Russkie-Smashers ATOMIC ATTACK! "Tomorrow's War!"

RUSSKIES!

In 1953, we thought we'd still be fighting them in the not-so-distant future...

... of 1972!

Now that's scary!

This wild tale was from the first issue of a "future war" title from the 1950s called Atomic Attack!

(It was called simply Attack for it's first four issues and added "Atomic" to the title as of the fifth issue, so the first issue of Atomic Attack was #5!)

Oddly, only the lead story in each issue was future-based!

The other tales were set in contemporary (Korean War) times!
Sadly, because the publisher, Youthful Publications, is long defunct and left no successor company, there are no records of the writer or artist(s) for this story!

Visit the Atomic PX...

 ...for all your radiation-proof 

uniform and equipment needs!

Russkie-Smashers/ChiCom-Crushers AVENGER "One Man War!"

As the Red Chinese threaten to invade/annex Taiwan yet again...

...let's look at how one of our favorite Russkie-Smashers was also a ChiCom-Crusher in a story (from 1955) that shows an amazingly-similar concept!

With both the North Koreans and the Red Chinese threatening the world...again...we believe it's only fair and right that we add them into the weekly rotation of Smashers, Crushers, and Clobberers, especially since most of the characters we've been re-presenting fought them along with the Russkies!

In this tale from Magazine Entertainment's Avenger #3 (1955) by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bob Powell, the Russkies are supplying the ChiComs with the armament and tech, while today the roles are reversed as technologically-superior Red China provides tech and armament to a struggling Russia!

Note: there are historical tie-ins, since the Russkies supplied the North Koreans with aircraft and pilots during the Korean War, and now the NKs are supplying ex-KGB guy Putin with armaments against Ukraine.

In addition, the Red Chinese assisted the North Koreans with arms and troops during the Korean War.
Technological Note: All the Asians (both good and bad) in this story have a skin tone of 50% Yellow!
While it's an improvement from the "bright lemon" 100% Yellow used during the Golden Age, it's still not quite correct!

Next week: another of our Russkie-Smashers shows versatility as a ChiCom-Crusher or NoKo-Clobberer!

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Golden-Age Greats

Heroes vs Villains!

(Though, technically, The Avenger is a Silver-Age Hero!)

Shark Week Special! THE SHARK "Sinister Secret of Pirate Island!"

When Last We Left Our Aquatic Adventurers...

....I'll just add that the adventure Neptune had with pirates was over two centuries earlier, when the old man looked like he was around The Shark's present age!

Now take it from there...

C'mon, you can't tell me you saw the Martian invasion plotline coming!

Remember, this was the beginning of the Golden Age of comics!

A creative working on these magazines could do almost anything, since there weren't any real "rules" or tropes or cliches to adhere to, so combining pirates with mutants with Martians was just another way to fill six to eight pages!
Writer/artist Lew Glanzman threw everything but the kitchen sink into this tale...because he could!
That was one of the kool aspects of those stories, and it's one of the reasons I and many others still love them!
We hope you've enjoyed this look at comics' first aquatic super-hero>
If reader response is good, we can present more time-lost tales of The Shark during next year's #SharkWeek !
It's up to you!

Shark Week Special! THE SHARK "Father Neptune and the Pirates"

We're going to conclude #SharkWeek with a rarity for Golden Age comic book tales...

...a continued story...and one with a serious plot twist!

Before you go "politically correct" on us, let me assure you that the "native" you saw a page earlier was not, in fact, human!

If you were a comic reader in the 1940s, you'd have to wait an entire month to see the conclusion to this never-reprinted story from Centaur's Amazing-Man Comics #14 (1940)!
But, in 2022, you'll be able to discover the "native's" secret on Friday, only a day later!
Ain't scientific progress wonderful?

Shark Week Special! THE SHARK "Planet of the Walking Dead"

The Shark seems to encounter a lot of scientists...mad or otherwise!

The obvious question is, why does he listen to them?

Admittedly, this never-reprinted story by creator/writer/artist Lew Glanzman from Centaur's Amazing-Man Comics #12 (1940) was written for a young audience, but several obvious questions come to mind...

• Where was this unknown planet which was obviously closer to Earth than Mars?
• Who were those three guys?
• Why didn't the unnamed scientist who sent The Shark know about their flight?

Even though we never learn the answers to those questions, we will learn something about Martians in the Centaur Comics universe...on Friday!
But first, we take a detour to a bunch of pirates (along with the return of Father Neptune) on Thursday!

Shark Week Special! THE SHARK "Menace of the Mental MadMan at the Middle of the Earth"

The Aquatic Avenger travels (involuntarily) to the center of the Earth...

...to face a scientist from the surface who plans a horrible fate for him, specifically!

When this never-reprinted tale from Centaur's Amazing-Man Comics #10 (1940) was published, the superhero genre was only about a year and a half old.

There were few established tropes or rules so creatives like writer/artist Lew Glanzman were literally "flying by the seat of their pants" as they figured out what would work and what wouldn't!