We Interrupt this Blog for Breaking News: Dick Tracy Returns!

The dawn of a new day, courtesy of Mike Curtis and Joe Staton!

Noted comics pros Mike Curtis (Richie Rich) and Joe Staton (Green Lantern / E-Man) take over the long-running Dick Tracy newspaper strip as of today!
Created by Chester Gould in 1931, the incorruptible Chicago-based detective has also been the subject of movie serials, tv series (both live action and animated), radio shows, comic books (reprints and new stories), novels and short story anthologies, and a feature film!

BONUS for our faithful fans: Here's the opening credits from an unsold pilot done by 1960s Batman / Green Hornet producer William Dozier!

Tomorrow: Alien Invaders vs Captain Video!

Reading Room Annex: MAN O' MARS

With Battle: LA opening this week, we thought we'd present some of the more memorable alien invasion-themed comic stories of the Golden Age.
First up...the lead story from a 1953 one-shot that combined all the great cliches of space opera in one tight ten-page tale...

These days, this story would be a six-issue mini-series with tie-ins to several other titles.

The rest of the book was made up of unrelated reprints from earlier issues of Planet Comics.
While the interior artist is unidentified in the Grand Comics Database, it looks, IMHO, like either the pencils or inks were by Mort Meskin.
The cover was done by Maurice Whitman, one of Fiction House's more prolific artists.
When the book was reprinted in 1958, yet another cover was done (see left), featuring totally different-looking characters and flying saucers that appeared nowhere in the story!

We included the original cover as part of our Martians! Martians! Martians! retro collectibles line including mugs, t-shirts and other nifty stuff.
There's lots of vintage alien invasion-themed stuff there, as well as at SpaceMan Jet and the SpaceBusters (whom we'll also be presenting in the Reading Room Annex this week), and Quatermass: the Man Who Inspired the X-Files!
Keep checking back for more alien fun..and Watch the Skies!

Video Fridays: GREEN HORNET in "Hornet Save Thyself"

Continuing our weekly feature "Video Fridays"...

A joyous surprise birthday party for Britt Reid turns tragic when the publisher guns down an ex-employee in front of two dozen witnesses...or does he?

Reid was holding the gun when it went off, but did he fire it?

And if he didn't...who did? How did they do it? And why?

Even old friend Frank Scanlon, who was at the party, is skeptical...and he's the District Attorney!

Reid knows he's innocent...and he needs his masked alter ego to help him prove it!

Trivia:
Despite the fact he knows Britt Reid is The Green Hornet, Scanlon doesn't use that knowledge to capture the fugitive publisher.
When Reid ducks out the disguised fireplace entrance Scanlon usually uses, the DA doesn't reveal it's existence to the police.
Nor does he show them where the Black Beauty is, fully knowing Britt will use it shortly.
It's only the third time we see an unmasked Reid in a fight.
The same huge soundstage interior used for two different warehouses in "Bad Bet on a 459-Silent" is used here as a dry-cleaning plant Reid hides in.
Van Williams does the same "almost-fall" from scaffolding in this episode he did in that one!
There's no "Produced by" credit on the episode!
The two remaining episodes ("Invasion from Outer Space" Parts 1 and 2) are produced by a new producer.

Here's the 24th filmed and aired episode..."Hornet Save Thyself".

And don't forget to check out...

The Classic Green Hornet Store
or the kool Green Hornet stuff below from Amazon

Reading Room Annex: THE GREEN HORNET in "Proof of Treason" Conclusion

When last we left our heroes...
Why does Mayoral candidate Wilkes Sherman hire a criminal to bomb the home of nuclear scientist Professor Baldwin?
When the police track down the bomber, an assassin ends his life before he can talk.
The Green Hornet, who had followed the police, trails the murderer back to Sherman, and discovers the politician is a Commie spy!
In addition, he learns Professor Baldwin is a former Communist now working for the US, and the Commies want him brought back behind the Iron Curtain!
When The Green Hornet enters the meeting, the assassin tries to shoot him and is KOed by the Hornet's gas gun.
The Hornet then makes a deal to grab the professor and turn him over to Sherman for $5,000. (It was 1953, remember?) As a free bonus to Sherman, he'll "get rid" of the unconscious murderer (whom he turns over to the police.)

This b/w page was the inside back cover.

Curiously, though both stories in this issue are adaptations of radio episodes, this was published a year after the radio series was cancelled!

Art on both stories is presumed to be by Frank Thorne, but there are influences of several other artists, including Don Heck and Frank Giacoia, so it's possible they performed uncredited penciling and/or inking assists to meet the deadline.

The Hornet and Kato didn't appear again in comics until early 1967, when the first issue of their Gold Key series, based on the tv show starring Van Williams and Bruce Lee, was published.

Thanks for visiting the Reading Room. Come back soon!

And don't forget to check out...

The Classic Green Hornet Store

and the kool Green Hornet stuff below from Amazon

Reading Room Annex: THE GREEN HORNET in "Proof of Treason" Part 1

Last time we presented The Green Hornet's final Silver Age tale.
This time, here's his final Golden Age tale, the second of two from Dell's Four Color Comics #496, a series of one-off appearances of various characters to test sales potential.

Tomorrow: the conclusion of the Golden Age Green Hornet's final battle!

And don't forget to check out...

The Classic Green Hornet Store

and the kool Green Hornet stuff below from Amazon