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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Men Into Space

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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Men Into Space

The Making of the TV Series

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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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Men Into Space

The Making of the TV Series

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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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Captain's 50th Anniversary Theatre & Library SPACE: 1999 "Breakaway" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

It's the year 1999, and Commander John Koenig has just assumed command of Moonbase Alpha!

His assignment: prepare the Meta Probe crew, who will launch shortly to explore a rogue planet that's entered the Solar System.
But something...not disease nor radiation...is crippling and killing the Meta Probe crew, as well as other Moonbase personnel!
Koenig, Medical officer Dr Helena Russell, and renowned scientist Professor Victor Bergman figure out that magnetic radiation from Nuclear Waste Disposal Area #1 all the affected people worked near caused their physical decay and deaths.
Shortly after they've implemented safeguards, Waste Dump #1's contents combust, destroying the site.
The much larger Nuclear Waste Disposal Area #2, which had been showing similar readings, now begins the same progression towards fission/fusion.
To forestall that, the entire base's staff begin trying to extract and spread out the nuclear waste over the surface of the Moon...

As we continue, you can listen to the audio by clicking HERE 

(The audio will open in a new window and you'll have to set the playback at 7:20 to continue from where it left off yesterday.) and read the comic!

Think of it as a podcast...with visuals!

Penciled by Russ Heath & Rich Buckler and inked by Dick Giordano & Terry Austin, this original-material comic was one of two produced by Power Records in 1975.

The scripter of the adaptation of the pilot episode is unknown.

The other comic/record, "Return to the Beginning" wasn't an adaptation of a TV episode, but a new story by an unknown writer.
Here's a kool bonus for you...audio from all seven of Power Records' Space: 1999 episodes!
Just click on the ep's title and the audio will open up in a new window.
"Breakaway" (without the comic book), along with "Death's Other Dominion" and "Mission of the Darians" were released on a 33 1/3 LP record album.
"Return to the Beginning" (also without the comic book), along with another original story, "It Played So Softly On the Ear" and adaptations of episodes "End of Eternity" and "Dragon's Domain"were on a second 33 13 LP record album.

Enjoy!

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Space: 1999
The Complete Series

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