Silver Age Sci-Fi Companion by TwoMorrows Publishing

COMPANION

E IK M y

RR A B W.

THE SILVER AGE SCI-FI COMPANION by Mike W. Barr Book design and production by Jon B. Cooke Front Cover Art by Alan Davis (pencils) and Paul Neary (inks) Front Cover colors by Dave Billman Copyediting by Mike W. Barr and Eric Nolen-Weathington

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, NC 27614 www.twomorrows.com • e-mail: twomorrow@aol.com First Printing • November 2007 • Printed in Canada Softcover ISBN: 978-1-893905-81-8 TRADEMARKS & COPYRIGHTS: Adam Strange, Alanna, Aquaman, Atom, Atomic Knights, Batman, Captain Comet, Darwin Jones, Felix Faust, Flash, From Beyond The Unknown, Gardner Grayle, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Hawkman, Ilda, Justice League of America, Justice Society of America, Kid Flash, Martian Manhunter, Mystery In Space, Space Museum, Star Hawkins, Star Rovers, Strange Adventures, Strange Sports Stories, Super-Chief, Superman, Wonder Woman TM & © DC Comics • Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Galactus, Hulk, Iron Man, Sgt. Fury, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Strange Tales, Sub-Mariner, Thor, X-Men TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Preceding spread and above: Panel details from Mystery in Space #75. © DC Comics

SILVER AGE SCI-FI COMPANION

TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication

Foreword

A Too-Brief Interview with Murphy Anderson

May The Schwartz Be With You: An Introduction

THE SILVER AGE SCI-FI SERIES Adam Strange

The Atomic Knights

Space Museum

Star Hawkins

Star Rovers

Darwin Jones

Strange Adventures Mini-Series

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Spotlight on… “The Strange Adventure That Really Happened!”

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Strange Sports Stories

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Super-Chief

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The Riddle of the Recycled Covers

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Acknowledgments

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A TOO-BRIEF INTERVIEW WITH

MURPHY ANDERSON necessarily, but I do see what you’re talking about. But [the [The following conversation took place on May 15, 2007.] similarities are] MIKE W. BARR: Murphy, thanks for consenting to this. pretty generic We were discussing the cover to Strange Adventures stuff, though. #74 [11/56], and the similarity of certain elements And in Buck between the alien on the cover [“The Invisible Raider Rogers, I drew Above: From the late 1940s from Dimension X” by John Broome and outfits very through the ’60s, Murphy Anderson handled the art Carmine Infantino] and the costume of much like this. chores on the Buck Rogers Adam Strange. MWB: That’s newspaper comic strip. MURPHY ANDERSON: [The alien on] This certainly particular cover does look vaguely like Adam true. Let’s go back in time a little more here Strange’s costume, but I don’t think it was the — appropriate for a book on science-fiction basis for anything. comics. When you first met Julie Schwartz, MWB: I see. It does have a lot of comdid you know that he had been a sciencemon elements, so… fiction agent? ANDERSON: Well, that was someANDERSON: Not before I met him, but we thing that [cover artist] Reuben soon discovered that after we sat down Moriera dreamt up. I don’t know how that for a couple of minutes. [chuckles] cover came about.<None> MWB: I’ll bet. MWB: No, me neither. The inside story — ANDERSON: He knew a lot of peowhich I haven’t seen — is by Carmine ple I knew when we were young. It’s Infantino. strange, but I’d been living in ANDERSON: Yeah, yeah, I’ve got that Chicago. I was stationed out story here. What kind of questions do there when I was in the Navy part you have…? of my time and I looked up Ray MWB: When I saw that cover on the Grand Palmer. Not Ray Palmer specifiComic Book Database on the Internet, it struck cally, but I went up to Ziff-Davis’ me there were a couple of thematic similarities to offices when I was still in uniAdam Strange’s costume. But that was not any form. I talked with him. That time, kind of influence on you, then. I met Ray Palmer and he had been Above: Murphy also regularly ANDERSON: I don’t think so. You know, drew the “Captain Comet” one of Julie’s personal friends. We series in Strange Adventures Carmine used to lay out some covers had a great deal to talk about. I did during the 1950s. This rendifor Julie and then he would do them covers — not covers, but illustrations tion is from 1990. © DC Comics for Reuben or whoever, you know. And for Ray. I don’t want to attribute that to him, He had Amazing Stories and Fantastic

Conducted and edited by Mike W. Barr Transcribed by Brian K. Morris

THE SILVER AGE SCI-FI COMPANION Adventures, I think, immediately after the war, ’46, ’47. I did a number of covers for him, even when I was doing Buck Rogers. [NOTE: Julie Schwartz named the Atom’s secret identity Ray Palmer after the editor, who was said to be quite short.] MWB: Oh, sure. Now Mystery In Space #56 [12/59, “The Menace of the Super-Atom!”] was the first “Adam Strange” story you inked over Carmine Infantino’s pencils. ANDERSON: Yeah, I don’t have that one in front of me. MWB: That’s okay, I do. I was curious, do you recall the first time you inked Carmine’s pencils? ANDERSON: Hmm, yeah, I do, vaguely. But I don’t think it was — I think it was just a regular science-fiction story of some sort. MWB: Not an “Adam Strange” story. ANDERSON: But it was in Strange Adventures #8 or 9, something like that. MWB: Oh, one of the early ones. [NOTE: The first published story as well as the first published cover listed in the Grand Comic Database in either Strange Adventures or Mystery In Space to be penciled by Infantino and inked by Anderson is the story and cover for “The Menace of the Super-Atom!” from MIS #56 (12/59), narrowly edging out “The Challenge of the Weather Wizard!” from Flash #110 (12/59-1/60). (MIS #56 carries an ad for Flash #110, proclaiming it “On sale Oct. 20th,” indicating it had not yet been published, while Flash #110 carries an ad for MIS #56, saying it is “On sale everywhere!” indicating it had already been published.) But this may not be definitive, as even the GCD has occasional errors and gaps. Also, the first Infantino/Anderson collaboration may have seen print in an earlier issue of another title.] ANDERSON: How I met Julie was one of the strangest things. I had work promised to me by Ziff-Davis’ comics line, so when I moved to New York, I was rather dismayed one day when I brought in some stuff to Jerry Siegel. Jerry was their — I guess you’d call it their art director or editor or whatever. He was running

Below: Murphy’s cover for Strange Adventures #21. The artist would draw dozens of SA covers for editor Julius Schwartz. © DC Comics

all the comics for them and he said, “Murph, I’m sorry I don’t have another story for you. The writers haven’t delivered the scripts.” And I — big panic. And I went home and I got my — what do you call it? My showcase of my work. MWB: Portfolio? ANDERSON: Yeah. And I came back into town with my portfolio to a couple of publishers and DC was one of the first. And obviously, just hitting them like that, Julie wasn’t in, that was the one day he’d taken off, and Murray Boltinoff talked to me and said, “I think you have to see Julie. He’ll be in tomorrow.” So the next day, I came in and I talked to Julie and we were off and running. MWB: Or flying, via rocket-belt. ANDERSON: I was sharing a little studio at the time with a couple of guys. I shouldn’t say just a couple of

MAYBETHE SCHWARTZ WITH YOU! (with thanks to Mel Brooks) I have heard the anecdote more times than I can recall. Indeed, it’s even part of my experience. In a science class in elementary school, junior or senior high in the late 1950s or early ’60s, a student evinces knowledge that startles the teacher. Perhaps it’s the speed of light (186,000 miles per second), the distance of the Earth from the sun (93 million miles), or the name of the nearest neighboring star (Alpha Centauri). Happily surprised, the teacher asks the student how he knew this fact. The reply: “From a comic book, Strange Adventures.” Or “Mystery In Space.” The teacher’s face clouds. “No, you didn’t. You can’t learn anything from reading comic books.” But the student has learned one thing: never again to volunteer in class. No kid ever read an issue of Strange Adventures (SA) or Mystery In Space (MIS) without coming away with some kind of science fact. But though those titles were among the most educational of their day, their creator, editor and overseer knew first Great comics editor Julius Schwartz in the 1970s. and foremost that they had to tell entertaining,

imaginative stories that would keep their readers — generally assumed to be young or teen-aged boys — spellbound. Such an editor would have to generate hundreds of fresh story ideas designed to produce a repeat audience, while respecting his readers’ intelligence. A lab might stage a project to artificially produce such a human being, but the result would probably be inferior to Julius Schwartz. Born in 1915, Schwartz gravitated early to the burgeoning genre of science-fiction, immersing himself in the contents of such early pulp magazines as Astounding and Thrilling Wonder Stories. At City College of New York he majored in math and physics, excellent training for his future occupations. Schwartz and friend Mort Weisinger (later the editor of DC Comics’ Superman titles) then opened the first literary agency to specialize in sci-fi, “The Solar Sales Service.” Their Adam Strange pin-up by clients included such giants of Neal Adams. © DC Comics the genre as Stanley Weinbaum, H.P. Lovecraft and Ray Bradbury. Later in his career, Julius Schwartz would have a hand in creating many characters. But as an agent for science-fiction — or, in the delightful 1940s term, “scientifiction,” Schwartz was a character — he inspired the role of sci-fi agent M. Halsted Phyn in the

1942 mystery novel Rocket To the Morgue by Anthony Boucher, under the pseudonym of H.H. Holmes. (Boucher himself is a fascinating figure, the author of much seminal sci-fi and detective fiction, arguably the most influential critic of either genre, and co-founder of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.) The Schwartz would cry “Another penny!” when client Edmond Hamilton’s typewriter bell would signal the end of a line, the math being that one line equaled ten words, and, at a penny per word, one penny equaled agent Schwartz’ take. (But Julie would have his revenge. Rocket To the Morgue also mentioned a pulp sci-fi hero christened “Captain Comet,” modeled after Edmond Hamilton’s space-faring crusader, “Captain Future.” Captain Comet would later course a trail through Strange Adventures.) In 1944, Schwartz left the literary world for the world of comics. He claimed never to have read sci-fi after that and had never seen an episode of Star Trek nor any of the Star Wars films. (In 1983 he was delighted when artist Curt Swan, drawing my script for DC Comics Presents #58, used the likeness of Star Wars creator George Lucas for the character of a movie director in the story, though the resemblance had to be pointed out to him.) Offered a job as story editor at the burgeoning firm of National Periodical Publications, Inc. (later DC Comics), Schwartz arrived at the interview having perused only a handful of comics on the subway ride in. It was his innate story sense that got him the job, which he held until 1986, at which point he quit editing monthly comics with his triumphant “last” issues of Superman (#423) and Action Comics (#583, 9/86), written by Alan Moore. He then assumed the post of “Goodwill Ambassador of DC Comics” until his death in 2004.

Schwartz brought to his job as editor a skill unmatched at generating story ideas, a sense of drama and, by no means incidentally, a solid working knowledge of science, which would be translated into plot points for thousands of stories. Though Schwartz is perhaps best-remembered for editing such superhero comics as The Flash, Green Lantern and Justice League of America, it may have been that sci-fi titles such as Strange Adventures and Mystery In Space were his greatest achievements. According to the Grand Comics Database Project, the original title of Strange Adventures was to have been Project: Science. Someone, perhaps The Schwartz himself, thankfully realized that to the projected audience this title was about as exciting as: “Stories Approved By Your Parents;” the magazine instead carried the far more euphonious and evocative title Strange Adventures, which NPP registered by creating an “ashcan” title dated 7-8/50, using the soon-

“Lensmen” author E.E. “Doc” Smith. © respective owner.

THE SILVER AGE SCI-FI COMPANION

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall at that National Periodical Publications’ editorial meeting in 1957! There — as has been recorded elsewhere — it was decided that two new science-fiction series would debut in the pages of DC’s tryout magazine, Showcase. One would tell the exploits of a future-age crimefighter, while the other would detail the adventures of a modernday man swept up into adventures on another planet. The former concept fell to longtime editor Jack Schiff to develop, and became “Space Ranger,” essentially a masked crime-fighter in a future era with a secret identity (businessman Rick Starr), a clever and reliable assistant (Cryll, a shape-shifting alien), a girl friend (secretary Myra Mason), a secret headquarters (inside an asteroid) and a colorful rogue’s gallery of enemies. In some ways, the “Space Ranger” series reflects exactly one of the dictates of seminal sciencefiction editor John W. Campbell, Jr. — they were adventure stories that would have been perfectly at home in magazines of the future, just as readers of 1958 read the then-current exploits of Nero Wolfe and Perry Mason. “Space Ranger” was at least a serviceable hit, debuting in Showcase #15 (7-8/58), with stories that have been credited to Gardner Fox and Edmond Hamilton, plotting and scripting, respectively, and art by Bob Brown. The strip soon shifted to Tales of the

Unexpected with #40 (8/59), where it was written by Arnold Drake, then to Mystery In Space (last appearing in #103, 7/65) after editor Julius Schwartz had been pulled off the latter title to helm the more valuable (to DC, at least) Batman series. (The mystery Space Ranger never solved is why his writing chores were split between Fox and Hamilton, each a reliable pro who could have done the job solo.) The latter concept fell to The Schwartz to turn into a series. Never one to turn down inspiration from past colleagues, Schwartz put his head together with his best writer, Gardner Fox, and, with a few cues from Edgar Rice Burroughs, came up with “Adam Strange.” Interviewed by Lou Mougin in a 1984 Comics Interview, Fox was asked if “Adam Strange” was derived from Burroughs’ John Carter series about an Earthmen who traveled to the planet Mars, had fantastic adventures, and fell in love with a native girl, Fox replied: “I suppose you could probably say John Carter was in my subconscious. You had to think of some interesting way to transfer him from Earth up to the planet Rann before you even got started in on a plot, but it was fun to do.” Indeed, of the possibly dozens of features Fox had

Above: Mystery in Space #91 panel detail. Art by Infantino & Anderson. © DC Comics

THE SILVER AGE SCI-FI COMPANION story of John Carter, but it is also the story of Moses. And it is with the character of Adam that the series comes into its own. Previously, science-fiction comics series, such as Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon, divided the personas of man of action and thinker into two discrete characters. Buck and Flash were the heroic, reckless side of the coin, willing to dive into action and ask questions later, content to let elderly scientists Dr. Huer or Dr. Zarkov, respectively, handle the thinking which, by implication, was always deemed slightly less important than the fighting. Adam Strange had such an elder scientist figure, Sardath, Alanna’s father, to provide pseudoscientific gimmickry. But Schwartz and Fox valued the plot of a story as much as they valued its action, and they respected the thinker as much — if not more — than they respected the doer. The brains of the series was really Adam, aided and abetted by a woman who was his equal. So they combined brains and brawn in one character, crafted three issues of exploits in Showcase, drawn by the team of Mike Sekowsky, Bernard Sachs and Joe Giella, and waited for reader response. (Artist Murphy Anderson designed Adam’s costume and even drew a cover for Showcase #17, which was rejected and has, alas, been lost to time.) Five months after Adam’s last appearance in Showcase, he debuted in a new series in © DC Comics

created, let alone been involved in, “Adam Strange” remained one of his favorites. In the interview previously cited, Fox said: “I suppose I’ve been asked again and again who my favorite was, and I always had a soft spot for Adam Strange…” And in the Winter, 1963-64 issue of Alter Ego (#6), Fox wrote: “And a sigh for the good times I had writing about Adam and Alanna on Rann. I just turned in the last script (sigh) I will do about them.” As Rex Stout, the creator of Nero Wolfe, said, “If I don’t have any fun writing a story, no one’s going to have any fun reading it.” By this standard, Fox must have been having fun, for the “Adam Strange” series remains a high-water mark in the memories of many comics fans. The adventures of “Earth’s First Spaceman,” teleported by zeta-beam to the distant planet Rann, that incredible planet of green skies and super-science existing side-by-side with utter savagery, rang true to hundreds of thousands of readers who admired Adam for his quick wits and, not incidentally, his romance with the lovely Alanna of Ranagar. As noted elsewhere in these pages, Fox’s forte as a writer wasn’t characterization. In some ways, the “Adam Strange” series is no different. Despite over 50 stories of Adam & Co., there is virtually no supporting cast save Alanna’s father, Sardath; almost no citizens of the planet Rann are named unless they are later revealed to be the mystery villain. Characterization was mostly saved for the hero and heroine. Unlike most Fox series, what a reader takes away from “Adam Strange” is a memory of the clever plots second, and of the warm, mutually supportive relationship of Adam and Alanna first. “Adam Strange,” like many other stories, tells of an foreigner who comes to a strange land, adopts it as his own, loves one of its daughters and becomes its champion, saving the land from perils, many of which it has created itself. It may be the Right: MIS #83 panel detail.

up with the series (quoted from a transcript printed in Alter Ego v.3, #60; 7/06): SCHWARTZ: I think we anticipated what would happen after the next world war, World War III… And then we dealt with the radiation, and one of us came up with the idea — maybe wearing armor would shield them. John [or I] had the wonderful idea of them going from city to city trying to find survivors and having a different adventure… BROOME: I remember, in the beginning, we both got the feeling that it had something to do with King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table… So we worked out a Third World War where everything was destroyed, where life was almost destroyed and crime was dangerous and rife all over. And The Atomic Knights stand for justice and faith and all that. ANDERSON: [asked about drawing the series] Yes, that is something I really enjoyed doing. Except it was a backbreaker, and I was thankful it only appeared every three months. Earlier, in a 1992 interview with Steve Ringgenberg in Hero Illustrated, Murphy spoke about the creation of the series: “‘The Atomic Knights’ was formed basically because I bellyached so much about not being able to pencil and Julie finally came up with that.” One of the most amazing

Where were you on October 9, 1986? On that day, I placed a phone call to Murphy Anderson and, after exchanging pleasantries, asked: “Murphy, what day is today?” After a moment’s silence, Murphy chuckled. He has a wonderful chuckle, deep and rich, like the sound of oil gurgling through a pipeline. “Well,” he said, “since you’re calling me today, this must be the day that World War III began in the ‘Atomic Knights’ series.” Right the first time. We discussed the series for a few minutes, then parted company, me hoping his day had been enriched by the conversation as much as mine had. For “The Atomic Knights” had been responsible for a major amount of enjoyment on the part of comics fans, and remains one of the best comics series introduced in the 1960s — no mean feat. Series editor Julius Schwartz, writer/co-creator John Broome and artist/co-creator Murphy Anderson were asked, at the San Diego Comic-Con in 1998, how they came

THE SILVER AGE SCI-FI COMPANION aspects of the series is not that it was so good — usually were less plot-driven and given its pedigree, there was a good chance of that — his characters more prone to show but that readers didn’t close their emotions. (Broome also realStrange Adventures every ized their differences and apprecithird month with a compulsion ated them, christening the leader to slit their wrists. That such posof the Knights Gardner Grayle, sibly depressing subject matter after Fox.) When Marene Herald, could be handled in an inspiring, the sole distaff member of the upbeat way shows the skills of Knights, collapses into Grayle’s Broome and Anderson. arms after seeing the world Nonetheless, some critics, devastated in SA #129’s “World who can type faster than they Out of Time!” (“Everywhere death can think, have berated the and emptiness — ! Nothing green series for depicting a post— no plant-life left on Earth! nuclear war world that was not Gardner, sometimes I can’t stand “realistic” enough. And it is true it — !”), it’s a genuinely telling that, as the Atomic Knights moment, far more so than any of traveled the country, they found the frequent whine-fests Peter no heaps of decaying bodies nor Parker would soon be indulging people coughing up blood due to in across the street because radiation poisoning. nobuddy wiked him. It’s not that But such criticisms, written the Atomic Knights didn’t have from a modern perspective, their own problems, it’s that the © DC Comics reflect neither the viewpoints nor problem they deemed most the science available to creators nearly fifty years ago. important was their mission. Like many visionaries, the As recently as the days of the first atomic bomb tests, Atomic Knights are fighting to create — or recreate — some scientists thought such an explosion would a world in which they will no longer be needed. ignite the entire atmosphere, setting the world aflame. “The Atomic Knights” Even by the late 1950s, very little reliable science was quickly became a favorite available about the environment of a post-nuclear war with fans; Schwartz had a Earth; certainly the “Knights” series gave the reader a hunch it would. more realistic picture of such a world than had any With #120, comic series to that date. And if the ecology of the suronly the viving world was deliberately distorted for dramatic purposes — some plants are found in later adventures, but in a world with no insect life, how would they have been pollinated? — editor Schwartz would be the first to admit that the series was science-fiction, produced ultimately for entertainment purposes. And what entertainment “The Atomic Knights” © DC Comics was! Broome’s skills as a writer contrasted with those of his colleague Gardner Fox in that Broome’s stories This spread: Various “Atomic Knights” panel details by Murphy Anderson.

Mini-Series More intriguing, in some ways, than the long, ongoseries was created when The Schwartz realized a cover ing series created for Strange Adventures are the minihe had bought bore significant similarities to an earlier series which sprang into being during the title’s run. commission. For example, both of the “Butterfly The de facto intent of an ongoing series is, of course, Giants” covers, from SA #s 119 and 157, depict giants to sell stories about characters which reoccur capturing humans in nets on a regular basis. But the or by spinning cocoons. mini-series seem to have had no The second story may such motivation behind them. For have been declared a example, the sequel to keep readers sequel to from complaining that the “Raiders from the covers were repetitive, or Giant World!” from because Julie, Fox or SA #119, did not artist Murphy Anderson appear until SA noticed a similarity. #157, over three Or maybe Julie and years later. Gardner were just Perhaps the answer is trying to keep themthat Schwartz and Fox selves interested. No designated a story a sequel matter the reason, when a story springboard the Schwartz/Fox contained thematic material with mini-series somesufficient resonance to merit times allowed them such a designation. Both of to break the usual the Jim and Rhoda format and get a little Trent stories, gathmore creative. And ered in the “Ragin’ when The Schwartz Reptiles” section, and The Fox got dealt with hostile creative, look out! Panel detail from Strange Adventures #119. Art by green life-forms. — MWB Murphy Anderson. © DC Comics Or perhaps a

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hold the reader. Searching about for this device, we hit upon the idea that science-fiction could well serve this purpose!” This is about as startling an idea, coming from The Schwartz, as the idea of selling hamburgers would be coming from Ray Kroc; like any good coach, Schwartz played to his strengths. Concerning the visual element: “Next, we grappled with the artistic problem of how to portray our stories in a way that the continuous action element of sports could be maintained… After throwing a number of ideas back and forth, we latched onto an ingenious solution. The story captions — instead of being lettered in the standard, time-honored position above the illustrated panel — would be placed in front of the picture panel and enhanced with a silhouette. In this manner, the eye would perceive the caption and panel in a continuous flow of action, much like seeing a motion picture film unreel before one’s eyes!” Of this device Carmine Infantino wrote in DC Special #1 (10-12/68, “An All-Infantino Issue,” which reprinted stories from five of Infantino’s series): “I attempted here a new technique in comics — by using illustrated captions to accompany the picture-panels, the reader gets the impression of a motion picture film!” Later, in the

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You can almost hear the wheels turning in the minds of the DC execs: kids love comics… and kids love sports… so kids will really love comics about sports! Thus — “Strange Sports Stories”! Each of the DC editors had his strengths, but Schwartz was DC’s most resourceful editor, and therefore the one they turned to when they wanted a new take on something, as they would with Batman and Superman. A company’s faith doesn’t get any stronger than that. In an editorial, “The Sports Arena,” in The Brave and the Bold #45, Coach Schwartz explained: “Tackling the problem [of a sportsrelated comic book] first from a literary angle, it occurred to us that a gimmick was needed to turn a straight sports story from an ordinary yarn into one that would grip and

THE SILVER AGE SCI-FI COMPANION

eighth issue of The Amazing World of DC Comics (910/75), Infantino said: “I enjoyed those ‘Strange Sports Stories’ I did with Julie. They were tough, but they were fun. Julie said come up with something different — those silhouettes were done to perpetuate the action… In one story [“Saga of the Secret Sportsmen,”], I had an old couple eating dinner and the fork comes out of the table and feeds them!” (Unfortunately, this detail is nearly lost in the printing process.) Well, give them credit for trying something new, at least. Absolutely pervasive in the early issues, later issues of “SSS” would tone down the silhouettes; the stories would be the better for it. As good as many of the stories were, sales weren’t strong enough to win the concept its own book. Perhaps it was the lack of a reoccurring character; “SSS” was the only designated series in a Schwartz book without one. The nature of the series came not from a common character, but from a common theme.

Still, DC had high hopes for the experiment. “SSS” was given an unprecedented five-issue tryout (Hawkman and Suicide Squad had been given six tryout issues each, but in two three-issue batches, not six consecutively), but even this wasn’t enough to bring the team across the finish line. “Strange Sports Stories” ultimately lost the game, but not from lack of talent, effort or heart. Still, if we’d known then what we know now, I’d rather have had the talent spend their time stockpiling five more issues of Mystery In Space or Strange Adventures. But history, like sports reporting, is written with 20/20 hindsight. Strange Sports Stories was revived as a solo title in 1973, but it lasted only six issues. With only Coach Schwartz returning from the original lineup, it was like the Brooklyn Dodgers moving to Los Angeles — the name was the same, but everything else was different. — MWB

“STRANGE SPORTS STORIES” IN THE BRAVE & THE BOLD • Strange Sports Stories series (BB #s 45-49): The Brave and the Bold #45, 12/61-1/63: “Challenge of the Headless Baseball Team!” “Goliath of the Gridiron!” The Brave and the Bold #46, 2-3/63: “The Hot-Shot Hoopsters” “Danger On the Martian Links!” The Brave and the Bold #47, 4-5/63:

“The Phantom Prizefighter!” “Saga of the Secret Sportsmen!” The Brave and the Bold #48, 6-7/63: “The Man Who Drove Through Time!” “Duel of the Star-Champions!” The Brave and the Bold #49, 8-9/63: “Gorilla Wonders of the Diamond!” “Warrior of the Weightless World!”

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