Merry Christmas!

Christmas at Ground Zero!!!

At this time of year, Christmas carols are in continuous rotation on the stereo in the Atomic Kommie Comics™ office.
One of our favorites is Christmas at Ground Zero by "Weird" Al Yankovic. (You were expecting maybe Adeste Fidelis?)

Which brings us to, perhaps, the most unusual theme for potential Christmas presents (and, you gotta admit, we've had some real weirdies!)...atomic Armageddon!

Within our sci-fi-oriented The Future WAS Fantastic!™ section is the Atomic War line of kool collectibles with classic comic book covers from the fear-filled '50s, featuring the nuclear destruction of New York City (see above), Washington DC, and Moscow on black hoodies, sweats, and tees, as well as mugs and other tchochkies!

So for all you survivalists out there, while you duck n' cover under the Christmas tree, prepare for the irradiated end stylishly with our radiation-proof (well...not really!) garb and goodies!

What's better than a SuperHero under the tree? A WHOLE GROUP OF SUPERHEROES!

"If ONE hero on a cover sells books, stick a BUNCH of 'em on the cover, and we'll sell even more copies!"
That was the philosophy behind anthology comics like America's Best Comics, Big 3 Comics, and 4 Favorites.

Originally, comic anthology covers would feature one hero in action, with other characters' heads in little inserts along the side or bottom of the cover. Each hero would rotate as the main cover character every few issues.
At some point, an editor, trying to keep track of which character went on which issue, probably said "Hell, this month put them ALL on it!" and the first multi-hero cover burst onto the newsstands of America! Sales skyrocketed, and covers featuring hordes of heroes became the standard!

Even though these multi-hero covers featured the characters interacting, inside the comic, the heroes only worked together in text stories, if at all!
In fact, sometimes the covers were just symbolic designs (like the patriotic one above) to showcase which characters' strips were inside!
The comic stories inside the book were individual strips of those cover-featured heroes.
( It wasn't until All-Star Comics #3, featuring a framing sequence about a meeting of heroes linking the various characters' strips together, that the first true super-hero group, The Justice Society of America, was born.)

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have always been suckers for covers showing heroes (and heroines) working together to defeat a common foe, rescuing innocents, or just hanging out!
So, we've assembled some of the best multi-hero covers in our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ section!
America's Best Comics, Big 3 Comics, and 4 Favorites featured the top characters of their respective lines, much as World's Finest featured Superman, Batman and Robin, and All-Winners displayed Captain America, Sub-Mariner, and The Human Torch for DC and Marvel, respectively. (And most of America's Best Comics, Big 3 Comics, and 4 Favorites have NEVER been reprinted! Talk about your buried treasures!)
We've digitally-restored and remastered them directly from the original books onto a plethora of potential pop culture presents including mousepads, blank sketchbooks, t-shirts, and other collectibles.
We even have a Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics Team-Ups 2011 12-Month Calendar featuring those covers, plus several others!
Think what your graphic-novel-reading loved one will say when he (or she) finds these kool retro-style tchochkies under the Christmas Tree or in their stocking!

Plus: think of the value! A half-dozen heroes for the price of one!
It was a bargain 70 years ago; and still is, today!

Hi, Ho, Rudolph...Away!

There's more to keeping peace and providing justice for all on the wild frontier than just shooting an owlhoot who's trying to kill innocents!
Sometimes, it's filling in for Santa Claus and providing a much needed Christmas tree and a few presents to some lonely souls on the prairie on a moonlit Christmas Eve...
Why not join the Lone Ranger, Green Lama, Edison Bell: Boy Inventor, SuperSnipe and others at our Christmas in the Comics™ virtual storefront, where good cheer and cool, vintage graphics adorn greeting cards, ornaments, mugs, hoodies, and other seasonal stuff?
But order now! The Lone Ranger can't deliver to everybody, you know!

Jungle Girls--Under the Tree or Swinging thru it!

Whether it's Cave Girl...

...Tiger Girl...

...Princess Pantha...

...or Judy of the Jungle...
Atomic Kommie Comics™ has the perfect Jungle Heroine as a Christmas present for the heroine in your life!
We even have a Jungle Girls 2011 12-Month Calendar
with nine MORE Queens of the Jungle from both comics AND movies!

So order today, before they swing away!

The Woman Who Loved Scrooge!

When you think of Ebenezer Scrooge, "lovable" is probably the last word you'd associate with him.
Yet, one woman gave her heart to him...was engaged to him...and had her heart broken by him!
Her name was Belle!

She appears twice in A Christmas Carol, during Scrooge's journey with the Ghost of Christmas Past.
First, we see how the young Scrooge choose between his love of money and love of her.
Second, we see how, after the breakup, she married a good man and together they raised a loving family, giving Scrooge a look at what "might have been" had he chosen to remain with her!

Almost every dramatic adaptation shows the first incident, but omits the second scene (usually due to time constraints), thus many people have never known how Belle's life turned out after Scrooge left her!
(You'd be surprised how many people never actually read the tale, just seen tv or film versions!)

Most illustrators of the many editions that have been printed over the decades have also bypassed the conclusion of Belle's plotline.
But not Arthur Rackham!
The legendary illustrator did not one, but two color illustrations just for the short conclusion to Belle's story in Stave Two!
And we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ just had to include both of them in our A Christmas Carol collection!
One, Belle & Children shows Scrooge's once-love playing with her kids.
The other, Belle's Family portrays the children crowding around their father as he comes home, laden with presents!

They're absolutely beautiful pieces, some of the best work Rackham ever produced!
Enjoy!

Dinosaurs + Cowboys = Christmas FUN!

They just don't make comics like this anymore!
Masked cowboy hero vs gunslinger riding a pterodactyl...and a bright magenta pterodactyl at that!
It's the sort of concept a nine-year old would come up with while playing with his (or her) brand new action figures under the Christmas tree, mixing the dinosaurs with superheroes and cowboys!
Why not?
That's what makes it so KOOL!
It's so darn silly you just have to look at it and think "what the--?"

That's exactly the sense of wonder we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ still feel!
We want to live in a world where anything can, and does, happen!
In pop culture, we call this "cross-genre", where a story draws elements from disparate categories of fiction.

Sometimes there's a certain logic to it.
One of my favorite books involves fiction's greatest detective dealing with the first alien invasion!
Since he lived in London at the time the invasion took place, it seems only (dare I say it) elementary, that Sherlock Holmes would witness and analyze the Martian invasion of 1898!
That's the basis of Sherlock Holmes' War of the Worlds by Manly Wade Wellman & Wade Wellman!
That, to us, defines KOOL!
(The fact the story also includes another of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic characters; Professor Challenger from The Lost World and other sci-fi novels, is a cross-genre bonus!)
Track down a copy. If you're a Holmes, Challenger, and/or War of the Worlds fan (I'm all three), it's well worth the effort!

Sometimes there's no real logic to it except--"why not?"
That's the category where Santa Claus Conquers the Martians goes!

And that's where the cover shown above goes.
This particular design was so cross-genre we put it in three different sections--Dinosaurs!, Masked Western Heroes, and Tykes, Toddlers & Tiny Tots (and Their Mommies)!™ because, hey, it fits in each of those categories, so--"why not?"

Keep the Sense of Wonder alive!
Give a gift that keeps inspiring the imaginations of both the young and the young-at-heart!
Stick a present from Atomic Kommie Comics™ into a stocking or under the tree!

Put Western Women under the Christmas Tree!

The tradition of Old West-themed Christmas presents dates back to the late 1800s, and was immortalized in the modern Xmas film A Christmas Story written (and narrated) by the late, great, Jean Shepherd.
Ralphie's quest for a Red Ryder BB Gun was mirrored by countless little boys (and probably more than a few girls) of the 1930s-1950s!
We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ believe the tradition should be upheld...but with a twist!
As part of our ongoing Christmas List of Pop Culture Stuff, we suggest...Women Outlaws, one of the coolest lines in our Western Comics Adventures™ section!
These AIN'T no ladies!
Think Barbara Stanwyck or Jane Russell in comic book form!
We're talkin' Horses! Leather! High-heeled boots! ShootOuts! Dominant females who don't take no sh!t! And...CatFights! Wah-HOO!
(And it's all rated PG-13 or PG!)
Besides the usual t-shirts, mugs, and other collectibles, these kool retro images also adorn women's duds! Jersey Tees, Spaghetti tanks! Thongs!
If women who can ride and shoot as well as any man ain't yer cup of prairie coffee, we also have Real-Life Westerners, Broncho Bill, The Cisco Kid & Pancho, Kid Cowboy, Masked Heroes, Native Americans, A Wealth of Westerners, and even Western Love!
Think of how they'll look under the Christmas Tree, especially with one of the books or dvds shown below! (And they're safer than a Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle! You won't shoot your eye out!)

Spend Christmas Protecting America in the Far Future with...SPACE CADET!

You've come here because you want something different (but reasonably-priced) for your kitch-loving Special Someone this Christmas!
What would we suggest?
Within our The Future WAS Fantastic!™ section are some of the niftiest sci-fi collectibles for the pop-culture fan, including Space Cadet!

In the 1950s, the Tom Corbett Space Cadet tv series was to kids what Power Rangers are now; an incredibly-popular saga of teenagers banded together, using advanced technology to protect humanity from evil!
The 24th Century-set series followed heroic stalwart Tom Corbett, logical Venusian exchange student Astro, and cranky Roger Manning, during their tenure at Space Academy, before graduating to join the Solar Guard. (Is it just me, or does that sound a helluva lot like the recent Star Trek reboot flick detailing the StarFleet Academy days of Kirk, Spock & McCoy?)
Despite the fact they were students, the trio (and assorted hangers-on) constantly found themselves in the thick of danger, usually due to the classic "we're the only ship in the area" plot device. (Geez this DOES sound like Star Trek!)
The show was done live as 15-minute episodes, three days a week.
Storylines ran from a week (3 episodes) to a month (18-21 episodes).
Kids flocked home after school to watch Space Cadet, wore Space Cadet pajamas and costumes, and played with Space Cadet toys! (Now that sounds like Power Rangers, doesn't it?)

Trivia:
Some of the concepts are similar to the 1948 Space Cadet novel by Robert Heinlein, but the Joseph Lawrence-created series concept predates the book by several years, with an unsold radio show pilot and newspaper strip entitled "Tom Ranger and the Space Cadets" circulated for sale to licensors in the mid-1940s. Though Heinlein never officially contributed to the tv series, a number of concepts from his novel found their way to the final aired version in 1950. (Think of the way Star Wars-like elements [like cute robots and space fightercraft] were added to Buck Rogers when it was revived for tv in 1979!)
The show ran on all four tv networks during it's original run! In order: CBS (1950), ABC (51-52), NBC (52-53), DuMont (the home of Captain Video, 53-54) and back to NBC (54-55)!
The show's science advisor was Willy Ley, noted rocket scientist and author of the non-fiction book Conquest of Space (basis of a classic George Pal movie)
Space Cadet produced a dramatic radio spin-off, using the tv show actors, and adapting existing tv show scripts. (Usually, it was the other way around, with a radio show producing a tv show spin-off.)
There were also novels, comic books, a newspaper comic strip, and a couple of lp record albums featuring the show's cast in new audio stories!
And, they were one of the first live-action tv shows to have their own View-Master 3-D reel sets!

We've brought back the teen hero and his buddies in our own Space Cadet line of mugs, messenger bags, shirts and other goodies, all of which would make kool stocking stuffers or presents under the tree, especially combined with one or more of the books, dvds, or radio-show cds shown below!
Plus: we've also done some toddler-level Space Cadet stuff like bibs, onesies/creepers, infant t-shirts, and diaper bags in our G-Rated Tykes, Toddlers & Tiny Tots (and Their Mommies)!™ section!
Why should adults have all the fun?

This Christmas, let your loved ones enjoy a gift of the best of the future, produced in the past, and available now! (Wha???)

Make it a Kick-Butt Christmas Day!

In our ongoing quest to suggest cool Christmas gifts for our faithful fans, we of Atomic Kommie Comics™ would like to direct you to, perhaps, the most unlikely of departments--Pop Art Martial Arts™
But, when you think about it, considering how Western-based, cops-and-robbers-oriented, and military-themed toys and gifts have been part of the Yuletide for generations (I'll never forget finding my first 11.5" GI Joe under the tree one Christmas morning!) it's only natural that martial arts-oriented gifts should also be part of the holiday season!
Beyond the fact that you can't shoot your eye out with a gi, (Note: Do NOT give ninja throwing stars to kids as a present!) all these themes are based on the concept of good triumphing over evil, protecting the helpless, and having fun doing it!
And, martial arts promote physical fitness! ;-)

We offer men's, women's, and kid's garb, as well as stuff to decorate your dojo.
And what a lineup...

The ORIGINAL StreetFighter!

Sister StreetFighter!

Lady Kung Fu!

Deadly China Doll!

Five Fingers of Death!

The Kung-Fu / Vampire classic Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires aka 7 Brothers Meed Dracula!

and, for those who want a Power Rangers-style look with rubber-suited monsters aplenty...
Infra-Man!

And, if you combine one of our items with a related dvd (like those conveniently-listed below), you'll have the Ultimate  Gift Set for the kung-fu movie maven in your life!

So, make it a Merry, Martial-Arts Christmas!
Ho, Ho, Ho, Hiii-Yahh!

Unwrap Undercover Girl this Christmas!

Spies have always been popular in fiction.
Girls have always been popular in fiction.
So, it stands to reason that girl spies would be popular in fiction, right?
Not quite...
With the notable exception of Modesty Blaise, female secret agents have not been able to hold the spotlight, despite several high-quality attempts to crack the glass ceiling of spydom!

In comics, the short-lived 1950s Undercover Girl series from Magazine Enterprises was probably the best of the femme-spy genre.
Featuring art by luminaries like Bob Powell, Gil Kane, and Dick Ayers, the series detailed the adventures of government agent Starr Flagg against spies, saboteurs, and criminals.
Starr could shoot and fight (And, as you can see from the art, ride a motorcycle, one-handed yet!) as well as any male agent, but could play helpless and innocent to throw the baddies off-guard until she could kick serious butt!

Since she has no super-powers or outlandish gimmicks, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ titled her "The Heroine ANY Girl can be!™" and made her one of the feature characters in our Heroines™ line with three different covers, as well as her classic retro-style logo on a variety of goodies including tops, shirts, mugs, and many other tchochkies.
What grrrl from 6 to 60 wouldn't want to find something featuring Undercover Girl under her Christmas tree or in her stocking?

Under the Evergreen is...SUPER GREEN BERET!

Never failing to capitalize on a pop culture trend, '60s comics publishers, noticing the popularity of the hit single Ballad of the Green Berets (by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler and Robin Moore) quickly produced comics series featuring the elite Army unit.
Most were standard war comics, but one stood out from the rest for sheer weirdness...

What do you get when you combine...
1) Green Berets and the VietNam War
with...
2) Teenagers...
and
3) SuperHeroes?
Why,
SUPER GREEN BERET,
of course!

Green Beret Roger Wilson saves a Vietnamese monk from a wild boar, and in return the grateful priest attaches a pin to his beret which makes it glow.
Home on leave, Roger gives the glowing beret to his teenage nephew Tod Holton, who discovers that, when he puts it on his head and salutes, he's transformed into a super-powered adult dressed in a soldier's uniform!
(It's sorta like the Golden Age Captain Marvel, a teenager who said the magic word SHAZAM and was transformed into a super-powered adult, albeit with his teenage mind.)
Using his new-found powers of teleportation, telepathy, telekinesis, transmutation, time travel, invulnerability, and super-strength, Tod decides to fight Enemies of Our Country, mostly in present-day Asia, but also travels through time to the American Revolution and World War II, during his two-issue run!
Yes, it's as hokey as it sounds!

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ felt that we couldn't let such an outrageous character and concept be forgotten, so, as part of our War: Past, Present, & Future™ line, we incorporated Super Green Beret as a light-hearted example of 1960s funkiness to contrast with the seriousness of our World War II and Korean Police Action material (plus we wanted an excuse to make some kool SGB collectibles for ourselves)!

So stick a Super Green Beret collectible under the tree or in a stocking for your loved one!
It's the next best thing to an original 11.5" GI Joe!
(And I should know, since I received one of the first Joes at Christmas, many years ago!)

BONUS: A FREE Christmas present for you: an online reprint of both issues of Super Green Beret!
You gotta see it to believe it!

The Christmas Gift that COMBINES SuperHeroes, Sci-Fi, AND Private Eyes--SPACE DETECTIVE!

Blending the hard-boiled gumshoe, sci-fi and superhero genres, Space Detective burst onto the comics scene in 1951.
Future-era wealthy philanthropist Rod Hathway and his secretary Dot Kenny fight interplanetary evil and helped the innocent as Avenger and Teena using the methods of 1940s gumshoes combined with the technology of the far future!
Blasters instead of revolvers!
Personal jetpacks instaed of taxis!
Stories, whose titles included "Opium Smugglers of Venus" and "SpaceShip of the Dead", delivered fast-paced action illustrated by comics legends Wally Wood and Joe Orlando, who would go on to greater graphic story glory as mainstays of EC Comics' Weird Fantasy and Weird Science titles.

Weird Trivia:
1) Despite the fact that neither character wore a mask, nobody ever commented "hey, ain't you that famous Hathway guy?" or somesuch.
(Maybe they were too busy looking at Teena's cleavage?)
2) Nobody ever calls Rod "Space Detective"! He's always called "Avenger".
3) The original user of the name "Avenger", a Doc Savage-style pulp/comic character, hadn't been published since 1944. The trademark had lapsed, so it was used on this unrelated character from a different company.
This sort of thing is far more common in comics/pulps than you might think.
For example, three different companies have had a "Captain Marvel", none of whom were related to the other companies' versions!
In fact, Marvel Comics itself has had several Captains Marvel including a father and son!)

Atomic Kommie Comics™ has revived Space Detective in our The Future WAS Fantastic™ retro sci-fi collection.
The four-issue series' slick art style is again in vogue with pop culture aficionados (like us) who are also into video games and graphic novels.
We've digitally-restored and remastered all four covers as well as recreating the series' logo!

So if you're looking for something offbeat as a stocking stuffer or main gift for that certain someone, look at Space Detective...before he comes looking for you!

The Man Who Personifies Christmas--Scrooge!

Trash the Tree!

Mangle the Mistletoe!

Exterminate the EggNog!

It's 2010!

And only ONE MAN can show us the True Way to Financial Salvation!

Ebenezer Scrooge!

Charles Dickens' immortal hero is back to lead us thru these dark times! (And I ain't talkin' Jim Carrey, either!)
Only Atomic Kommie Comics™ could offer you so many different bargain-priced ways to show how you appreciate Him!
We offer almost two dozen designs including...
Several from the very 1st Edition of A Christmas Carol!
Several from the A Christmas Carol illustrated by legendary fantasy artist Arthur Rackham!
A trio from A Christmas Carol the 1951 movie with Alastair Sim as the definitive screen Scrooge!
PLUS: several other Scrooge and Christmas Carol designs including a "Bah, Humbug!" in classic Victorian-era lettering!
What better way to show what Christmas 2010 means to us all?
Choose from our reasonably-priced Clothing or Collectibles (including 10 or 20 packs of greeting cards /  Christmas cards!) to proclaim to the world your loyalty to Him!
Give the gift that keeps on giving, even if you, personally, don't!
And "Bah, Humbug!" to all this Holiday Season!
An early Christmas present from us to you...
The Animated Christmas Carol from 1971 by multi-award-winning animator Richard Williams!

Travel down Lovers' Lane this Christmas!

You may think it strange that we're doing a piece on romance comic-related stuff as part of our suggested Christmas gift list.

But, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ believe that romantic love is just as prevalent at Xmas as it is on Valentine's Day, and that True Love Comics Tales™ collectibles are just as nice to find under the tree as any of the other pop culture collectibles we offer!
And romance comics include a wide assortment of genres and topics including Westerns, medical dramas (like the Lovers Lane issue above), war, law & crime, high school & college life, big business, and of course, soap-operas!

As we say... comics aren't just about spandex-clad characters in battles of cosmic import!
They also tell intimate tales of heartbreak & true love, betrayal & redemption, and misery & joy!

So, if your loved one is both an incurable romantic and a fan of pop culture kitsch, you can't go wrong with one of our funky collectibles!
Besides the usual t-shirts and tchochkies, we also offer matching intimate tops & bottoms and other cute clothes for the fairer sex!
Combine them with one of the kitchy-kool books below for a perfect Yuletide gift set!

So give us a look at True Love Comics Tales™!
Then give her a kiss under the mistletoe for us!