The Hyborian Age by Howard, Thomas & Simonson

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Script by Roy Thomas; Art © Walt Simonson;
The Hyborian Age and Conan © their current copyright holders.

Read: Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

A repost!

Life on Other Worlds: Callisto (1947) by Murphy Anderson

The well-known Martian meteorite, ALH84001 is unique among Mars rocks available for study on Earth, since its formation age is more than 2.5 billion years older than any other recognized Martian meteorite, giving scientists the only sample of material formed early in Mars' history.

The true age of this meteorite is has now been determined to be 4.091 billion years old, about 400 million years younger than earlier age estimates. This stone formed during an important time when Mars was wet and had a magnetic field, conditions that are favorable for the development of simple life. This finding precludes ALH84001 from being a remnant of primordial Martian crust, as well as confirming that volcanic activity was ongoing in Mars over much of its history.

"This research helps us better refine the history of Mars," Lapen said. "This has huge ramifications for our understanding of volcanic processes active in Mars and for the nature of deeper portions of the planet that are sources of magmas that produced the largest volcanoes in the solar system. These data also are used to refine models of initial planetary formation and early evolution." link

From Planet Comics #50 (Sept., 1947)
Art by Murphy Anderson © Fiction House

Ref.: A Younger Age for ALH84001 and Its Geochemical Link to Shergottite Sources in Mars. T. J. Lapen, et al. Science 328: 347 - 351.

Abstract: Martian meteorite ALH84001 (ALH) is the oldest known igneous rock from Mars and has been used to constrain its early history. Lutetium-hafnium (Lu-Hf) isotope data for ALH indicate an igneous age of 4.091 ± 0.030 billion years, nearly coeval with an interval of heavy bombardment and cessation of the martian core dynamo and magnetic field. The calculated Lu/Hf and Sm/Nd (samarium/neodymium) ratios of the ALH parental magma source indicate that it must have undergone extensive igneous processing associated with the crystallization of a deep magma ocean. This same mantle source region also produced the shergottite magmas (dated 150 to 570 million years ago), possibly indicating uniform igneous processes in Mars for nearly 4 billion years.

Syd Barrett & Astronomy Domine

Tommy Tomorrow (1947) by Virgil Finlay

Real Fact Stories #6 (C) DC Comics

If you're going to introduce a new Sci-Fi hero in the late 1940's then who better to handle the art then Virgil Finlay, artiste extraordinaire of the Pulps. Alas, poor Virgil did not count on the crumby pulp paper of the comics to ruin his fine line work.

The script is credited to Jack Schiff, George Kashdan, & Bernie Breslauer by the good folks at The Grand Comics Database.

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Plus, some "Just Imagine" inserts by Virgil from the same series:



Real Fact Comics #4



Real Fact Comics #5



Real Fact Comics #6

The True Story of Batman and Robin: How A Big Time Comic Is Born! (1946)

From Real Fact Comics #5, comes a contractually obligated DC party line story on the creation of Batman. It’s fun to note that Bob Kane had nothing to do with this feature.

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Plus - Some nonsense filler from the same issue:

Real Fact Comics #5, 1946. (C) DC Comics.
Script by Jack Schiff; Mort Weisinger, & Bernie Breslauer; Art by Win Mortimer

Behold! The Forbidden Dimension!

Tom Bagley (aka Jackson Phibes) has been producing great art AND great music as the de facto leader of Calgary’s own horror-themed rock ‘n roll band, Forbidden Dimension. His art graces some the best indie LP covers and his gig posters (like these) are things of beauty.

Check out more art by Tom at Tom-Bagley.com and check the band out at their MySpace site. Don’t forget to follow Tom and 6(+) of his fellow sinners at the 7 Deadly Sinners blog

If the film Carnival of Souls was a rock band it would be Forbidden Dimension!

Did someone mention Vaughn Bode?

I Was Big-Game On Neptune (1958) by Jack Kirby

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My Greatest Adventure # 20 (1958), © DC Comics
Art by Jack Kirby

Inaugurated This Day (1889): The Eiffel Tower

In 1889, the Eiffel Tower, Paris, France, was inaugurated, becoming the world's tallest tower of its era. With a height of 300-m (986-ft), it remained the world's tallest structure until surpassed by the Empire State Building, 40 years later. The designer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, 56, celebrated by unfurling a French flag at the top of the tower.

The immense iron latticework design was chosen unanimously from 700 proposals submitted in a competition. Construction took from 26 Jan 1887 to 31 Mar 1889, using 300 steel workers. It was erected for the Paris Exposition of 1889, which had 1,968,287 visitors. link

A very young version of The Pixies tip their collective hats to Alex Eiffel: