Reading Room: CAPTAIN SCIENCE "Science vs Sorcery"

Comic book space adventurers were a dime-a-dozen in the 1950s...

...but none had better art than Captain Science!

Wow, a story where Arabs are actually good guys!

Wally Wood and Joe Orlando did the art for this tale from Youthful's Captain Science #5 (1951), and you can tell they were having the time of their lives, as they cut loose with some of the wildest stuff ever to grace sci-fi comic books.

Unlike the earlier Captain Science stories, which have never been reprinted, these Orlando/Wood stories have been re-published all over the place, but they're still well-worth seeing again!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3
Paid Link

Reading Room BLACK CAT MYSTIC "MysteryVision"

Here's a tale that could've inspired the movie They Live! as well as several Twilight Zone eps...

...plus it has a rather unique aspect we'll explain at the conclusion...

"We take our leave of Herman Scudder, who discovered that "reading" people can be as easy as reading an eye-chart...in the Twilight Zone..."

(Sorry, instinctively channeled Rod Serling for a moment...)

Pencils and inks for this never-reprinted story from Harvey's Black Cat Mystic #57 (1956) are by Jack Kirby, who rarely inked his own work since editors felt his time was better-spent penciling at a rate of up to four pages per day!

(Yes, I said per day!)

Probably written by either Kirby himself ,or partner Joe Simon.

Reading Room RACE FOR THE MOON "Turmoil in the Heavens"

Here's a weird one-page tale...

...produced by an unknown writer and artist for Harvey's Race for the Moon #2 (1958).

Beyond the obvious questions of...

How do we know what life-forms lived on Polis?

How do we know it was called "Polis"?

...we are compelled to ask...

Why doesn't the chart in Panel 2 make any sense?

Why, in Panel 5, does Jupiter look like a comet hurtling towards Polis, when Polis was hurtling towards Jupiter?

We will never know the answers to those mysteries...

Reading Room JET POWERS "Metal Monsters"

After two tales with aliens, mad scientists, and no sign of Jet's arch-enemy...

...we come to the final tale in the issue, and...well, I think you can guess who...

Oddly, the previously green-skinned Mr Sinn now has the standard lemon-yellow coloring used in the 1940s and '50s for most Asian comic characters.

Illustrated by Bob Powell, these three tales from Magazine Enterprises' Jet Powers #2 (1951) cover almost every cliche of sci-fi including time travel, alien invasion, mad scientists, and robots.

The only thing they left out of this issue was space opera!

They'd get to that next issue...

Visit the

Comic Collectible Corner

Reading Room JET POWERS "House of Horror"

We Have Already Seen...

Now that the unseen narrator and Su Shan have explained the plot with expositional captions and dialogue, let's continue...

Proofreader's note: I think it was supposed to be a thermite, not termite, bomb...unless the device was supposed to devour Jet!

Lovingly-illustrated by Bob Powell, the second Jet tale from Magazine Enterprises' Jet Powers #2 (1951) goes with a classic mad scientist (with killer gorillas and a disintegration ray) as the protaganist.
Be here tomorrow when an old enemy (and his new friends) drop in for dinner...

Visit the

Comic Collectible Corner

Reading Room JET POWERS "Three-Million-Year-Old Men"

What's a typical day in the life of Jet Powers like?

After breakfast there's a scientist with a time machine...

...which ends up in the hands of alien invaders from the future!

But, Jet Powers cleans the whole matter up...before lunch!

That's just the opening Jet tale, lovingly-illustrated by Bob Powell, from Magazine Enterprises' Jet Powers #2 (1951).
Be here tomorrow to see how Jet spends the rest of his day...

Check out the

Comic Collectible Corner

Tomorrow: JET POWERS!

This scene does not actually occur in the comic...

Art by Bob Powell

...but it's a really kool cover and these characters (and the dinosaur) do get involved in overlapping stories involving time travel, aliens, a returning arch-villain, robots, and another mad scientist!

Be here tomorrow...

Happy Birthday to the REAL Captain Kirk!

Chris Pine is a decent replacement, but...

...as Sean Connery IS the one, true James Bond, William Shatner IS Captain James T Kirk!

If any proof be needed...

BTW, Trivia Point: The photo above features Captain Kirk vs...Captain Midnight!
Richard Webb (Finney in "Court Martial" was tv's Captain Midnight in the 1950s)

Comix Class: MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED

Our "brother blog", Secret Sanctum of Captain Video presents a long out-of-print handbook which utilizes Silver and Bronze Age Marvel Comics artwork to demonstrate cinematography in storyboard fashion.
In fact, noted comic and animation artist Scott Shaw! used it in his storyboarding class...

I used to teach a class in storyboarding for the animation union here in Los Angeles. At the time, there was a tremendous influx of comic book talent from the Philippines come to work in animation. Many of these artists had no previous experience working in this field, plus there was a certain learning gap due to language and culture. Although this book really isn't particularly well-done (comics and film AREN'T as similar as some folks think), I frequently used pages from it when trying to help my Filipino students. Once they figured things out, many of 'em went on to do LOTS of professional storyboard work in the animation biz.

Considering how many current artists have problems grasping the essentials of storytelling (not illustrating, storytelling), perhaps an updated version of this should be standard reading.
Until then, this will have to do.
Class is already in session.
Don't be late and bring an Apple (iTouch or iPad will do) for the teacher. ;-)

Who Knows What Evil Lurks in Letterbox on Blu-Ray?

The Shadow Knows...

Almost 20 years after its theatrical release (has it really been that long?) and 15 after its release on DVD in a pan-and-scan version, The Shadow is finally getting a letterbox release! from Shout! Factory.
(Note: I do have the laserdisc and the Academy Award screener VHS, which are letterbox (and the laserdisc has DTS stereo), but I've been waiting for a DVD edition.
Unfortunately, this is Blue-Ray only, so I'll have to ask a friend in England to send me the British DVD, which is letterbox.)
The somewhat-sparse extras include new interviews with Alec Baldwin, Penelope Ann Miller, Tim Curry, director Russell Mulcahy, production designer Joseph Nemec, III, director of photography Stephen H. Burum and writer David Koepp, plus the original trailer.
Sadly, no commentaries, and they didn't even include the rather cheesy, yet kool Taylor Dane music video...
Ah, well...
BTW, the complete, never-reprinted, two-issue comic adaptation of the movie by Michael Kaluta is on our brother RetroBlog Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™ .
Even though the script is fairly close to the movie (with a new framing sequence), visually, it's a totally-different experience!

Reading Room: "When Time Stood Still"

It's the gift that keeps on giving...

...a trip through time and space on New Year's Eve!

Illustrated by Myron Fass, this never-reprinted tale from Avon's Captain Science Comics #4 (1952) is a classic example of how weird and wild (and totally-illogical) sci-fi can be!