Captain's Library: HOT WHEELS "Dragstrip Finals...Dragstrip Disaster!!!" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

Somewhat misleading cover art by Alex Toth, Neal Adams & Dick Giordano

Competing against the national champion, Jack Wheeler's drag racer explodes due to sabotage by rich snot Dexter Carter.

Confronted, Dexter denies the charge and challenges Jack to a "no holds barred" drag race one month later.

Unable to prove Dexter's guilt, Jack agrees, and he and the Hot Wheels spend the month preparing a super-dragster.

With only one day to the race, Dexter steals the car, replacing it with a barely-functioning wreck.

The Hot Wheels, short of time, work around the clock to make the clunker operational.

The next morning, before the race, a confident Dexter bets his expensive customized dragster that he can beat Jack.

And the races are ON...

This tale of jet power and just desserts from Hot Wheels #2 (1970) was scripted by Joe Gill, penciled by Alex Toth, and inked by Dick Giordano, who also edited the book.

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Captain's Library: HOT WHEELS "Dragstrip Finals...Dragstrip Disaster!!!" Part 1

Continuing the very first comic book derived from an animated tv series based on a toy line...

...here's another never-reprinted story, from Hot Wheels #2 (1970)

Very astute, Jack. You know your rich sleazeballs.

Be here tomorrow for surprises galore as the Hot Wheels and Dexter's Demons race one-on-one!

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Captain's Library: SPACE: 1999 "Adam & Eve-Mark II"

This is not a sequel, or related, to the Year 2 ep "New Adam, New Eve"...

...since it was written and drawn for the 1975 Space: 1999 Annual and clearly takes place in Year 1!

Ah, the old "they have no immunity to our germs" ending!

It worked for H.G. Wells, it works here...

Illustrated by John Burns, who rendered a number of other Gerry Anderson series in comic strip form,  this story appeared in the 1975 Space: 1999 Annual, a hardcover containing short stories, comic strips, text features, games, and photos.

Battle of the STAR TREK Captains in THIS MEANS WAR!

It's Kirk vs Picard...over a woman!

There have been numerous examples of actors who previously played heroes appearing together in genre movies and tv shows as other, unrelated, characters.

(This does not count actors meeting their later counterparts like Buster Crabbe on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Christopher Reeve and Helen Slater on Smallville, or Adam West on Batman the Animated Series!)

In this case, Chris Pine (Captain James T Kirk in Star Trek [2009]) and Tom Hardy (Captain Jean-Luc Picard clone Shinzon in Star Trek: Nemesis [2002]), making it an alternate-universe Kirk vs a clone Picard in the new film This Means War.
And, while the flick is being promoted as a romantic comedy, it's also an action-adventure/spy pic!

Here are some other "sorta" movie/tv team-ups...

The Lone Ranger meets Commando Cody!
Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger on The Lone Ranger tv series) played the lead villainous henchman in Radar Men from the Moon!

Batman meets Superman
Robert Lowry (Batman in the Batman & Robin serial) appearing as a government agent on Adventures of Superman!

The Shadow meets The Green Hornet
Victor Jory (The Shadow in The Shadow serial) playing a villain on The Green Hornet [1966]!

Captain Midnight meets Captain Kirk
Richard Webb (Captain Midnight on the Captain Midnight tv series) as a psycho Starfleet officer on Star Trek!

Doc Savage / Tarzan meets Superboy
Ron Ely (Doc Savage in Doc Savage: the Man of Bronze & Tarzan on Tarzan [1966-69]) portraying the retired Golden Age Superman on Adventures of Superboy!

James Bond meets Superboy
George Lazenby (James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service) as Jor-El in Adventures of Superboy.

The Batman meets The Shadow
Adam West (Batman on Batman [1966]) met Alec Baldwin (The Shadow in The Shadow [1995]) on 30 Rock!
For the first time, the meeting of two actors who played heroes, and neither was a heroic character!

Captain's Library: STAR TREK "Planet of the Robots"

You've seen the various comics from Gold Key, Marvel, DC, IDW, etc....

...but, if you're an American reader, you've never seen this!

Captain Kurt?

The Enterprise lands on a planet?

Spock shouting?

Lt Bailey, who was left on the Fesarius with Balok in "Corbomite Maneuver" is still aboard the Enterprise?

It was 1969.

Star Trek had not yet aired in England.

The publisher of the wildly-successful weekly comic magazine TV Century 21, which featured strips based on the various Gerry Anderson series (Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, etc.), decided to launch a new weekly magazine showcasing the currently-running Anderson series, Joe 90.

Entitled Joe 90: Top Secret, it also featured a couple of two-page strips about imported American TV series, Star Trek and Land of the Giants.

Since the shows hadn't yet aired in England, the writers and artist Harry Lindfield were working off whatever print material and photo reference was sent from America.

(Apparently they didn't send them a copy of Stephen Whitfield's Making of Star Trek, which explains things like the Enterprise landing on a planet's surface.)

The storylines usually ran six weeks, but could go longer if required.

Because the Trek strip had the centerfold slot, it allowed for panels running thru what would be the interior gutters on any other page, giving them a wide Sunday newspaper-strip feel and layout.

We'll be presenting more of these in the months to come, so keep an eye out for them.

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Star Wars in 3-D...25 Years Ago!

Star Wars I: the Phantom Menace in 3-D isn't the first time you've seen the Expanded Universe in 3-D!

1987 saw the release of a three-issue miniseries from Blackthorne Publishing with all-new stories and art!

The storyline takes place between Star Wars IV: a New Hope and Star Wars V: the Empire Strikes Back.

The story is referenced in X-Wing: Rogue Squadron, so it's probably in the Expanded Universe.

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3-D: THREE DIMENSIONAL COMICS "Mighty Mouse"

Get out the red/blue 3-D glasses (red on the left, blue on the right)...

...cause it's 3-D Week at all the RetroBlogs™!

Got your glasses on?

Here we go with the first 3-D comic book...

This tale was especially-designed for use as a 3-D story (unlike some comic tales that were adapted from 2-D to 3-D during the 1950s 3-D craze.)

In fact, this was the first 3-D comic.
And, it was a 2,000,000 plus-seller through two printings!
These days, most comics sell under 25,000 copies.
A comic selling 100,000 is cause for celebration!
Every company from DC, EC, and Atlas (Marvel's predecessor), to Harvey and Archie tried 3-D books, none lasted more than two issues.
But little St John, who did the first one also did the only ones that ran for three or four issues!

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Captain's Library: HOT WHEELS "Mint 400"

Beginning in issue #2, Hot Wheels began running a series of backup stories...

...including "origins" explaining how members joined the team, which was shown as already established in the first issue.

Oddly. enough, the "origin" tales weren't in chronological order

#2's origin showed Kip joining with Tank, Mickey, and Jack.

#5's origin depicted Mickey and Jack meeting and becoming the first two members.

Script by Joe Gill, pencils by Ric Estrada, and inks by Dick Giordano.

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