Friday, June 16, 2023

Friday Fun CRAZY, MAN, CRAZY! "Hollywood Version"

Some complain that movies and TV shows take too many liberties when adapting classic literature...
...and to that we say...DAMN STRAIGHT!
This never-reprinted feature from Charlton's short-lived MAD Magazine clone Crazy Man, Crazy! V2N1 (1955) shows they were already doing it almost 70 years ago!
You think artist Art Gates and the unknown scripter (possibly editor Al Fago) were as perturbed about the "creative re-imaging"/mangling of classics back then as we are today?

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Thursday, June 15, 2023

Reading Room WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE "Ten Thousand Years Old!"

Here's the "pilot episode" for an ongoing comic series that never came about...
...but did see publication in Key's Weird Tales of the Future #1 (1952)!
It's an interesting premise, and the publishers even gave the story the coveted cover slot...
Art by Ross Andru and ?
...yet next issue, Jerry and Jill were nowhere to be found!
So, what happened?
With a cool (if somewhat implausible) story by an uncredited scripter and pencils (and possible inks) by Ross Andru, it seemed like the sort of ongoing feature that could anchor a title.
Was a second story commissioned?
We'll never know...

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder SILVER SURFER: THE ULTIMATE COSMIC EXPERIENCE Part 3

...though he lost the battle against Galactus, the Silver Surfer's rebellion caused Galactus to spare the Earth so he could imprison the Surfer on it.
The tale now diverges totally from the story we've known since 1966...going off on previously-unseen pathways...
Needless to say...
TO BE CONTINUED
Next Wednesday!
The Ultimate Cosmic Experience graphic novel was based on an unproduced screenplay for a Silver Surfer feature film with Olivia Newton-John as Ardina.
But who would've been the other new major character; Master of Guile?
I think I know...Vladek Sheybal!

Well-known for villain portrayals in From Russia with Love and the original Casino Royale, Sheybal had expanded to sympathetic roles like SHADO medical officer Dr. Jackson on UFO.
And this clip from the little-seen The Apple (produced in the late 1970s) shows he could carry a tune.
And doesn't the Master of Guile look like Sheybal?

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Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Reading Room WORLD OF FANTASY "Frightened Ones!"

Ever hear the phrase "It's all a matter of perspective"?
This never-reprinted tale from Atlas' World of Fantasy #4 (1956) validates it!

Penciled (and possibly inked) by Mike Sekowsky, this short proves "there's always someone bigger than you"!

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Monday, June 12, 2023

Monday Mars Madness MARS ATTACKS "Invasion Begins"

When Last We Left the Inhabitants of the Red Planet...

...oh, yeah!
That's what's happening!
Now, who could argue with that?

To Be Continued in...
"Martians Approaching!"
Next Monday!
Written by Mario A Bruni and Bruce Spaulding Fuller and illustrated by Greg Capullo, each issue of the mini-comic (3"x4.5", the size of the actual trading cards) told the story of a particular card, in this case, Card #1 "The Invasion Begins"!
Note: with the exception of the cover and first page, the scans above are of two-page spreads which actually makes their original image size 6"x4.5"!
These never-reprinted comics were published two issues at a time in the same sort of boxes the original trading cards came in.
Sadly, only four issues in two box sets came out before the project ended. 
Both of the writers were contributors to
 Gore Shriek, which still exists on the 'Net!
Artist Greg Capullo has gone on to a long, illustrious career at MarvelImage, and DC!

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