Showing posts with label comic books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comic books. Show all posts

Monday, February 24, 2025

Russkie-Smashers PHANTOM LADY "Television Spies!" 2.0

The Phantom Lady Usually Punched Nazis, but in This Case...
...she did so in a totally-redrawn version of a previous Phantom Lady tale! which now has her taking on Russkie spies!
In the original 1948 version of this tale, the tv images were in full glorious color, and television was just beginning to enter American households, so few people had actually seen a tv screen!
But, by the time of this story in Ajax/Farrell's Phantom Lady #3 (1955), almost half the households in America had tvs, but they were almost all b/w sets.
As a result, the tv screens shown in this version of the story were b/w, the way most Americans experienced video at the time.
Plus, in the original tale, it wasn't made clear if it was industrial spying or international spying!
The artist (or artists) of this tale are unknown, but the writer is probably editor Ruth Roche, as usual.
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Monday, November 11, 2024

NoKo Crushers COMBAT CASEY "Atomic Warfare"

Since it's Veteran's Day...
...let's look at how our comic book military viewed a possible atomic war in the 1950s against the Communist NoKos (aka North Koreans)!
WTF???
Admittedly, in 1954, when Combat Casey #19 was published by Atlas (later Marvel), scientific analysis of actual a-bomb explosions was limited, but I find it hard to believe that this was the cutting-edge of nuclear knowledge as presented in this never-reprinted story by artist Robert Q Sale and an unknown writer!
Then again...maybe it was, as detailed by this legendary character...

Monday, September 16, 2024

Russkie-Smashers CAPTAIN ATOM II "An Ageless Weapon"

When You Need Vitally-Important Defense Plans Safely-Delivered...

...Only One Man Can Do the Job...Guaranteed!
Written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Steve Ditko, this is a short-but-sweet tale from Charlton's Space Adventures #39 (1961) about beating the Commies at their own game of deceit and deception by utilizing something...or rather someone...they don't expect!

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Monday, June 24, 2024

Russkie-Smashers SPACE ADVENTURES "Captain Atom II '...on Planet X' "

Despite the misleading title, Our Russkie-Smashing Hero never leaves Earth orbit...
...as you'll see in this tale from Charlton's Space Adventures #36 (1960)!
WOW!
Writer Joe Gill and illustrator Steve Ditko jammed a lot into just five pages!
These days, that'd be a whole issue, if not a two-parter!
As you saw, "Planet X" was, in fact, an artificial satellite, not another planet!
But the code-name made for a catchy title for an extremely-action-packed tale, eh?
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Captain Atom

Monday, May 20, 2024

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!

Monday, March 11, 2024

Russkie-Smashers PHANTOM LADY "Man the Kremlin Applauded!"

...but here's an all-new story featuring our stalwart all-American heroine!
Script for this tale from Ajax-Farrell's Wonder Boy #17 (1955) is probably by Ruth Roche.
However, the art is not by Matt Baker (who had left the Iger Studios).
While competent, the art, by nameless Iger Studio staff artists, is hardly the classic cheesecake we've come to expect of Phantom Lady!

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Tuesday, April 25, 2023

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...

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!