Merry Christmas!

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!

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (in a nice, kid-safe way!)

He's the Jolly Old Elf in a red suit!
They are BIG Green Men from Mars with an even BIGGER robot!
Before Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, they were the ingredients for the weirdest Christmas movie ever!

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians was filmed in 1964 in that bastion of the cinema, Long Island (in an unused aircraft hangar).
Starring a host of tv and b-movie actors including handsome-but-stiff Leonard Hicks as the Martian Leader (and kids' father) Kimar, villain/voiceover artist Vincent Beck (who did lots of work for Irwin Allen's 1960s sci-fi shows) as the film's mustache-twirling villain, Voldar, and John Call as a pretty damn convincing Santa Claus.
The flick is touted as the debut of future talentless chantuse Pia Zadora as Martian kid Girmar.  (Thankfully, she has rather limited screen time.)

As an example of low-budget filmmaking, it's actually pretty effective.
Every penny (what few of them they had) is up on the screen.
There's lots of stock footage (from Dr. Strangelove, no less).
And the use of the then-popular Wham-O Air Blaster toy guns as Martian weapons was either a stroke of marketing genius or clever use of limited funds.  Either way, sales of the guns shot thru the roof after the film hit the kiddie matinee circuit!

If you're between 3-9 years old, the flick's a lot of fun.
If you're between 10 and whatever the local drinking age is, it'll drive you nuts, especially the theme song!
If you're over the local drinking age, do so before watching! The flick is available on a host of public domain dvds as well as one of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 snarkfests (see below).

And you just knew we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ were going to include Santa Claus Conquers the Martians in our Cool Christmas collection on stuff including kid and adult sweatshirts and hoodies, mugs and coasters, tree ornaments, stockings, and greeting cards!
BTW: The image is from the comic book tie-in. There was also a 45 single of the theme, a spoken-word LP album of the movie's dialogue, and a novelization!
Now I can't get that frackin' theme out of my head..."Hoo-ray for Santy Claus..." AARRRGGGHHH!

If they sing that damn theme song...AGAIN, you're dead!

FREE early Christmas gift from us to you: a link to a download of the film in various formats!
EXTRA free early Christmas gift from us to you: a link to an on-line reprint of the comic book adaptation of the film!
EXTRA, EXTRA free early Christmas gift from us to you: the long-lost trailer for the film (at least they don't sing the theme song)...

Santa's Elves on Strike!

Well, the Christmas shopping season is more-or-less underway, so we are going to offer you an almost-daily guide to reasonably-priced pop culture collectibles that would make great gifts for the hard-to-please person in your life from now thru Christmas Eve!*

First off...
You think the economic situation is bad now?
Go back 72 years ago, to November 1938 and see...elves were picketing Santa's WorkShop for better pay!
(The cover is dated January, 1939. But it was actually on sale in November, 1938! Publishers used to cover-date comics and pulps two to three months ahead of the actual on-sale date to keep the books on the stands for as long as possible!)
In this case, we proudly present one of our Christmas in the Comics line from our Cool Christmas collection: nine different digitally-remastered comic covers featuring classic characters celebrating Christmas, including The Green Lama, two different SuperSnipe covers, Edison Bell: Boy Inventor, and The Lone Ranger, as well as two long-out-of-print versions of Santa Claus, and a 3-D comic!
Available on a multitude of memorabilia including greeting cards, mugs, hoodies, and other goodies, these pop-art collectibles are NOT available in any brick-and-mortar stores, only on-line thru us!
And don't forget our Santa Claus--the Man Himself, A Christmas Carol starring Scrooge, the Hardly-Abominable SnowMan, and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians lines!
There's something for everyone under the tree at Atomic Kommie Comics™!

* Note: We will have the occasional interruption for Video Fridays or other such entry.
Old habits die hard...