Outer space and planetary adventures have been a staple of comics for nearly 100 years. While there were other, earlier science-fiction comics strips, it is generally recognized that Philip Francis Nowlan's Buck Rogers was the first "serious" sci-fi adventure strip. The character first appeared in Nowlan's novella, "2419 A.D." in the August 1928 issue of AMAZING STORIES as Anthony Rogers. Copies of these are now rare and command very high prices in the collector's market for this reason.
Nowlan and the John F. Dille Company (later the National Newspaper Syndicate) collaborated on adapting the character into a newspaper adventure strip. Editorial cartoonist Dick Calkins was hired as the artist and the first strip was published on 7 January 1929 with the name Anthony Rogers changed to Buck Rogers. Coincidentally, this is also the same date that the Edgar Rice Burroughs and Hal Foster TARZAN strip debuted for the United Feature Syndicate.
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| The first Buck Rogers newspaper strips, January 7-8 1929. |
Others followed, including Flash Gordon, who became the most popular of the era, beginning its run in 1934 with the King Features Syndicate. Flash's success is due in large part to Alex Raymond's magnificent art.
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| An example of Alex Raymond's Sunday Flash Gordon strip. |
The sky was not the limit with sci-fi strips and comics, and stories abounded with tales of wild imagination populated by impossible heroes, impossibly beautiful women, villainous aliens and some of the strangest-looking monsters you will ever see.
This is the first of a new series of space and science-fiction comic books from various publishing companies over the years. Why not get started with a trip to the moon?
ROCKET TO THE MOON was a one-shot published by Avon Comics in 1951 (month unknown). The story is an uncredited adaptation of Otis Adelbert Kline's novel, "Maza of the Moon", first serialized in ARGOSY with the first part published in its December 29 issue. It was published in book form by A.C. McClurg & Co in 1930.
The script is by Walter B. Gibson who readers may remember as the author of THE SHADOW stories using the pen name, Maxwell Grant. Art is by Joe Orlando and Wallace Wood; there is some contention that Charles Nicolas also had a hand in the penciling and/or inking, but this looks like a typical Orlando/Wood collaboration to me. The back-up story features Flash Harper, News Reporter in "The Death Doll", by an unknown writer and artist.
So, come on aboard, fasten you seat belt, turn the oxygen on in your helmet, charge up your atomizer gun and we'll head for adventure on distant stars and planets -- who knows what we'll find?
NOTE: This scan is from the Super Comics (Superior Comics) Canadian printing. Ads have been removed.
The mention of BUCK ROGERS brought back memories of when a friend acquired that hardcover of strip reprints that came out in the early '70s and we sat around laughing at the lingo they used in the strip. We even started referring to everything as "clicky" for several weeks!
ReplyDeleteROCKET TO THE MOON had good Orlando/Wood art, and the scans were nice quality. Thanks for printing this!
This series should be a good one, John! Looking forward to the next installment!
-- hsc
For all its historical significance, Buck was quite crude compared to the beautiful stylings of Raymond's Flash Gordon.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked Rocket to the Moon -- I'm glad to have purchased it for a fair price years ago and, being a devoted Wood fan, it still resides in my collection.
Future posts under this title will be a mixed bag as there is just as much, if not more of this genre in comics as horror. I could devote an entire block to this topic -- but I won't!