Saturday, December 2, 2023

Space...Hero? Saturdays WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE "Jumpin' Jupiter in 'No Soup' "

Mentioning writer/artist Basil Wolverton in last week's Space Force Saturdays post..
...compelled us to see if there was anything else space-oriented we could present here!
Behold...
Whether it's his ongoing SpaceHawk and Space Patrol strips or any of the numerous one-shot tales he did, Wolverton's Golden Age output was always instantly-recognizable!
This humor strip ran in #2 thru #5 of Key Publications' Weird Tales of the Future, along with several serious sci-fi/horror stories also written and illustrated by the amazing Basil!
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Friday, December 1, 2023

Friday Holiday Fun LITTLEST SNOWMAN RESCUES CHRISTMAS Part 1

No, he ain't Frosty the Snowman...
But this little guy was almost as popular in the 1950s, though, sadly, largely forgotten today!
To Be Continued...
Next Friday!
Written by the character's creator Charles Tazewell and illustrated by Mel Crawford, this never-reprinted tale from Dell's Four Color Comics #864 (1957) is an original tale, not an adaptation of a previously-published prose tale!
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Thursday, November 30, 2023

Holiday Reading Room YOUNG DOCTORS "Dr Tom Brent: Christmas Comes in August!"

You have no idea how few medical-themed Yuletide comic stories there are...

...until you try to find one...and end up with a tale that's the victim of terrible printing!
This never-reprinted tale from Charlton's Young Doctors #6 (1963) unfortunately shows off the terrible printing Charlton Comics was famous for!
The publisher didn't utilize the printing companies literally every other comics publisher used.
Instead, to save money, they printed on old, second-hand printing presses.
But those presses had been constructed to handle cardboard and plastic packaging, not the much-thinner newsprint paper used for comics!
As a result, their comics had an amazing amount of smearing and off-register color, as you can see from the first page.
It's a shame, because the art by penciler Joe Sinnott and inker Vince Colletta deserves a better presentation!
BTW, Young Doctors was an anthology title featuring tales of all the MDs who had their own Charlton books at the time, including, of course, Dr Tom Brent, Young Intern!
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Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder AGAR-AGAR "Fairest of Them All"

...well, we're off on another almost totally-unrelated storyline!
Surprised?
This story from New England Library's Dracula #8 (1971) was written by Luis Gasca under the pen-name Sadko  and illustrated in a Peter Max-esque style by Alberto Solsona.
It's the second of four tales unseen by American audiences, since Warren Magazines reprinted only the first six issues of Dracula in their 1972 trade paperback.
But you'll see the remaining stories here over the next few weeks! weeks.
It'll be a groovy trip, baby!

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

The Woman Who (Believe It or Not) LOVED Scrooge!

When you think of Ebenezer Scrooge, "lovable" is probably the last word you'd associate with him.
Yet, one woman gave her heart to him...was engaged to him...and had her heart broken by him!
Her name was Belle!
She appears twice in A Christmas Carol, during Scrooge's journey with the Ghost of Christmas Past.

First, we see how the young Scrooge choose between his love of money and love of her.
Second, we see how, after their breakup, she married a good man and together they raised a loving family, giving Scrooge a look at what "might have been" had he chosen to remain with her!

Almost every dramatic adaptation (radio/tv/movie) shows the first incident, but omits the second scene (usually due to time constraints), thus many people have never known how Belle's life turned out after Scrooge left her!
(You'd be surprised how many people never actually read the story, only seen or heard the tv, film and audio versions!)

Most of the illustrators of the many editions that have been printed over the decades have also bypassed the conclusion of Belle's plotline.
But not legendary illustrator Arthur Rackham!
He did not one, but two color illustrations in the 1915 edition just for the short conclusion to Belle's story in Stave Two!
And we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ just had to include both of them in our A Christmas Carol collection!
One, Belle & Children shows Scrooge's once-love playing with her kids.
The other, Belle's Family portrays the children crowding around their father (whom Scrooge could have been, had he chosen differently) as he comes home, laden with presents!

They're absolutely beautiful pieces, some of the best work Rackham ever produced!
Enjoy!