Showing posts with label sci-fi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sci-fi. Show all posts

Thursday, June 4, 2026

Reading Room MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN COMICS "Doorway to the Future!"

Is this a "lost" Kirby Klassic from the 1950s?
Read this never-reprinted tale from Prize Comics' Monster of Frankenstein #33 (1954) and judge for yourself...
When Prize Comics' Monster of Frankenstein title was revived during the horror comic boom of the early 1950s, besides a wonderfully-gruesome version of Dick Briefer's Monster, it featured a number of two to four page "fillers".
Most of these tales appear to be, at the very least, laid-out by Jack Kirby.
This story is a prime example.
The figure poses, faces, machinery, even the futuristic buildings all but scream "KIRBY"!
The Grand Comics Database lists the story's artist as Marvin Stein with a "?", but considering the volume of work Simon & Kirby did for Prize before leaving to form their own company, Mainline, and the fact Stein worked primarily for their studio, it's not unlikely this was an "inventory" story meant for insertion wherever editorial material page count came up short.
Sadly, the writer of the story is, as in so many cases, unknown, but it might also be Kirby...
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Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder WORLDS UNKNOWN "Doorstep"

We've been showing aliens who dare to land on Earth "who's the boss" for centuries...
...but this is one time that may not have been the best approach!
Adapted from a short story by Keith Laumer, this tale from Marvel's Worlds Unknown #2 (1973) has a kool "Twilight Zone" twist ending, but couldn't have been adapted for the show due to the crudeness of tv special effects work at the time.
OTOH, writer Gerry Conway, penciler Gil Kane, and inker Tom Sutton had no such constraints, and they do EC Comics' writers and artists proud with a tale that would have fit right in with Weird ScienceWeird Fantasy, or the merged Weird Science-Fantasy books!
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(featuring "Doorstep")
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Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Reading Room MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN COMICS "Into the 4th Dimension"

Is this a lost "Kirby Klassic" from the 1950s?
Read this never-reprinted tale from Prize's Monster of Frankenstein #31 (1954) and judge for yourself...
When Prize Comics' Monster of Frankenstein title was revived during the horror comic boom of the early 1950s, besides a wonderfully-gruesome version of Dick Briefer's Monster, it featured a number of two to four page "fillers".
Most of these tales appear to be, at the very least, laid-out by the legendary Jack (King) Kirby.
This story is a prime example.
The Grand Comics Database lists the story's illustrator as Marvin Stein, who worked primarily for the Simon & Kirby studio, so this most likely was an S&K "inventory" story laid-out by Kirby and meant for insertion wherever editorial page count came up short.
Sadly, the writer of the story is, as in so many cases, unknown...
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Science Fiction Comics
Taylor History of Comics
Vol 3
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Friday, May 29, 2026

Friday Fun JETTA OF THE 21st CENTURY "Atom and Evil"

Dan DeCarlo defined the look of teen humor comics for half a century...
...which is an appropriate point to make as we re-present a series from the 1950s that looks at teen life in the early 2000s!
Written and penciled by Dan DeCarlo and inked by Fred Eng, this story from Standard's Jetta of the 21st Century #7 (1953) has the "feel", both in writing and art, of an Archie tale!
At this point, Dan was freelancing, working for StandardAtlas (later Marvel) and Archie!
Archie co-creator Bob Montana's version still set the visual standard for the company's flagship character, but DeCarlo was given leeway to adapt the characters to his art style, which would become the defining "look" for the entire line by the late 1950s, and remain so until the mid-1990s, when they stared to experiment with more realistic, and even anime-inspired art!
Ironically, Archie Comics published a series about Archie and his gang set in the far future...
...from 1989 to 1991, which combined then-current fashions with the same retro-tech look as Jetta!
Though based on DeCarlo's design concepts, Dan didn't do any covers or art for the 16-issue series!
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Dan DeCarlo's Jetta
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Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder PHANTASMAGORIA "Parasite!"

Kenneth Smith is a Remarkable Comics/Sci-Fi/Fantasy Creative!
Besides having a Doctorate in European Political Philosophy, Kenneth R Smith is a talented writer-artist who's done covers for paperbacks, magazines, and comics, themed illustration portfolios, spot illustrations for magazines and several comic stories.
Here's one from the second issue of his self-published magazine, Phantasmagoria...
Beautiful work.
His comics/sci-fi/fantasy career was short, but he produced spectacular material!
And he's happily-worked in his chosen field of interest, where he's a respected figure, both simultaneously and then full-time!
Would that we all could achieve that!
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Saturday, May 9, 2026

Space Hero Saturdays CAPTAIN SCIENCE "Dark o' the Moon"

 ...in another outer space adventure!
Last time Gordon Dane destroyed a threat by humans (including Adolf Hitler) using alien tech and picked up a hot babe in the process!
Now he's dealing with aliens on the Moon!
PLUS, there's a cliffhanger involving the "Cat Men of Phoebus", which means the action goes interplanetary in the next story!
That catyclysmic conclusion will be presented...next Saturday!
The art on this never-reprinted story from Youthful's Captain Science #2 (1950)  is by Gustav Schrotter.
The writer is unknown.
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Saturday, May 2, 2026

Space Hero Saturdays FANTASTIC WORLDS "Ace of Space"

Not to be confused with Space Ace (who went through several different incarnations)...
...this guy is a Cold War fighter pilot-type transposed to a Star Wars setting!
Darn those aliens!
Sending robot "drones" to do their fighting instead of going man-against-lizard as God intended!
Though the scripter for this tale from Standard's Fantastic Worlds #7 (1952) is unknown, the artwork is by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, with a couple of panels redrawn by Mike Sekowsky!
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