Wednesday Cover: PLANET STORIES

 Space Opera, Wednesday Cover  Comments Off
Jan 092013
 
I recently re-read Leigh Brackett's The Secret of Sinharat - a/k/a Queen Of The Martian Catacombs - and am now moving on to The Ginger Star. Both stories feature her interplanetary antihero, Eric John Stark, one of the most fascinating characters in space opera. Every time I dig into Brackett's work, I find myself awed, humbled and inspired... and that's good.

Wednesday Cover: PLANET COMICS

 Comics, Space Opera, Wednesday Cover  Comments Off
Jan 032013
 
Over on my Facebook profile over the last month or so, I've been posting a lot of cover art from the Planet Stories pulp magazine and the Planet Comics comic book series. Both publications have been a source of inspiration to me as I worked to finish up my own "planet comic," Perils On Planet X.

This cover, for the 71st issue of Planet Comics, is one of my all-time favorite comic book covers. How can anyone resist the combination of damsel in distress, rifle-wielding space man, and 12-foot tall, green-skinned alien Viking satyr?

Wednesday Cover: Frazetta’s BUCK ROGERS

 Buck Rogers, Comics, Space Opera, Wednesday Cover  Comments Off
Dec 052012
 
I'm currently working on a space comic of my own, and I've been turning to classic pulp and comic book imagery for inspiration. I've been enjoying it so much, I thought I'd share my favorites here with you. Every Wednesday throughout December, I'll be sharing these fantastic Famous Funnies covers featuring space hero Buck Rogers, as drawn by legendary fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta. This is issue #211 from May, 1954!

Wednesday Cover: STAR SLAMMERS!

 Comics, Space Opera, Wednesday Cover  Comments Off
Nov 292012
 
 
This is the cover of Marvel Graphic Novel #6, Star Slammers, written and drawn by the legendary Walter Simonson, and published in 1983. This is one of the earliest American "graphic novels," which tended to run less than 100 pages and be printed in an oversized, 8 and 1/2" x 11" album format.

Star Slammers, a space opera epic about interstellar mercenaries, was a pet project of Simonson's dating back to before he was a comics professional. In the 90's he wrote & drew a 5-issue continuation, published by Malibu (& Dark Horse Comics). I don't have those issues, but maybe someday I'll track 'em down.

Wednesday Cover:VARIETY DETECTIVE

 Crime Fiction, Wednesday Cover  Comments Off
Nov 142012
 
I swiped this from Paul Bishop's blog. I don't know who the artist is, but it's now one of my favorite crime pulp covers ever! Not only is that fantastic painting dynamic, but the cover copy may have just given me the name for a future Femme Noir villainess - "Lady Loot!"

Wednesday Cover: SHAZAM!

 Comics Previews, FILMATION, Wednesday Cover  Comments Off
Nov 082012
 
Technically, this is Limited Collector's Edition C35, a "Treasury Sized" collection of Captain Marvel comic book stories reprinted by DC Comics in 1975. This photo cover features actor Jackson Bostwick who portrayed the World's Mightiest Mortal for two seasons of the Filmation Saturday morning Shazam! television series. I've been revisiting the 1974-76 series on DVD this past couple of weeks, and I remembered having this oversized comic when I was a kid. (FYI - I'll be reviewing the newly-released Warner Archive Shazam! DVD set over at my DVD Late Show and Space: 1970 blogs shortly.)
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