More Retrofuturistic 1950s Cards: Jets, Rockets, and Spacemen!

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bowman, cats in space, jets rockets and spacemen, outer space, pteranodon, science fiction, space octopus, space pirate, trading cards, vintage space art

Bowman produced these beautifully painted trading cards beginning in 1951: Jets, Rockets, and Spacemen! The “jets” cards merely showed normal airplanes with informative text on the back, but the rest of the series told a story about a fantastic space adventure, with each card as a chapter.

The slideshow below features some of my favorites. You can find a complete collection of both the fronts and backs of these cards, so you can take the entire journey, at http://www.lowellsplace.com/jrs/jrs_main_page.html

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Though I only heard about these cards this year, the series is clearly a direct ancestor of the Meteor Mags stories. Its conception of space involves pirates, cats, octopuses, and dinosaurs (flying reptiles, actually: pteranodons). That’s my kind of space adventure!

Octopuses in space!

Vicious cats on other planets!

Space pirates!

Interplanetary Dinosaurs!

I love keeping up with current developments in space exploration, but I guarantee you that interplanetary travel will never kick as much ass as it did in 1951! Tragically, this series stopped before the complete story was told. You can read more about its production, and why it was never finished, at https://www.psacard.com/articles/articleview/6976/psa-set-registry-1951-bowman-jets-rockets-spacemen-trading-card-thats-blasting-off-popularity

 

Audiobook #2: Never See the Night

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audiobook, books, horror, never see the night, octopus, science fiction, self publishing, space octopus, writing

My short story Never See the Night is now available as an audiobook on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. It’s science fiction with a double-shot of action and horror, and the grisly scenes with the telepathic space octopus are not for the faint-hearted.

I’ve had positive response to my article Ten Things I Learned from Making My First Audiobook, and my workshop group made good suggestions that have now been incorporated into it. If you’re wondering if you can produce your own audiobook, I encourage you to read the article, then give it a shot!

My biggest lesson from Never See the Night came not from producing the audiobook but from writing the original story. It taught me that having a cool idea is easy, but plotting is hard. Maybe that’s not news to you, but I only started writing fiction three years ago. So, when I first had the idea for this story and drafted the opening scenes, I got stalled immediately. Several things about the original draft made my desired plot points completely unworkable.

The draft ended up on the shelf for an entire year. Now and then I would come back to it, try something different, and realize that didn’t work either. It was so frustrating!

Oddly, that frustration helped me identify with the characters. They struggle to solve problems, and their efforts are repeatedly thwarted. My feeling of being “locked out” of this story put me in the same position as the characters who are locked out of the lab. Their struggle became mine. In the end, I think it’s a better story for it, with deeper characterization than I had in the early drafts. Despite the challenging hours that went into plotting, the story became less about the plot and more about the people.

The people and, of course, the octopus.

 

now in print: The Baby and The Crystal Cube

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books, dream fiction, Dreaming, dreams, lucid dreaming, psychological thriller, science fiction, self publishing, sleep lab

Two lucid dreamers meet in recurring dreams, fall in love, and conceive a dream baby; but the unreality of the dream world leads them to distrust each other—with nightmarish results.

A paranoid exploration of two minds dreaming the same dream, and fighting to control it.

On Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

On Barnes & Noble in paperback and Nook Book.

On Apple iBooks.

indie spotlight: tomb of the triceratops

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dinosaur, dinosaur books, fiction, michael ajax, science fiction, tomb of the triceratops, young adult

Click the cover for a free Kindle preview of Tomb of the Triceratops.

Tomb of the Triceratops takes you on a dinosaur dig where researchers and a group of young students uncover a realm where dinosaurs are still alive. The boys selected to go on this archaeological expedition risk their lives to free a triceratops from the clutches of its brutal, otherworldly tormentors.

And that’s just the beginning.

Author Michael Ajax seasons the story with plenty of dino facts that will surely please any dino-maniac. Between the action scenes, the characters are just as likely to discuss the biology of a Stygimoloch as they are their interpersonal conflicts. The people in this story are passionate about dinosaurs, and that makes it especially fun for those of us who share that enthusiasm.

Though action-packed, Tomb of the Triceratops keeps its language and violence in the “family-friendly” range. Even as an adult reader, I was pulled into the nightmarish struggle of the captive triceratops, but the level of detail and word choice did not venture into overly graphic territory. If you thought Jurassic Park and Rex Riders were fun, this is a good addition to your bookshelf.

The boy heroes of the story casually banter with each other, keep secrets from the adults, and have an unforgettable adventure in this first novel by Michael Ajax. Discover the mysteries inside the Tomb of the Triceratops in paperback or for just 99 cents in Kindle.

Author website: http://www.michaelajax.com/

318 by autumn kalquist

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318, autumn kalquist, defective, fractured era, science fiction, short story

In a future threatened by disease outbreaks, immunity will become a valuable commodity. 318 explores the horrifying plight of those born with a special immunity and imprisoned as dehumanized test subjects to be studied. This short story introduced me to Kalquist’s work and quickly drew me in. With crisp, clear language, it elicits an emotional connection to the suffering of the main character, known by her number 318.

Kalquist takes you right into the action and then fills in the backstory with dialogue and character memories. In the process, you become invested in the dystopic world she has created and what fate will befall her characters in Kalquist’s longer Fractured Era story Defective, to be released this Fall. With sympathetic characters and a frighteningly believable near-future threatened by disease epidemics, the 318 short story is one of the best short sci-fi works to come across my review desk in the last couple of years.
Buy the Kindle version for 99 cents.

Dan Dare

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2000AD, black and white, Dan Dare, Indie Comics, Massimo Bellardinelli, science fiction, UK comics

 
For years, we passed up UK science fiction hero Dan Dare because of his utterly terrible name. Big mistake! But, some scans of his early adventures in 2000AD really floored us. Fantastic space art full of raging aliens cranks the awesome-meter into the red. Dan Dare has the interesting points-of-view and dramatic panel layouts chock-full of action that typify the 2000AD classics.

 

 
If you know of a collected edition that features these 2000AD tales, we would love to hear from you. We can’t find one! Many artists and writers, including Pat Mills, Dave Gibbons, and Massimo Bellardinelli worked on Dan at 2000AD. We will share with you a few of the scans we found from these late 1970s stories.

 

 
A more vintage take on Dan Dare “The Pilot of the Future” awaits readers in a series of Titan Books reprints collecting early Frank Hampson tales in the 1950s and 60s. Readers wanting a more contemporary take on Dan might enjoy the Dan Dare by Garth Ennis Omnibus, Ennis being well-known for his work on Preacher, The Boys, and Punisher.

Jim Starlin’s Origin of God and Birth of Death!

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Death, Eclipse Comics, God, Indie Comics, Jim Starlin, origin, science fiction, Star Reach, Star Reach Classics

Jim Starlin’s single-page origin of god and his short origin of death originally appeared in the first issue of the 1974 series Star Reach. Star Reach Productions published its own Greatest Hits in 1979. In 1984, Eclipse reprinted six issues of highlights from the series as Star Reach Classics. We recommend it for fans of classic 70s science fiction. It’s in stock far more often than the original issues, and Eclipse printed it on high-quality paper, a really nice production. You can get most of them for just a couple dollars a piece.

Starlin gives us some of his finest 70s illustration, artistically superior to his more famous work on Captain Marvel, and on par with his best Warlock stories. If you enjoy these, you will enjoy Starlin’s Darklon the Mystic from that same era. Diversions of the Groovy Kind hosts some pages from Warren’s Eerie magazine where you can read part of Darklon in black and white. Or, you can drop a dollar on a back issue by Pacific Comics that reprints the complete Darklon story in color.

Collector’s Guide:
– From Star Reach Classics #1; Eclipse, 1984.

Jack Kirby’s Captain Victory: Splash Panel Gallery

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Captain Victory, Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers, Galactic Rangers, Indie Comics, Jack Kirby, outer space, Pacific Comics, science fiction

In the early days of Mars Will Send No More, we ran a series of daily splash panels from many of Jack Kirby’s masterpieces. Captain Victory proved very popular, perhaps because not many readers have seen this underrated series near the end of Kirby’s career.

As Kirby continued what seems now like a life-long struggle for creative control, he released Captain Victory through Pacific Comics. But in 1981, well before the internet or even specialty comic shops had taken root in America, most readers of Marvel and DC never even heard of Captain Victory. What Kirby lost in widespread promotion, however, he made up for in unrestrained outrageousness and endless gallons of Kirby Krackle.

We think you will agree the over-the-top awesomeness of Jack Kirby’s comic book style rarely looked better than in these eye-popping splash panels. And so, in celebration of sharing three years of comic book awesomeness with you here on Mars, please behold the splendor of Captain Victory.

Collector’s Guide:
– From Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers #1-13; Pacific Comics, 1981.

In 2011-2012, Dynamite Entertainment published a new Captain Victory series with some wonderful Alex Ross covers.

 

John Byrne’s Space 1999 #3-6; Charlton, 1976

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Charlton, Indie Comics, John Byrne, Nicola Cuti, outer space, science fiction, Space 1999, Space 1999 Magazine

Damn it, these issues are hard to find in print! John Byrne worked on four issues of Charlton’s short-lived science fiction series, Space 1999. You don’t find too many of them in the back issue bins, though.

Archaia Press recently published new Space 1999 material by Gary Morrow, who also turned in some great black and white artwork for the original 1970s Space 1999 Magazine. John Byrne’s issues, however, remain something of a rarity.

We suspect once you see the pages, you understand why. Nicola Cuti’s story telling got us way more involved in the space drama than we expected. Byrne’s art rocks at the level of his classic X-men and Alpha Flight stories that garnered him far more fame not long after this brief stint. Our sole complaint: this outer space adventure tale did NOT run for 50 or 60 issues! What a great team Cuti and Byrne make here. Enjoy!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Space 1999 #3-6; Charlton, 1975.
John Byrne art, Nicola Cuti story.

John Byrne fans may also want to collect Space 1999 Magazine #4 produced by Charlton at the same time. Byrne worked on the fourth issue only.

 

Behold the Awesomizer; comic book pop art painting inspired by Jack Kirby

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acrylic, art, awesomizer, behold the awesomizer, comic book art, eBay, Jack Kirby, Kirby Krackle, outer space, painting, science fiction

Painted in bright, primary acrylics with chrome enamel highlights, it has a protective high-gloss varnish. Behold the Awesomizer measures 16x20x1 inches, with the artwork extending uninterrupted over the edges of the canvas.

Inspiration for this work of comic book-themed pop art comes from comics legend Jack Kirby, whose style practically defined Marvel Comics art of the 60s and 70s. Best known for co-creating Captain America, the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer, the Eternals, OMAC, and the DC classics of his own Fourth World series, Kirby published Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers near the end of his career.

Behold the Awesomizer pays tribute to Kirby and to the sense of cosmic wonder found in science-fiction comic books. As the powerful hand emerges from a whirlpool of rippling energy, a metallic eye shoots beams of light into the krackling vastness of outer space. Kirby Krackle coalesces around the hand as beams of light radiate from its fingertips. Inside it all, a great cosmic brain thinks thoughts that only you can determine.

Please see our ebay listing if you would like to make an offer on this artwork. SOLD.

Toy Robot painting

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1970s, acrylic, art, painting, robbie robot, robot, science fiction, Tomy, tomy toys, toy robot

Painted in bright acrylics with a high-gloss varnish finish, it shines like a metal robot should! It measures 10×10 inches, with gold, red, black, and tan colors. Inspiration for this work of pop art comes from the Tomy toy robot in the 1970s.