Saturday, August 20, 2016

Reading Room WEIRD MEN'S ADVENTURES "I Walked on the Moon"

In the early 1950s, EC Comics set the pace for other companies...
...as this hybrid sci-fi/horror tale from Atlas' Men's Adventure #26 (1954) demonstrates!
You'll note the post's header reads Weird Men's Adventures, but I mentioned earlier the book was  just Men's Adventures.
It's not a typo.
The indicia title was Men's Adventures, and from 1-20 it featured war and high adventure tales.
But, with #21, it became a horror title and "Weird" was added in a graphic burst to the logo (but not the indicia).
Six issues later, the brief revival of the Golden Age Human Torch and Toro took over the book for two issues before it was cancelled.
Though the writer for this tale from is unknown, the artist (doing a credible Wally Wood imitation) is Gene Colan!
Trivia: When the story was reprinted in Marvel's Weird Wonder Tales #17 (1976), it was retitled and the splash panel was rewritten (including removing the "Weird Men's Adventure" blurb)...
Considering that, in 1976, it was over five years since the first Moon landing, I'm not certain why the editor made the change...
BTW, note the "originally-presented" caption references the wrong issue!

Friday, August 19, 2016

Reading Room BUZZY BEAN AND HIS FLYING SAUCER "Secret of Planet 5"

...are they saved, or out of the frying pan and into the fire?
Buzzy and Betty's adventures ended with this never-reprinted story from Good Comics' Johnny Law: Sky Ranger #4 (1955) since the company went out of business after the book was printed and distributed.
Trivia: After Good Comics folded, Publisher/Editor/Art Director Edmond Good became Art Director of Tupperware and remained in the post until he retired in the 1970s!
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Thursday, August 18, 2016

Reading Room TALES CALCULATED TO DRIVE YOU BATS! "Rocky the Stone Man"

It's summertime, so let's go to the beach...
...and see how it's not best to change to please others!
While the artist of this tale from Archie's Tales Calculated to Drive You Bats #6 (1962) is unknown, the writer is George Gladir.
Archie Comics kept at least one MAD-style humor anthology going from the late 1950s (after MAD switched from four-color comic to black-and-white magazine) through the 1960s.
Though Tales Calculated to Drive You Bats! expired after only seven issues, it's sister title, Archie's Mad House (which initially-featured various Archie characters as hosts of the stories), survived to 1981!
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Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Reading Room 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY "Mister Machine" Conclusion

...sentient robot X-51/Aaron Stack/Mister Machine has been reluctantly released by the government...
Olivia's skeptcism and Jerry's fanboy-level knowledge of Doctor Doom, the Avengers, and others, all point to creator/writer/penciler Jack Kirby's determination to keep his new creations (The Eternals, Devil Dinosaur, and Mister Machine) outside the Marvel Universe by suggesting that, within his own books, the older Marvel characters are fictional!
Ironically, all of Kirby's 1970s creations are now woven tightly into the fabric of the shared Marvel Universe...or what's left of it these days...
Note: though Mike Royer inked the story, Frank Giacoia inked the cover (with minor re-penciling by John Romita Sr.
What does that mean?
The only way to find out is to check us out on Tuesday, faithful one!
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Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Reading Room 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY "Mister Machine" Part 1

Captured by the military, the sentient robot known as X-51/Aaron Stack breaks free...
...with a little "assist" from the mysterious Monolith!
What awaits X-51/Aaron Stack/Mister Machine in the world outside?
Will the military really let him run around uncontrolled?
And what threats lurk right around the corner?
Written and penciled by Jack Kirby.
Inked by Mike Royer.
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