Russkie-Smashing with AI! JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY / WHERE MONSTERS DWELL "Ruler of Earth!"

Despite the ominous-sounding title (and word balloon)...

...the Artificial Intelligence in this tale is benevolent...until Russkies enter the picture!
(Yeah, Russkies ruin everything!)

So, let's travel to the "future" year of 1990...as seen from 1962...

Appearing as the cover-featured story in one of the final pre-Mighty Thor issues of Atlas' Journey into Mystery (#82 in 1962), this story by plotter/editor Stan Lee, writer Larry Leiber, penciler Jack Kirby, and inker Dick Ayers is a clear Cold War/anti-Communist parable!

But, when the tale was reprinted at the end of the Cold War in Marvel's Where Monsters Dwell #25 (1973)...

...editor Roy Thomas had the hammer and sickle and red star insignias removed from the Russkies' hats...

...and replaced with an "H", which was explained with the change in the dialogue balloon above!
HYDRA???
Why not AIM...who were always more tech-oriented?
So, presumably, there are at least two worlds in the Marvel Multiverse where ROE presides, to this day, over a peaceful Earth!
Bonus for putting up with this all this fanboy mishigas...the lovingly-detailed original art for the spash page by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers!

BTW, did you note how warm, cuddly, and almost teddy-bear-like the cover's ROE is, compared to the version in the story itself?

CAPTAIN GLORY "Power and the Glory!" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

...millennia ago, a highly-developed civilization discovered that humanity on Earth experienced natural disasters eight times previously which wiped out civilization and forced the survivors to restart from a primitive state in cycles of abut 15,000 years!

As their world crumbled, the "Ninth Men" prepared suspended-animation chambers which would preserve the best scientific, philosophical, and military/support service people to assist the next civilization (aka "Tenth Men") when it reached its' 15,000-year "tipping point".

One such person was Captain Keltan, their greatest warrior.
But not all the selected subjects were altruistic.
Some intended to take advantage of the Tenth Men, and rule the future world!
The chambers, located under what is now Chicago, disgorged their subjects during a series of minor earthquakes (a very rare event in the Midwest), with Keltan's chamber being among the last.
Without others to guide him, and unable to speak any current language, the warrior is having trouble communicating with "present-day" (1993) humans...

To Be Continued Next Tuesday at...

ATOMIC KOMMIE COMICS!

Created by Jack Kirby, developed and scripted by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Steve Ditko, this never-reprinted 1993 one-shot from Topps Comics was part of a trilogy of titles introducing the protagonists of the "Secret City Saga" mini-series that followed!

Next Monday:

Russkie Smashing, Chi-Com Crushing and NoKo Clobbering Resume...

...with the Least-Likely Hero of All!

CAPTAIN GLORY "Power and the Glory!" Part 1

We interrupt our ongoing Russkie-Smasher / ChiCom-Crusher series...

...with this introductory chapter into the KirbyVerse which debuted 30 years ago this month!

To Be Concluded...

TOMORROW!

Created by Jack Kirby, written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Steve Ditko, this never-reprinted one-shot from Topps Comics was part of a trilogy of titles introducing the protagonists of the Secret City Saga mini-series that followed,

Read the previous chapters...

Secret City Saga #0

HERE

Bombast #1

HERE & HERE

NightGlider

HERE & HERE

Holiday Reading Room WITHIN OUR REACH "Spider-Man in 'A Wolf at the Door' "

Here's a never-reprinted Yuletide classic starring the ol' Web-Head that very few of you have ever seen...

...since it didn't appear in a Marvel comic!

Plotted by David Ross, scripted by Roy and Dann Thomas, and illustrated by by Jeff (Green Hornet) Butler with assists by Gary Kato, this tale appeared in Star*Reach's Within Our Reach (1991), a Christmas charity benefit book with proceeds going equally to AmFAR and Sempervirens.

The cover was by Norm (Batman) Breyfogle, the only time, AFAIK, he's ever professionally-illustrated Spidey!

The book was also Star*Reach Publishing's final project under their own imprint.

The company continued as a packaging studio for various comics publishers through the 1990s.