Okay, we've seen enough mad doctors and scientists this week-- let's get into some new territory with this kooky mash-up of a Western/science-fiction comic. Aptly titled SPACE WESTERN COMICS, it was published by Capital Stories, Inc., aka Charlton Comics. The story seen here today (take a deep breath if you're reading this out loud), "Spurs Jackson and His Space Vigilantes Battle the Green Men of Venus" appeared in issue #41 (November-December 1952). The numbering was continued from the redundantly titled COWBOY WESTERN COMICS.
The script was written by none other than Walter Gibson-- yes, the same Walter Gibson that wrote under the name Maxwell Grant for THE SHADOW pulp magazine (and later the comic book). Other than his storied writing career, he was also an accomplished magician and ghosted a number of books for Harry Houdini. The story seen here today is well-rooted in the pulp tradition.
Artist Stan Campbell illustrated a ton of comics for Fawcett, Dell and Gilberton. Note the imaginative panel layouts in this Spurs Jackson story.
SPACE WESTERN appeared to be an experimental title and apparently didn't fare well as it resumed as COWBOY WESTERN COMICS after just seven issues.
The two back-up strips were presumably intended to keep the more traditional western fans hooked. And it's not as if a bunch of early sf tales weren't basically cowboy stories with jet-bikes and ray-guns instead of horses and six-shooters.
ReplyDeleteI've had my eye on Space Western Comics as well. Weird book.
ReplyDeleteSteve: Indeed. They were "shooting from the hip" on this one.
ReplyDeleteRip: I'd have to agree that it's one of the weirder attempts at a genre mash-up.
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