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!

Video Fridays: THE GREEN HORNET in "Bad Bet on a 459-Silent"

Continuing our weekly feature "Video Fridays"...

One of the problems pretending to be a criminal, as The Green Hornet does, is that you're as likely to be wounded or killed by police as by criminals!
That's exactly what happens here!
Investigating the possibility that crooked police are looting crime scenes before their honest comrades show up, the Hornet is caught escaping from a break-in location, and shot by legitimately-responding cops. ("459-Silent" is police code in this city for a silent burglar alarm.)

He escapes, wounded, but can't go to a hospital since there's an all-points-bulletin out for a wounded Green Hornet, and even the Sentinel's respected publisher would be hard-pressed to explain how he had a gunshot wound in exactly the same spot on his body where the legendary verdant villain was shot! (Plus, the bullet could be forensically-matched to the gun of the policeman who shot the Hornet!)
How will Britt and Kato...
1) Get medical treatment for the wounded hero while avoiding connecting Reid and the Hornet, and having CSIs expose the incriminating evidence (the bullet)?
2) Solve the problem of the criminally-inclined cops, and save Mike Axford, who thinks the Hornet is responsible for the robberies, and plans to trap the wounded criminal, not knowing that crooked cops, who won't hesitate to kill, are behind the break-ins?
The answer to #1 is rather ingenious, and solving #2 is made more difficult since Britt is almost-incapacitated and barely functioning! (Thank God for Kato!)

Tune in below for the exciting answers...
Side Notes:
More day-for-night photography, which on this particular print is a little too light.
Since the episode involves break-ins at warehouses, a couple of 20th Century-Fox soundstage exteriors are used for the outside of the two different warehouses, but only one soundstage interior (redressed) is used for both interiors. (The Batman tv series used the same exteriors for their "warehouse" and "alley" shots.)
Here's the 21st filmed and aired episode..."Bad Bet on a 459-Silent".

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???)