Reading Room VENUS COMICS "Strange Rocket!"

Here's a tale combining sci-fi with the "present day" West...

 ...from the back of Atlas' Venus Comics featuring the art of a future major Silver Age Marvel artist!

The parents weren't questioned as to where their son went after he failed to show up for school...ever again?

"Well, officer, Toby went into space with a bunch of extraterrestrials, but they promised they'd bring him back.

It's OK!
We gave him permission..."

The writer of this somewhat silly story from Atlas' Venus #12 (1951) is unknown, but the artist is Gene Colan, best known to Marvel fans as one of the definitive artists on Silver and Bronze Age titles like Daredevil, Iron Man, and Dracula!

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Secrets in the Shadows

Art & Life of Gene Colan
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Friday Fun RIOT "Advertisements"

Several people have complained my post about Bill Everett's Marvin the Mouse was too harsh...

...but I submit these never-reprinted pages from Atlas' Riot #5 & #6 (1956) demonstrate Everett could do humor...and in a variety of styles!

Spoofing actual ads from Kleenex, Wildroot Cream Oil, Ford Motors, Westinghouse Electronics and TWA (I have no idea what the bike ad relates to), artist Bill Everett demonstrates his mastery of the page, even imitating the art style of Little Lulu's creator Marjorie Henderson Buell!
The mystery of why his work on Marvin Mouse was, to put it mildly, substandard may never be discovered!
Trivia: Atlas was a bit of a trend-follower, rather than a trend setter, as it became in the Silver Age as Marvel!
Trying to capitalize on EC's success with MAD, Atlas launched four different satire/parody anthologies...Crazy, Riot, Snafu, and Wild, only one of which lasted to seven issues!

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Fire & Water

Bill Everett, the Sub-Mariner, and the Birth of Marvel Comics
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Reading Room MYSTICAL TALES "Lair of the Thunder Lizard!"

Bernie Krigstein was one of the most under-appreciated artists of the 1950s...

...and this kool tale he illustrated just begged to be unearthed for the first time in almost 70 years!

Scripted by Carl Wessler and rendered by Bernie Krigstein, this never-reprinted piece from Atlas' Mystical Tales #8 (1957) is a low-key character study enhanced by Krigstein's naturalistic art.

Bernie was already phasing out of comics and into mainstream commercial art (including book and magazine illustration).

This tale was one of his last stories before leaving the comics field altogether.

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Messages in a Bottle

Comic Book Stories by B Krigstein
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Reading Room: MYSTICAL TALES "Nomad of Outer Space!"

It's mind-blowing how much Atlas (pre-Marvel) stuff hasn't been reprinted...

...such as this story from Atlas' Mystical Tales #1 (1956)!

While hunting thru files for un-reprinted Jack Kirby tales for a previous Kirby Reading Room mini-marathon, I came across a lot of never-reprinted material!

This Bob Powell-rendered story is just the tip of the iceberg!

Sadly, we don't know the writer of this tale...

BTW, despite the title, Mystical Tales was an almost-totally "hard sci-fi" anthology!

Only a handful of stories from the anthology's 8-issue run have been reprinted, all in the 1970s, which makes even the reprints at least 40 years old!

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Atlas Era Tales of Suspense

Volume 1
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Reading Room MEN'S ADVENTURES "Secret of the Flying Saucer"

In the Early 1940s-Early 50s, Pop Culture Went Flying Saucer Mad...

...and comics publishers (just like b-movie studios) eagerly took advantage of the insanity!

The writer of this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' anthology Men's Adventures #5 (1950) is unknown and the art is apparently an art jam including Bill LaCava and Vern Henkel.

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Science Fiction Comics

Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3

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Monday Mecha Madness SPELLBOUND "Too Human to Live!"

They say Artificial Intelligence will Replace Humans in Many Jobs...

...even as co-workers...and management!

Pencilled by Vic Carrabotta and inked by Jack Abel, and likely plotted by editor Stan Lee, this cautionary tale from Atlas' Spellbound #16 (1953) has a clever twist ending that would've been appropriate for an episode of The Twilight Zone!

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Taylor Illustrated History

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Space Hero & Heroine Saturdays ASTONISHING "Menace from the Moon!"

Congratulation to the Artemis Crew for a Successful and Safe Trip to the Moon and Back!

But what if something had happened while they were on the Far Side, totally out of communication with Earth?

OK, this tale from Atlas' Astonishing #5 (1951), written by Hank Chapman and illustrated by Cal Massey is a tad silly.

They claim the ship was lost five years earlier, yet speculate the crew was still alive and coming home?
C'mon, even a kid in the 1950s would find that concept...well...DUMB!!!
(And that's being polite!)

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Taylor Illustrated History

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Holiday Reading Room AMAZING ADULT FANTASY "Beware of the Giants!"

It's not often you see Stan Lee's signature on cover art...

...(behind the giant boot) perhaps because it was probably meant as the title page for the following story (and, to tell the truth, I think the splash page below would've been a better cover)...

Hah!

Bet you thought I had forgotten St Patrick's Day, eh? 

This Stan Lee-scripted/Steve Ditko-illiustrated piece from Atlas' Amazing Adult Fantasy #14 (1962) has one fatal flaw...the clothing and architecture are more mid-European (Germany/Austria/Switzerland) than Celtic (Irish/Scottish)!

BTW, one of the rarely-noted aspects of this series were the kool individualized contents pages for each issue...

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Amazing Adult Fantasy Omnibus
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Lunar Reading Room ADVENTURES INTO MYSTERY "Dark Side of the Moon!"

The Upcoming Artemis Moon Flight is Restoring a Long-Lost Excitement and "Sense of Wonder"...

...exemplified by this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Adventures into Mystery #1 (1956)!

Remember, this was even before Sputnik was launched, so we truly had no idea of what was out there beyond what Earth-based telescopes had revealed!

Bob Powell turns in his usual superbly-rendered artwork with distinctive individualistic characters and detailed settings and textures.

The writer is unknown.

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Marvel Masterworks

Atlas-Era Journey into Mystery

Volume 1
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Lunar 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 Adventures #26 (1954) clearly 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!
It's #26 not #24!

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Taylor Illustrated History

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