Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Reading Room WORLDS UNKNOWN "Arena" Part 1

It's the sci-fi novella so nice, TV adapted it twice...
...first on Outer Limits, then, two years later, on Classic Star Trek!
Will human ingenuity, cunning, and strength triumph?
Or will the alien win?
Be here THURSDAY for the answer!
This extremely-faithful adaptation was created by writer Gerry Conway, penciler John Buscema, and inker Dick Giordano.
The Fredric Brown-penned short story it's based on first appeared in Street & Smith's Astounding Science Fiction (June, 1944) pulp magazine.
The tale was voted one of the Top 20 Science Fiction Stories before 1965 by the Science Fiction Writers Association and included in the must-have (if you're a serious sci-fi fan) anthology... 
...which is still in print.
(Note: this is the dust jacket/cover of the hardcover 1st edition, one of the coolest and most effective cover designs ever, IMHO of course, and a proud part of my personal collection!)
You can read the taut tale of terror online HERE.
Feel free to compare to the comic.

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Complete Short SF of Fredric Brown
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Monday, February 12, 2024

Monday Madness REAGAN'S RAIDERS "...Back to Zero!" Conclusion

...he and his revitalized cabinet were about to deliver a can of whup-ass to a group of terrorists!
You'll note a cameo by a certain eyepatch-wearing, cigar-smoking soldier usually seen in ripped shirts.
The never-reprinted Solson's Reagan's Raiders #1 (1986) was written by Monroe Arnold, and illustrated by Dick Ayers, Rich Buckler, and Jason Rodgers.
Monroe Arnold was a character actor with numerous tv/movie appearances in the 60s-80s.

His best-known genre role was in the unsold pilot for Dick Tracy (1967), produced by Batman's William Dozier.
BTW, the film Monroe was listed above as writing/directing, Diary of a Terrorist, was never completed.
He suffered a heart attack after shooting a proof-of-concept reel and was unable to continue the project.

Solson Publishing was run by Gary Brodsky, son of Marvel's first Production Manager and occasional inker Sol Brodsky.
One of the many companies created during the b/w comics craze of the 1980s, it was legendary for producing parody/swipes of more-successful b/w books along with somewhat tasteless books about how to draw women.
Reagan's Raiders was one of the few original titles in the lineup, and it lasted only three issues.
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Sunday, February 11, 2024

20 Years Ago, the Monday Morning Chatter About the Super Bowl WASN'T About the Game...

...but about the halftime show starring Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake!
How did we get from the pic above to the pic below?
You'll have to go to
to see the sordid, unblurred/unpixelated truth!
(And you know you want to!)

Saturday, February 10, 2024

Space Hero Saturdays COMMANDER BATTLE AND THE ATOMIC SUB "Death of the H-Bomb!"

When an atomic bomb launched from the Moon hits Earth, the Atomic Sub is hastily-converted to an atomic spaceship.
The Atomic Commandos journey to the Moon, where they discover a race of humanoids angry at Earthmen since other Earthmen (specifically Russians) built an atomic missile base there, killing curious lunar inhabitants who tried to communicate with them!
Sentenced to death by the leader of the Moon Men, the unarmed Commandos face a huge lizard, while the sub is about to be destroyed by atomic plasma fire!
However, aboard the sub is a young "Become a Junior Atomic Commando Contest" winner...who's developed a telepathic transmitter/receiver!
Whatta guy!
So now the kid's a full-time member of the Atomic Commandos.
Has anybody told his parents???
This never-reprinted tale from ACG's Commander Battle and the Atomic Sub #3 (1954) was produced by series creators Richard Hughes (writer) and Sheldon Moldoff (illustrator).
A minor plot point: Submarines are designed to keep intense exterior water pressure from crushing them.
Spacecraft are designed to keep pressurized atmosphere from escaping outward into the vacuum of space.
Since their structures perform totally-different functions, they would be all but useless outside of the environments they were specifically-built to withstand!
Yeah, I know these stories were written for 8 to 14 year-olds, but still, that's no reason to be scientifically-illiterate!
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Friday, February 9, 2024

Friday Football Fun BABE "and the Chicago Crushers Football Team..." Conclusion

...she was demonstrating her proficiency on the gridiron!
One of writer/artist Boody Rogers' wildest creations, Babe: the Darling of the Hills, was another hillbilly series "inspired" by the phenomenal success of Al Capp's Li'l Abner!
Babe Boone derived her abilities from "lightning juice" which was fermented from the bark of trees struck by lightning!
When it and Rogers' other ongoing series, Sparky Watts, were cancelled, Boody retired from commercial art and comics, opening a pair of art supply stores!
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