Thursday, November 25, 2021

Holiday Reading Room HUMBUG "Voyage of the Mayflower II"

Here's a look from Humbug #3  (1957) at how a trend begins...
...which writer/artist R. O. Blechman derived from the real-life adventure of the Mayflower II, which apparently made a boodle of cash and inspired construction (and exploitation) of replicas of other famous sailing vessels!
Utilizing reconstructed ship blueprints held by the American museum Plimoth Plantation, and hand-built by English shipbuilders using traditional methods, the sea-worthy vessel actually sailed the Atlantic from England to Plymouth Rock, Mass, where it's been a tourist attraction ever since.

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ROCKET TO THE MOON Conclusion

The first appearance of Maza of the Moon. Art by Robert A. Graef
...Held captive by P'an-KuTed Dustin, along with scientist Shen Ho, plan their escape...
Note: May be NSFW due to racial stereotypes common to eras of both the original novel and the comic.
While there was the potential for one or more sequel stories to this "scientific romance", none was ever done either in prose or comic form.
However, the novel does fit into a "Kline-verse" that links it to OAK's other tales set on other worlds as show HERE.
Note: 
This 1951 one-shot comic from Avon Comics , based on the novel Maza of the Moon by Otis Adelbert Kline, was scripted by Walter (The Shadow) Gibson and illustrated by the legendary Joe Orlando and Wally Wood.
Now that's a pop culture pedigree!
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by Otis Aldelbert Kline

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Reading Room PLANET COMICS "Star Pirate"

In space, no one can hear you say "Arrr, matey..."
...as this example of the little-known "pirates in space" sub-genre proves!
Like most pirates (who are romantics at heart), Star Pirate is a sucker for a pretty face.
The Star Pirate became a fixture in Planet Comics, running from 1941 until just before the book's cancellation in 1953.
The name "Leonardo Vinci" on this intro tale from #12 (1941) is a pen-name assigned to this particular strip.
The general consensus is that the artist is Al Gabrielle, but the writer is unknown.
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Monday, November 22, 2021

Monday Mars Madness JOHN CARTER OF MARS "Lights of Doom"

...well that pretty much covers it, so let's rejoin Carter as he faces imminent peril!

This all-new tale from DC's Tarzan Family #64 (1976) was written by Bob Kanigher, penciled by Noly Zamora and inked by Vic Catan with several panels modifed/redrawn by editor Joe Kubert.

Unfortunately, the story ends on a cliffhanger as the remaining two issues of Tarzan Family featured reprints of Carter's first DC Comics appearances from Tarzan #207-208!
DC then cancelled both of their Burroughs-related titles as ERB.Inc announced plans to publish their own line of comic books which, unfortunately didn't work out, as seen HERE.

In 1977, Marvel Comics was granted the license for ERB characters, doing both Tarzan and John Carter as stand-alone titles ignoring any storylines DC had produced (including adaptations).
When those titles were cancelled in 1979, unused artwork for both of them was adapted (ironically) into other licensed-property titles!

The unused Tarzan story became, with rescripting and additional art, a two-part BattleStar Galactica tale!

John Carter's unpiublished tale was modified into a two-part Star Wars story (#53-54) with Carter becoming Aron Peacebringer, Dejah Thoris relabeled Alisande, and Tars Tarkas losing his extra arms, becoming orange, and renamed Keral Longknife!

As we mentioned earlier, the "Secret Diaries" mini-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 DC Comics!
There is one more never-reprinted Barsoom tale (without John Carter or any established characters) from DC which you'll see next week!
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Sunday, November 21, 2021

Thanksgiving's Almost Here...Time for CHRISTMAS!

The Christmas shopping season has been more-or-less underway since Halloween.
(Remember when it didn't begin until after Thanksgiving?)
In order to make your Yuletide shopping a breeze, we're offering a guide to reasonably-priced pop culture collectibles that would make great gifts for the-hard-to-please person in your life!
You think the economic situation is bad now?Go back 83 years ago, to November 1938 and see...elves were picketing Santa's WorkShop for better pay!
(You'll note that the cover is dated January, 1939. But it was actually on sale in November, 1938! Publishers used to cover-date comics and pulps two to three months ahead of the actual on-sale date to keep the books on the stands for as long as possible!)
Thus do we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ offer another retro-styled collectible for your Christmas gift-giving consideration, and offer you a bit of media history at the same time!
In this case, we proudly present one of our Christmas in the Comics line from our Cool Christmas collection: numerous digitally-remastered comic covers featuring classic characters celebrating Christmas, including The Green LamaFast Willie Jackson, SuperSnipe, and Edison Bell: Boy Inventor, as well as two long-out-of-print versions of The Big Man, Santa, himself!
Available on a multitude of memorabilia including greeting cards, mugs, hoodies, face masks, and other goodies, these pop-art collectibles are NOT available in any brick-and-mortar stores, only on-line thru us!
There's something for everyone under the tree at Atomic Kommie Comics™!