Saturday, November 17, 2012

Reading Room: CAPTAIN SCIENCE "Traitors to the Earth"

It's only his second story, and already Captain Science has his hands full...
...any way you look at it, it's a helluva way to begin your career!
Cap destroyed a threat by humans (including Adolf Hitler) using alien tech and picked up a hot babe in the process!
Not bad for the first day on the job.
Note, though it's only mentioned in a caption, it takes Gordon Dane months to prepare for his new career (though it's never explained how a guy on a teacher's salary can afford to cobble together the equipment he needs)...
The art on this never-reprinted story from Youthful's Captain Science #1 (1950)  is by Gustav Schrotter.
The writer is unknown.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Holy Cream-Filled Pastry! Is This the End of Hostess?

With Hostess Baking closing, a chapter of comics history ends...
This wonderfully-looney series of ads featuring all the major comics characters from Archie to Wonder Woman appeared in comics for almost a decade, featuring some of the best artists in the business including Neal Adams (above with Dick Giordano), Gil Kane, Johnny Romita (Sr), Curt Swan, Jim Starlin, and Frank Miller doing the rendering!
You can see a complete set of them HERE!
Bonus: the original art for this ad...

BTW, if you're curious as to who's to blame for this sad turn of events, the company's explanation is HERE and the union's explanation is HERE.
The NY Times offers it's viewpoint HERE.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Reading Room: ABRAHAM LINCOLN: LIFE STORY "Conclusion"

War has come to America.
But it is not America versus an invader, but brother against brother as Southern states secede and form the Confederate States of America.
The recently-inaugurated President faces a challenge no other American leader before or since has dealt with...winning a civil war and somehow reuniting both sides into one nation!
This section of Dell's never-reprinted one-shot Abraham Lincoln: Life Story (1958) was written by Gaylord DuBois, pencilled by John Buscema, and inked by Alberto Giolitti.
Go see the new Steven Spielberg-directed feature film starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Honest Abe opening all over the country tomorrow!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Reading Room: ABRAHAM LINCOLN: LIFE STORY "Part 6"

Before we continue with the Life Story of Abraham Lincoln...
...just a quick look at some of the players.
Now that we've done that, we begin telling of
The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln!
NOTE: May be considered NSFW due to reference to Black Americans as "Negroes" (which was the politically-correct term when this comic was created in 1958), so no insult or disrespect is or was meant or intended.)
Helluva guy, that Lincoln!
The end of the Civil War, and the sad conclusion of our story...
This section of Dell's never-reprinted one-shot Abraham Lincoln: Life Story (1958) was written by Gaylord DuBois, and illustrated by Alberto Giolitti, known to American comics readers as the primary illustrator of the Gold Key Star Trek comic book of the 1960s-70s.
Note: the story is over 80 pages, so it's going to run through Friday.
But it's a story worth telling, especially with a new Steven Spielberg-directed feature film starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Honest Abe currently out in limited run, so I'm going ahead and I hope you'll join me.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Reading Room: ABRAHAM LINCOLN: LIFE STORY "Part 5"

...realizing he needed a proper education to get ahead in the world, young Abe Lincoln sought to better himself by any means necessary....
The early days of Lincoln's Presidency...
This section of Dell's never-reprinted one-shot Abraham Lincoln: Life Story (1958) was written by Gaylord DuBois, and illustrated by Alberto Giolitti, known to American comics readers as the primary illustrator of the Gold Key Star Trek comic book of the 1960s-70s.
Note: the story is over 80 pages, so it's going to run through Friday.
But it's a story worth telling, especially with a new Steven Spielberg-directed feature film starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Honest Abe currently out in limited run, so I'm going ahead and I hope you'll join me.