Strange Worlds
Encyclopedia
Strange Worlds was the name of two American
, science-fiction anthology comic book
series of the 1950s, the first published by Avon Comics, the second by a Marvel Comics
predecessor, Atlas Comics
. Each featured work by such major comics artists as Steve Ditko
, Jack Kirby
, Joe Kubert
, and Wally Wood
.
While Avon was a minor comics publisher in relation to such contemporaneous industry leaders as Atlas Comics, DC Comics
, and EC Comics
, the series featured artwork by such top talents as Wally Wood
, who would soon go on to become an industry star at EC; Joe Kubert
, later a signature artist of DC's Hawkman
and Sgt. Rock; portrait painter Everett Raymond Kinstler and Western
-art painter Charles Sultan, early in their careers; and seminal African-American comics artist Alvin C. Hollingsworth a.k.a. Alvin Holly.
Reprinted stories include:
, who penciled all but one cover and supplied a story each in issues #1 and #3, and future Spider-Man
co-creator Steve Ditko
, who drew the cover of #2 and a story in each issue.
The premiere issue's cover and its seven-page story "I Discovered the Secret of the Flying Saucers" marked Kirby's return to Marvel, for which he had not worked since 1941 except for 20 scattered stories from 1956 to 1957. Three years later, he and writer-editor Stan Lee
would create the industry-changing superhero
series The Fantastic Four.
Other well-known comics artists who drew for the Atlas anthology included EC Comics greats Joe Orlando
and Al Williamson
; and future Marvel mainstays Dick Ayers
, John Buscema
, Don Heck
and Joe Sinnott
; and Human Torch creator Carl Burgos
and Sheena, Queen of the Jungle
artist Bob Powell
, both veterans of the 1930s-1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books
.
Reprinted stories include:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, science-fiction anthology comic book
Comics anthology
Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for standalone publication.- U.S. :- UK :British comics have a long tradition publishing comics anthologies, often weekly...
series of the 1950s, the first published by Avon Comics, the second by a Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
predecessor, Atlas Comics
Atlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
. Each featured work by such major comics artists as Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
, Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert is an American comic book artist who went on to found The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman...
, and Wally Wood
Wally Wood
Wallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. He was one of Mads founding cartoonists in 1952. Although much of his early professional artwork is signed Wallace Wood, he became known as Wally Wood, a name he...
.
Avon
The first comic-book series to be titled Strange Worlds ran 15 issues published in two sequences by Avon Comics. Issues #1-10 ran cover-dated November 1950 to November 1952. No issues #11-17 were released, and the series began publication again with #18, having taken over the numbering of the defunct Avon comic Eerie. This second sequence ran through issue #22 (Oct./Nov. 1954 - Sept./Oct. 1955). One ongoing feature in the otherwise anthological title was "Kenton of the Star Patrol".While Avon was a minor comics publisher in relation to such contemporaneous industry leaders as Atlas Comics, DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, and EC Comics
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
, the series featured artwork by such top talents as Wally Wood
Wally Wood
Wallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. He was one of Mads founding cartoonists in 1952. Although much of his early professional artwork is signed Wallace Wood, he became known as Wally Wood, a name he...
, who would soon go on to become an industry star at EC; Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert is an American comic book artist who went on to found The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman...
, later a signature artist of DC's Hawkman
Hawkman
Hawkman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in Flash Comics #1, published by All-American Publications in 1940....
and Sgt. Rock; portrait painter Everett Raymond Kinstler and Western
Western fiction
Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis L'Amour from the mid 20th century...
-art painter Charles Sultan, early in their careers; and seminal African-American comics artist Alvin C. Hollingsworth a.k.a. Alvin Holly.
Reprinted stories include:
- #3: "The Alien Raiders" (Kenton of the Star Patrol), by artist Wally Wood
-
- reprinted Golden-Age Greats Volume 12 (Paragon Publications / AC ComicsAC ComicsAC Comics is a comic book publishing company started by Bill Black.AC Comics specializes in reprints of Golden Age comics from now-defunct companies whose properties lapsed into public domain and were not reprinted elsewhere...
, 1998)- #8: "Death on the Earth-Mars Run", by artist Everett Raymond Kinstler
- reprinted The HeapThe Heap (comics)The Heap is the name of several fictional comic book muck-monsters, the original of which first appeared in Hillman Periodicals' Air Fighters Comics #3 , during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books...
#1 (Skywald PublicationsSkywald PublicationsSkywald Publications is a 1970s publisher of black-and-white comics magazines, primarily the horror anthologies Nightmare, Psycho, and Scream. It also published a small line of comic books and other magazines....
, Sept. 1971)- #8: "The Thing on the Broken Balcony", by artist Alvin C. Hollingsworth
- reprinted The Heap #1 (Skywald Publications, Sept. 1971; retitled "Curse of the Broken Balcony")
- reprinted Golden-Age Greats Volume 12 (Paragon Publications / AC Comics
Atlas Comics
The second Strange Worlds was a short-lived series from Marvel Comics' 1950s predecessor company, Atlas Comics. Running five issues (Dec. 1958 - Aug. 1959), the title nonetheless showcased artwork by industry legend Jack KirbyJack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, who penciled all but one cover and supplied a story each in issues #1 and #3, and future Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
co-creator Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
, who drew the cover of #2 and a story in each issue.
The premiere issue's cover and its seven-page story "I Discovered the Secret of the Flying Saucers" marked Kirby's return to Marvel, for which he had not worked since 1941 except for 20 scattered stories from 1956 to 1957. Three years later, he and writer-editor Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
would create the industry-changing superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
series The Fantastic Four.
Other well-known comics artists who drew for the Atlas anthology included EC Comics greats Joe Orlando
Joe Orlando
Joseph Orlando was a prolific illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades...
and Al Williamson
Al Williamson
Alfonso "Al" Williamson was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western and science-fiction/fantasy...
; and future Marvel mainstays Dick Ayers
Dick Ayers
Richard "Dick" Ayers is an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on some of the earliest issues of Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four, and as the signature...
, John Buscema
John Buscema
John Buscema, born Giovanni Natale Buscema , was an American comic-book artist and one of the mainstays of Marvel Comics during its 1960s and 1970s ascendancy into an industry leader and its subsequent expansion to a major pop culture conglomerate...
, Don Heck
Don Heck
Don Heck was an American comic book artist best known for co-creating the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, and for his long run penciling the Marvel superhero-team series The Avengers during the 1960s Silver Age of comic books.-Early life and career:Born in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New...
and Joe Sinnott
Joe Sinnott
Joe Sinnott is an American comic book artist. Working primarily as an inker, Sinnott is best-known for his long stint on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, from 1965 to 1981 , initially over the pencils of industry legend Jack Kirby...
; and Human Torch creator Carl Burgos
Carl Burgos
Carl Burgos was an American comic book and advertising artist best known for creating the original Human Torch in Marvel Comics #1 Carl Burgos (né Max Finkelstein, April 18, 1916, New York City, New York; died March 1984) was an American comic book and advertising artist best known for creating...
and Sheena, Queen of the Jungle
Sheena, Queen of the Jungle
Sheena, Queen of the Jungle is a fictional, American comic book jungle girl heroine, published originally by Fiction House. The female counterpart to Tarzan, Sheena had two things in common with Edgar Rice Burrough's Jungle Lord: Both possessed the ability to communicate with wild animals and were...
artist Bob Powell
Bob Powell (comics)
Bob Powell né Stanislav Robert Pawlowski was an American comic book artist known for his work during the 1930-40s Golden Age of comic books, including on the features "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle" and "Mr. Mystic". He received a belated credit in 1999 for co-writing the debut of the popular...
, both veterans of the 1930s-1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
.
Reprinted stories include:
- #1: "I Captured the Abominable Snowman", by writer Stan LeeStan LeeStan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
, artist Steve Ditko
-
- reprinted Strange TalesStrange TalesStrange Tales is the name of several comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics. It introduced the features "Doctor Strange" and "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.", and was a showcase for the science fiction/suspense stories of artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and for the...
Annual #2 (1963); Chamber of DarknessChamber of DarknessChamber of Darkness was a horror/fantasy anthology comic book published bi-monthly by Marvel Comics that under this and a subsequent name ran from 1969-1974...
#7 (Oct. 1970); Journey into MysteryJourney into MysteryJourney into Mystery was an American comic book series published by Atlas Comics, and later its successor Marvel Comics. It featured horror, monster, and science fiction stories...
vol. 2, #13 (Oct. 1974); and Thrilling Science Fiction #2 (AC ComicsAC ComicsAC Comics is a comic book publishing company started by Bill Black.AC Comics specializes in reprints of Golden Age comics from now-defunct companies whose properties lapsed into public domain and were not reprinted elsewhere...
, 1998)- #1: "I Am Robot, by artist Joe Sinnott
- reprinted Strange Tales Annual #2 (1963)
- #2: "I Was a Prisoner on the Planet of Plunder", by artist Don Heck
- reprinted Strange Tales Annual #2 (1963)
- #2: "I Am the Scourge of Atlantis", by artist Dick Ayers
- reprinted Strange Tales Annual #2 (1963)
- #3: "I Was the Man Who Lived Twice", by artist John Buscema
- reprinted Strange Tales Annual #2 (1963)
- #3: "I Fly to the Stars", by writer Stan Lee, penciler Jack Kirby, inker Dick Ayers
- reprinted Strange Tales Annual #2 (1963)
- #5: "I Am ... Gorilla", by artist Paul ReinmanPaul ReinmanPaul J. Reinman was an American comic book artist best known as one of industry legend's Jack Kirby's frequent inkers during what comics fans and historians call the Silver Age of comic books...
- #5: "I Am ... Gorilla", by artist Paul Reinman
- reprinted Sinister Tales (UK) #223
- reprinted Strange Tales