Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Cowboys + Dinosaurs = CHRISTMAS FUN!

Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito
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) newly-unwrapped 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, yet fun, 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 sort of tale "cross-genre", where a story draws elements from disparate categories of fiction.

(BTW, you can read the tale behind the cover HERE!)

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 the superb pastiche, Sherlock Holmes' War of the Worlds by Manly Wade Wellman & Wade Wellman!
That novel, to me, 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 HolmesChallenger, and/or War of the Worlds fan (I'm a fan of all three), it's well worth the effort!

Sometimes there's no real logic to it except--"why not?"
That's the category where something like 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 two wildly-different sections--Dinosaurs!, and Masked Western Heroes, because, hey, it fits both categories, so--"why not?"

Keep the Sense of Wonder alive!
Give a Christmas gift that keeps inspiring the imaginations of both the young and the young-at-heart!

Friday, October 27, 2017

DRACULA VS ZORRO "Blade vs Fang"

On a voyage from Spain to France, Don Diego de la Vega and Count Vlad Dracula court the same lovely female passenger...but with very different intentions!
When Dracula attempts to add the lady to his vampiric harem, Diego dons the garb of Zorro and attempts to stop him...
A battle that only one will walk away from...NOW...at our "brother" RetroBlog...
Seduction of the Innocent!
Please Support Western Comics Adventures!
Visit Amazon and Order these Old West/Vampire Movies...
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Friday, October 20, 2017

DRACULA VS ZORRO "Zorro's Story"

...decades before the events chronicled in Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula, the Prince of Vampires, prepares for a journey from Spain to France!
Meanwhile...
Two dark legends will meet...NOW...at our "brother" RetroBlog...
Seduction of the Innocent!
Please Support Western Comics Adventures!
Visit Amazon and Order these Old West/Vampire Movies...
&

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Happy 60th Birthday, Zorro!

Sixty years ago today...
...Walt Disney unleashed his version of the already-legendary Zorro on America, creating a phenomenon equal to Davy Crockett-mania several years earlier!
Check out his premiere in both comics and tv HERE!
Please Support Western Comics Adventures!
Visit Amazon and Order...
&

Thursday, August 24, 2017

BRAVADOS "Ride to Vengeance!" Conclusion

...Entering a small town, Gideon sees someone he thinks is Jonas Payne, sadistic commander of the Confederate POW camp where Gideon spent part of the Civil War!
The man claims he's not the Confederate, and the other Bravados pull Gideon off the guy before the enraged cowboy can kill him!
Returning to the bar, Gideon tells the story of how he met Payne and why he carries such a hatred for the man.
(Quick aside: If Gideon is the focus of this story, why is Josh Reno the focus of the cover scene?
Was the creative staff afriaid to show a black cowboy beating up white cowboys?)
And so, the saga of the Bravados ends.
There are rumors of unpublished material for almost all the Skywald color comics, but only a few horror stories for the b/w line have ever surfaced.
Pity...

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

BRAVADOS "Ride to Vengeance!" Part 1

After a three-issue run in Wild Western Action...
...the Bravados graduated to their own title!
Exactly what they will do is the subject of tomorrow's post!
Considering the current controversy about Confederate memorial statues, it's ironic we're presenting this never-reprinted tale with a Confederate atrocity theme now, isn't it?
The same creative team (writer Len Wein, penciler Syd Shores, and inker Mike Esposito) who handled all the previous Bravados stories do the work on this, the final Bravados adventure from 1971!
"Wait!", you may scream.
"Didn't you say the Bravados had just received their own title?"
Yep!
"So this first issue is the only issue?"
Yep?
"Why?"
The exact reason is unknown, but all of Skywald's color comics were cancelled in September, 1971.
The company continued another couple of years by concentrating on b/w comic magazines such as Psycho, Nightmare, Hell-Rider, and Crime Machine going head-to-head with Warren and Marvel's b/w lines.
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