Thursday, November 11, 2021

Reading Room MARVEL PREVIEW "Man-Gods From Beyond the Stars" Conclusion

British edition cover
In the far-distant past...
...technologically-advanced aliens visit the Earth on a mission of exploration.
Their mandate is to observe, but not interfere.
In the present (1975)...
...scientists discover ancient cave paintings that tell of god-like beings who came down among the primitive humans.
But, the paintings don't tell the whole story, for the aliens are far more human than even they suspect!
Are we, in fact, "Children of the Gods"?
This tale, written by Doug Moench, illustrated by Alex Nino was likely a "pilot" for an ongoing series, but, Jack Kirby's return to Marvel with his similarly-themed Eternals, this ended up dooming this to being merely an all-but-forgotten one-shot!
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Eternals
Complete Collection

Featuring all the series' Jack Kirby-written and illustrated stories!

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ROCKET TO THE MOON Part 2

...well, now you know the source material for the comic!
(And isn't that a kool Frank Frazetta cover?)
Brilliant young scientist Ted Dustin sends an unmanned test rocket to the Moon, and the inhabitants of the satellite, believing it to be an attack, respond with missiles of their own.
Despite being able to make video contact with the Moon people, the language barrier proves insurmountable and the bombardment of Earth continues.
In desperation, Dustin launches himself in an experimental rocket to the Moon...
Note: May be NSFW due to racial stereotypes common to eras of both the original novel and the comic.
What does Ted encounter?
Be here next Wednesday and find out!
This 1951 one-shot comic from Avon Comics was scripted by Walter (The Shadow) Gibson and illustrated by Joe Orlando and Wally Wood.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Reading Room MARVEL PREVIEW "Man-Gods from Beyond the Stars" Part 2

Art by Neal Adams
In the far-distant past...
technologically-advanced aliens visit the Earth on a mission of exploration.
Their mandate is to observe, but not interfere.
In the present (1975)...
scientists discover ancient cave paintings that tell of god-like beings who came down among the primitive humans.
But, the paintings don't tell the whole story...
Thursday:
The Conclusion!
Written by Doug Moench, illustrated by Alex Nino. this tale from Marvel Premiere #1 (1975) has never been reprinted!

As we said last week, When Jack Kirby returned to Marvel in 1975, while he did take on writing and illustrating two of his greatest co-creations, Captain America and Black Panther, his new projects (Eternals, Machine Man/Mister Machine, and Devil Dinosaur, were all set firmly outside the Marvel Universe, as was the one-shot Silver Surfer graphic novel Kirby and writer Stan Lee produced (which you can read HERE),often referring to Marvel characters as fictional, 
All that went by the wayside, when Kirby left Marvel to do animation design for Hanna-Barbara and Ruby-Spears along with his own independent comics projects.
It appears the Marvel creatives couldn't wait to incorporate the new characters and within months, all of Kirby's characters were guest-starring in various titles including Thor, Hulk, Ka-Zar, and even What If?, firmly integrating them with links to everyone from the Norse and Greek gods to Thanos himself (who was retroactively made the son of two Eternals).
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A HUUUGE HardCover, reprinting the entire Kirby run at Original Art Size (15"x22"), 1 1/2 times the size of the printed comic book and other trade paperbacks!

Monday, November 8, 2021

Monday Mars Madness JOHN CARTER OF MARS "Secret Diaries of John Carter"

As we mentioned earlier, there are John Carter of Mars tales that have never been reprinted...
 ...and now we're re-presenting them...the "Secret Diaries" series that ran in DC Comics' Tarzan Family in 1976!
 The adventure continues...
next Monday!
There are a couple of inconsistencies with the established John Carter/Burroughs Universe canon.
The Myposans are actually a Venusian race from Burroughs' Carson of Venus series!
The girl should be red-skinned or pale white, not Caucasian-flesh colored.
It's not clearly-stated when this story takes place, but because Carter is still wearing his Earth-produced pants, it's implied that it's shortly after he arrives on Mars.
(The Comics Code didn't allow him to show up stark naked on Barsoom!)

This all-new tale from Tarzan Family #62 (1976) was written by Bob Kanigher, penciled by Noly Zamora and inked by Vicatan.
As we mentioned earlier, this series has never been reprinted since it's publication in 1976, even in the recent Dark Horse trade paperback that presented all the other John Carter stories that appeared in Tarzan and Weird Worlds!

Sunday, November 7, 2021

CYBER-SANTA: the Future of Cool Christmas Cards

Want to send a Christmas card that's future-forward but also retro-kool?
My personal favorite is the one shown above: Santa Claus 2.0 where Future Santa (note the four arms!) meets his replacement...Cyber-Santa!
In the late 1950s-early 1960s we thought there was nothing science couldn't improve...including Santa Claus!
Galaxy Magazine's primary artist in this era (both covers and interiors) was Ed Emshwiller, who signed his work "Emsh".
Known for both playfullness and superb detail, Ed did a series of Christmas covers from 1951 to 1960 featuring a four-armed Santa in the future celebrating the Yuletide with humans and aliens alike!
They're included in our collection along with numerous comic book covers featuring Santa in the past, present, and future!
Order now, to have plenty of time to send them out!
(I normally don't start promoting Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving, but expected shipping delays and potential shortages of blank card stock make me do so to be sure customers can get what they want, when they want it!)