...

...but from the original Matt Baker/Al Williamson art!

Note the areas "whited out", probably at the request of the Comics Code Authority!

BTW, note that in the story, Dr Talbot's right side is altered, but on the cover, his left side is affected!

Let's look closely at that final panel...

Dr Talbot's right side has been totally-whited out.

Was it still metallic?

And his face originally wasn't happy!

Did the original ending show him at the beginning of the process, wondering if it would succeed, and leaving the door open for a sequel if it didn't?

Was the Comics Code Authority responsible for the odd changes?

We'll never know...

Reading Room ALARMING TALES "Half-Man, Half-What?"

"Scientists tampering with things Man should not meddle in" is an old cliche...

Art by John Severin

...given a new look by a most unusual assortment of artists...at least four, along with the writer...

Art by the Bob Powell Studio

OK.

Let's identify the talents involved in this never-reprinted tale from Harvey's Alarming Tales #5 (1958)...

Cover art by John Severin

Script by Dick Wood.

Opening page (which was actually the lower part of the contents page) by the Bob Powell Studio.

Story pencils by Matt Baker.

Story inks by Al Williamson.

Tomorrow: the entire story (and cover) in original art form, with some revealing alterations and footnotes!

Reading Room UNUSUAL TALES "Man Who Could Paint on Air"

With an intruging cover like this...

...how could I resist running this rarely-seen tale by writer Joe Gill and artist Steve Ditko!

This story of artistic alien assassins and poisonous pigments appeared in Charlton's Unusual Tales #7 (1957) during one of Steve Ditko's most prolfic periods as he freelanced for several companies including Atlas (later Marvel), Charlton, and St John doing a little in every genre, even romance!

Reading Room UNKNOWN WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION "Occupation Force"

A never-reprinted adaptation of a startling short story by Frank (Dune) Herbert...

...from Marvel's short-lived 1970s b/w sci-fi anthology Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction.

Written by Gerry Conway with pencils by George Perez (along with modifications by Rich Buckler) and inks by Klaus Janson, the adaptation from Unknown Worlds' third issue (1975) is extremely-faithful to the original tale, taking a lot of dialogue verbatim from the prose story.

Anti-Valentine's Day Gifts!

Over the past couple of weeks, we've been suggesting Valentine's Day kool kollectibles for those with True Love in their hearts!
But what of those of you who don't look forward to this Day for Lovers?
Don't worry! We haven't left you out!
Today, Atomic Kommie Comics™ offers "Wrong Way Wedding" from the Weddings section of True Love Comics Tales™! on a host of items including greeting cards, mens' and womens' garb, even teddy bears!

Tomorrow...a 1950s horror comics romance classic! (We're NOT kidding!)

Now THIS is a Super Bowl...

Art by Jack Kirby...as if you couldn't tell!

You got your "Super Bowl", we got ours!
I'll pop in and out to catch a little bit of action, and see the commercials, but our "Super Nerd Bowl" is a beer and nacho-fueled marathon of cheesy space sci-fi including Gorath, Wild Wild Planet, Green Slime, Angry Red Planet, and (when we're all good and sloshed)...the 1980 Flash Gordon!
"Ah-ahhhh! Savior of the Universe!"
Hey, it's got a football player as the hero!

Captain Blood...by the creator of Flash Gordon!

How many of you have seen this classic movie poster...

...and knew it was the work of Alex Raymond, of Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, and Secret Agent X-9 fame?

Yep!

Since Captain Blood and Arabella Bishop do not look like Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, it's a reasonable bet that this was done as an advance promo piece before casting, but it was so good, the studio still used it as their half-sheet poster for both the initial release and re-releases!

If you look at the original Flash Gordon strip, you'll see Raymond incorporated a lot of pirate/swashbuckler costume, weapon, and design motifs into Flash's adventures on other worlds!

We hope you've enjoyed our celebration of the new pirate/adventure series Black Sails with earlier pop culture appearances of buccaneers both real and reel.

Be here next week for MORE pop-culture fun!

Reading Room CAPTAIN KIDD "BlackBeard the Pirate"

When you say "pirate", here's one of the guys who immedately springs to mind...

The first page is on the inside front cover, printed in two, not the usual four, colors!

...in this tale of treasure and treachery from Fox's Captain Kidd #24 (1949)

How close is this story to fact?

Judge for yourself HERE.

Notes:

1) Both writer and artist are unknown.

2) Though the issue number is 24, this is actually the first issue of Captain Kidd!

The book was previously-titled Dagar: Desert Hawk, and before that, All-Great Comics.

After only two issues about Kidd and other pirates (including Blackbeard), the book changed title again, this time to My Secret Story!, then, two issues later, finally, Sabu: Elephant Boy!

Be here tomorrow when we'll have some more pirate-themed stuff during our celebration of the new pirate/adventure series Black Sails!

Reading Room "Famous Pirates in History: Captain Kidd"

Next to Blackbeard, the most famous real-life pirate was...

..as you'll see in this never-reprinted tale from Shadow Comics #40 (1944).

Though it's missing its' feature title logo, this was part of an ongoing series called "Famous Pirates in History" that also included Benito DeSoto, John Gow, and Pierre LeGrand.

The Charles Wessell-illustrated strip was used as "filler" in several different titles besides Shadow Comics, including Super-Magician Comics.

(And before you ask, Shadow Comics starred the guy from radio and pulps who "knew what evil lurked in the hearts of men"...)

Be here tomorrow when we'll have some more pirate-themed stuff during our celebration of the new pirate/adventure series Black Sails!