Reading Room STRANGE TALES "Save Me From the Weed!"

Yesterday's tale about sentient shrubbery reminded me of a later story...

...with a similar plot, featuring some amazing art by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers!

Unlike the previous story, this one doesn't diminish the dignity of the hero, whom the protagonist considers "unambitious"...until the end.

Plotted by Stan Lee and scripted by Larry Lieber, this tale from Atlas/Marvel's Strange Tales #94 (1962) was published with a cover date of March, the same month Fantastic Four #3 came out (note the blurb at the bottom of the story).

Strange Tales itself would shortly become the home of several ongoing series including Doctor Strange, The Human Torch (later The Human Torch and The Thing), and Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

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Marvel Masterworks
Atlas-Era Strange Tales #5

Monday Madness WORLD OF FANTASY "Useless Ones!"

As more and more Baby Boomers leave the workforce, will that vast number of retirees still be considered...

Or will they finally get the respect they deserve, and perhaps even envy from stressed-out remaining workers?

This never-reprinted tale from Atlas' World of Fantasy #1 (1956) takes a rather patronizing attitude towards the older characters.

And, if written today, the scientist might be shown as envying the retired couple, who are able to enjoy their now-free time!

Ilustrated by Tony DiPreta, the story's plotter/scripter is unknown.

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Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

Did You Know the First Captain of the USS Enterprise...

...was Jesus Christ?

Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus Christ in King of Kings (1961)

 Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike with Leonard Nimoy as Mr Spock in Star Trek "The Cage" (1964)
Here's"six degrees of separation" trivia in only five degrees:

• John Huston, who later did a prequel movie, The Bible: In the Beginning, directed Moby Dick, using a screenplay adapted by Ray Bradbury from the Herman Melville novel.
• Ray Bradbury wrote the voiceovers in King of Kings spoken by Orson Welles.
• Welles' The Shadow and Mercury Theatre co-star Agnes Moorehead served as dialogue coach to  Jeffrey Hunter (Jesus Christ) in King of Kings.
• Jeffrey Hunter later played Christopher Pike, the first captain of the Starship Enterprise in the pilot episode of Star Trek, "The Cage".
• Star Trek did an episode, "Bread and Circuses", about a planet where parallel evolution produced a society that resembled a 20th Century version of the Roman Empire, complete with it's own "Christians" and Jesus Christ (who doesn't appear on-camera, but is mentioned in dialogue)!

Space Hero Saturdays CAPTAIN ROCKET "Graveyard of the Rocketeers"

He's the one-shot hero whose name has been usurped by many others since...

...but this is the never-reprinted, original Captain Rocket!

Accept no substitutes or imitations!

The lead story of PL's Captain Rocket #1 (1951) tosses us right into the action with just a one-paragraph synopsis to introduce the character.
It's not bad, but nothing to rave about either.
Written and illustrated by Harry Harrison who left comics when the Dr Wertham-led "Seduction of the Innocent" mania almost destroyed the comics industry in the mid-1950s.
Harry became a sci-fi/fantasy writer and editor whose credits included the Stainless Steel Rat novels and the novel Make Room! Make Room! which was the basis for the movie Soylent Green!
Cap would appear in two more stories, but only one was a comic!
Curious as to how that could be?

Keep following Space Hero Saturdays and you'll find out!

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Taylor Illustrated History Volume 3

Science Fiction Comics 

Friday Fun EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Hot Cross Buns"...Two Ways!

Sometimes Walt Kelly liked a nursery rhyme so much...he used it twice!

Such is the case with this one...from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #103 (1946), and then, with an extra rhyme, in Easter with Mother Goose #220 (1949)

You gotta admit, if there's anyone who can do a classic nursery rhyme and make it appear fresh both times, it's Walt!

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