Captain's Library & Theatre MEN INTO SPACE "Dust and the Depths"

We Have Already Seen...

...a four man-expedition led by this stalwart young fellow, USAF Coloney Edwar MacCauley, has reached the Moon!

They discover underground caverns where, during a moonquake, one of the astronauts sacrifices himself to enable the others to climb out safely.
The three survivors return to the ship, then decide to do another probe into the cavers below...

This adaptation of the conclusion of the 2nd episode of the series, "Moon Landing" is almost totally-different than the aired episode!

It's much more ambitious in scope and would've required far more eleborate SFX than what was shown on TV.

We suspect that, due to the lead time to produce the comic (about three months from scripting to illustrating to printing), comic scripter Gardner DuBois worked from an early draft of the episode from James (Shogun) Clavell.
To compare, we offer you the actual episode by clicking HERE, and it'll open in a new window for your viewing pleasure!

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The Making of the TV Series

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Captain's Library MEN INTO SPACE "Moon Landing"

As the Artemis Moon-Shot Finally Prepares for Launch...

...we're going to show you how we planned to do it even before we sent a single human being into space with the comic adaptation of a TV series from 1959...

To Be Concluded...Thursday!

The Men in Space TV series ran for one season of 38 episodes, the equivalent of three seasons today on broadcast or streaming services, on CBS in 1959-60.

It eschewed typical space-opera stereotypes and plotlines, and presented a realistic "Day after Tomorrow" scenario utilizing info provided by the US Air Force, the then-newly created NASA, actual rocket scientist Dr Werhner von Braun, and designer/futurist Chesley Bonestell!

The story from Dell's Four Color Comics: Men into Space #1083 (1960), adapting the second episode "Moon Landing" scripted by James (Shogun) Clavell was scripted by Gaylord DuBois and illustrated (pencils & inks) by Murphy Anderson!

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Captain's Library MEN INTO SPACE Returns to the Moon...65 Years Later!

As the Artemis moon shot prepares to blast-off...

...we're going to look at the first TV series that fairly-realistically speculated how it would happen!

These covers, from the novelization of the first few episodes of the TV show, give you an idea of the tone of the series.

There was also a one-shot comic which ran three stories, the first of which is synopsized below!

We're running that tale as part of Space Hero Saturdays this coming Saturday!

 The remaining two-part story does cover the lunar launch, journey, and landing!

You'll see those chapters right here on Tuesday and Thursday!

But first, let's take a break the way the spacemen do...

No, we're not advocating smoking, but we did want to spotlight the kool, cutting-edge Chesley Bonestell art the series used as the basis for it's production design!

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Captain's Holiday Library: Christmas Comics SMILIN' ED & HIS GANG "Visit Santa Claus Land"

One of the most popular kids' shows on radio in the 1940s-50s...

...was Smilin' Ed's Buster Brown Gang (later the Buster Brown Show), which had a long-running comic book spin-off!

Note: while this never-reprinted tale from Buster Brown Comic Book #33 (1953) was written by the show's scripter, Hobart Donovan, it's not an adaptation of a radio or tv episode!

Ed McConnell aka "Smilin' Ed" was a long-time radio personality who had his own (adult-oriented) radio show for over a decade before signing with the Buster Brown Shoe Company in 1944 to host their new juvenile radio series.

Smilin' Ed's Buster Brown Gang began on September 2, continuing on NBC radio every Saturday morning at 11:30 through April 11, 1953.

There was an adventure story to open the show, ads for Buster Brown shoes, and Froggy the Gremlin might sing a song or annoy another cast member, such as Shortfellow the Poet or Alkali Pete the Cowboy.

The character Midnight the Cat actually spoke a few lines on the show and Smilin' Ed was always prone to sing a novelty song or two by plunking his magic twanger.
The term "plunking" may have come from McConnell's habit of plunking the strings on his piano to emphasize some of the action in his stories.
McConnell was also the voice of Froggy, putting on a low, gruff, Popeye-like croak.

However, whenever McConnell had to sing a duet with Froggy, announcer Archie Presby was the voice of Froggy.
When there was a live audience, Archie would sometimes dress up in a frog costume and carry on to the delight of the screaming kids.

Additional cast members included June Foray and John Dehner.
Foray was called upon to voice Midnight and Old Grandie the Piano.
Bud Tollefson, the sound effects engineer, growled the voice of Buster's dog Tige.
Child actor Patrick Curtis (Baby Beau Wilkes in Gone With The Wind) played Buster Brown in 1949-50. "That's my dog Tige, he lives in a shoe, I'm Buster Brown, look for me in there too!"

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Christmas Radio Classics 
20 Shows on 10 CDs
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