Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Reading Room WORLD OF FANTASY "Clock Strikes NEVER!"

Here's a fascinating Silver Age tale about time travel...
...from the period when Atlas Comics was transitioning into Marvel Comics!
Penciled and inked by Steve Ditko, this story from Atlas' World of Fantasy #18 (1959) has some intriguing concepts, including the idea that nothing can travel back before its' creation date, which would rule out time travel into the distant past (before the temporal travel device was created)!
But my big question is...who is "Fate"?
He pops up at the beginning of Page 4 and remains lurking in the background for the rest of the story, becoming a second narrator!
Besides looking visually-kool, what's his purpose?
He doesn't interfere...or even warn/advise the protaganist!
Since the story's narrator refers to Fate in the third person, we know the blue guy is not the one hosting the tale!
Like the identity of the story's writer, it's a mystery that'll never be solved...

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Monday, July 10, 2023

Monday Madness MYSTICAL TALES "Try-Out!"

Here's a never-reprinted tale from 1957...
...that could never be told today!
See if you can figure out why...
Consider...what current technology could be used in the place of the projector?
If the protaganist used anything like a smart phone, tablet, or other hand-held device, the audience would just claim another, hidden, device was supplying the images!
But when this story appeared in Atlas' Mystical Tales #8 (1957), tech was a lot simpler!
If artist Sid Check's work (especially the inking) looks similar to Wally Wood's, there's a good reason for it...Check worked in the same studio as Wood, Joe Orlando, and Harry Harrison, often assisting them the way they assisted him when deadlines loomed!
BTW, the writer is unknown!

Readers: Note that Google's AI "unpublished" this post at 3:59am, hours before it was scheduled to be published at 6am, claiming it violated Terms of Service, specifically. their Spam Policy...
"This may include unwanted promotional or commercial content, unwanted content that is created by an automated program, unwanted repetitive content, nonsensical content, or anything that appears to be a mass solicitation."
The only link in the post is to Amazon.com...and I'm an authorized Amazon Associate!
Does Google consider Amazon links "spam"?
Did GoogleAI get turned down for a cyber-date with Alexa, and thus is taking out its' cybersexual frustration on me?
Enquiring minds want to know!
Heck, I want to know if I have to drop my Amazon ads from my blog posts!
If this post is "un-unpublished", you'll know my questions were justified!

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Sunday, July 9, 2023

The RetroBlog Summer Blogathon Continues with TWICE the Shadows in ONE Week!

First, the campy costumed crusader from the Swinging Sixties..
...takes on a glowing goniff (that's Yidddish for "criminal") Monday thru Wednesday at
Then, on Thursday and Friday...
...the cloaked crimebuster from the Film Noir Forties take on a family of homicidal lunatics at
Dare you miss such unbridled excitement???

Saturday, July 8, 2023

Space Hero Saturdays CAPTAIN VIDEO "Dark Side of the Moon" Conclusion

Aliens operating on the Dark Side of the Moon plan to attack Earth, and only Captain Video (with the Video Ranger) can stop them...

You may ask, "What's so special about this? It's typical sci-fi."
And you'd be right.
Except, due to their extremely low-budget nature, the Captain Video TV show and movie serial showed aliens who looked like this...

The "alien invasion force" from Captain Video; the Serial.
Note Captain Video (Judd Holdren) and the Ranger on the left in "clever" disguises.

Only in the comic, unencumbered by financial or special effect restrictions, was the full, unfettered potential of the concept realized.

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Friday, July 7, 2023

Friday Fun DUNC AND LOO "Loo and Strongboy Stoop in 'Muscle Bound' "

Let's return to an unusually-urban humor comic series...

...with this never-reprinted short from Dell's Dunc and Loo #8 (1963)!

Trivia: The book was originally-titled Around the Block with Dunc and Loo, but was shortened to just Dunc and Loo as of #4.
(Apparently suburban and rural readers use "corner" or "street" instead of "block" when referring to addresses, so the original title confused them!)
You'll note two major differences from most teen humor tales we present here...
1) the art doesn't mimic the Archie Comics "house" art style, which became synonymous with "teen humor" in the late 1950s!
2) the series is set in a big city with apartment houses and other urban elements.
(Most "teen humor" series are set in suburbs/small towns!)
Written by John Stanley and illustrated by Bill Williams (the series' co-creators).
It was one of three "teen humor" series created for Dell by Stanley, including Kookie and Thirteen (Going on Eighteen) for Dell.
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