Monday, October 25, 2021

Monday Mars Madness WAR OF THE WORLDS "Part V: End of the Invaders"

(This was Dave Cockrum's presentation piece for the Martians and their tripods, looking decidedly-different from the aliens and war machines from the then-recently cancelled Killraven: Warrior of the Worlds series!)
You know the story.
Guy meets alien!
Alien conquers planet!
Alien suddenly ghosts guy...
Overall, not a bad job by the creatives, eh?
The Marvel Classic Comics series ran 36 issues from 1976 to 1978, the first 12 of which were reprints of the b/w Pendulum Press Now Age Books comic adaptations of literary classics which had been sold directly to schools and libraries.
(Note: Classics Illustrated had ended in 1971, leaving a void in the retail comic market that Marvel attempted to fill.
Sadly, sales of the books after the reprints in 1-12 didn't warrant continuing the ambitious project.
The Direct Sales/Comic Book Shop market was just beginning, and if the project had survived another couple of years, it might have found a successful niche, but the timing was off.)
Like Classics Illustrated, the Marvel adaptations included text pieces about the original authors...
...and other goodies like the Dave Cockrum model sheet seen at the beginning of this post!
The adaptations featuring new material (13-36) have never been reprinted in America.
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Sunday, October 24, 2021

Saturday, October 23, 2021

Space Force Saturdays SPACE BUSTERS "Frog Men Against Belzar"

After the stories for Ziff-Davis' Space Busters #2 were written and drawn...
...most of them were shelved, as a new artist, Murphy Anderson, was brought on board to revamp the series' look!
However, the Bernie Krigstein and Martin Stein-illustrated stories that didn't make it into Space Busters #2 did find new homes!
This particular tale is the most-reprinted Space Busters story of all, appearing in St John's Daring Adventures #6 (1954), Decker's Great Exploits #1 (1958) and IW's Strange Planets #18 (1964)..under a new Ross Andru/Mike Esposito cover as shown above!
Oddly enough, though the aliens invading Mars remained "Belzarians" and the Terrans were referred to as "Earthians", the individual heroes went through a name-change.
Blond/blue-eyed Captain Brett Crockett received a new name, becoming "Captain Andall", while his balding and mustached sergeant, Bolo, became "Sgt Bala".
And the nickname "SpaceBusters", used incessantly in the two issues of the series, is nowhere in sight...
We proudly present the lead story of Space Busters #1.5, which is also the final story of the Mars Campaign...
There's another SpaceBusters tale that didn't appear in SpaceBusters Comics...and you'll see it in a couple of weeks!
Warning: Bring your red/blue 3-D glasses!

Friday, October 22, 2021

Friday Fun ZIP COMICS "Ginger and Her Haunted House Hokum!"

Yeah, it's my title for this untitled story...
...but I think you'll see it fits both subject and time period!
"I'd have gotten away with it if not for those pesky kids!"
Sound familiar?
Written by Ed Goggin, illustrated by Claire Moe, this never-reprinted tale from MLJ's Zip Comics #42 (1943) was, in many ways, a typical tale for the period.
Bad guys use "haunted" house as base of operations, kids who won't be scared off whup their butts!
(We ran a similar one, featuring fanboy SuperSnipe HERE!)
Ginger Snapp was one of a plethora of teen characters MLJ debuted in the 1940s that survived into the 1950s, even receiving her own title, running 10 issues!
Of course,you know the most popular of those characters since the company renamed itself in his honor...Archie!
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Thursday, October 21, 2021

Reading Room: CLASSIC COMICS "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" Conclusion

It's 1790 in Sleepy Hollow, a secluded glen in upstate New York.
Ichabod Crane, a lanky, intelligent (but extremely superstitious) schoolmaster, competes with Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt, the handsome and athletic town rowdy, for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and sole child of wealthy farmer, Baltus Van Tassel.
When Ichabod and Brom both attend a party at the Van Tassels, Brom prepares to deal with his rival...

Did a ghostly Headless Horseman abscond with Ichabod?
Or did Brom Bones simply scare him away?
We will probably never know...

You'll note from the cover at the top of the post that the Headless Horseman took second billing to the tale of Rip Van Winkle!
When the book was reprinted as part of the Classics Illustrated line with a painted cover (as most Classic Comics were), the Headless Horseman wasn't even mentioned, although his tale was still in the book!


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