One War Which Can Never Stop! (1946)

Picture News #1 (1946)


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It Stands In The Snow (1956) by Sol Brodsky

World of Fantasy #2, July 1956 © Marvel Comics
Art by Sol Brodsky




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Sol Brodsky (April 22, 1923 – June 4, 1984) was one of the small group of people responsible for making the classic Silver Age of Marvel Comics actually happen. As a go-to artist/inker on many early Marvel comics, he became the companies production manager and Stan Lee’s right-hand man during the Marvel 'Pop Art' explosion. Sol’s name was all over the credits of the 1960’s Marvel Comics, but I’m sure few of the readers actually knew what he did.

How importrant was he? When Jack Kirby and Stan Lee concocted a story for What If? in 1978 reimagining the Fantastic Four as being members of the Marvel Bullpen, Bordsky filled the roll of The Human Torch, with much beloved Flo Steinberg (Lee’s secretary and chief letter-answerer) becoming the Invisible Girl (although Merry Mary Severin could also have filled this role). Lee and Kirby were, of course, Mr Fantastic and The Thing, respectively.

Sol Flames' On!

Nightmare Island! (1952) by Carmine Infantino

Sensation Mystery #110 (July-Aug.), 1952 © DC Comics

Sensation Mystery is the mostly-forgotten offspring of Sensation Comics, picking up its numbering and continuing on from #110 to #116. While the art is solid by DC’s stable of reliable pros such as Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson & Frank Giacoia, the stories are generally uninspiring. Still, there are a few gems scattered amongst the run of the book.

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Pencils: Carmine Infantio; Inks: Sy Barry

A new study shows how an amphibious fish stays alive for up to two months on land. Mangrove killifish are small fish that live in temporary pools in coastal mangrove forest. During dry seasons when their pools disappear, the fish hole up in leaf litter or hollow logs. As long as they stay moist, they can survive for extended periods out of water by breathing air through their skin.

The key to their survival is found in special cells called ionocytes, normally found on the gills of other fish that are clustered on the skin of the killfish. Other fish species have skin ionocytes in their larval stages of development, but usually these cells disappear from the skin during development.

The skin of the mangrove killifish is also equipped to help the fish deal with varying salinity. When out-of-water fish were placed on a surface moist with salt water, the skin ionocytes got bigger, indicating that they're working overtime to keep the right salt balance. When those fish were placed back in water, the skin ionocytes returned to normal size.

It's adaptations like this that make this fish special—even among amphibious fish. Lungfish, for example, need to alter their physiological state to live out of water. But with its special skin, mangrove killifish can maintain all of their normal physiological processes at nearly the same level as being in water—and they can do it for over 60 days. link

Ref. A Fish Out of Water: Gill and Skin Remodeling Promotes Osmo- and Ionoregulation in the Mangrove Killifish Kryptolebias marmoratus. 2010. D. M. LeBlanc, et al. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 83:932–949.

Tim Burton's "Trick or Treat"

© Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Jim Hill Media has ths scoop on an unproducted Tim Burton project still owned by Disney, complete with lots of Tim's artwork.

Top Cat in The Ghost Host (1968)

Top Cat © Hanna-Barbera

Here’s a Halloween item for the kids featuring Top Cat and his gang of cool cats. Was there ever a better series from Hanna-Barbera?

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Well, Top Cat might have been topped by Frankenstein Jr. in concept, if not actual plot and writing. If ever a cartoon series reflected the ideals of Atomic Surgery, this is it! A Frankenstein super-robot that fights weird villains aided by his kid-sidekick (or was it the other way around?):

Frankenstein Jr. Vs The Monster Mobile

Adventures Into Darkness! (1953)

More Halloween goodies from Adventures Into Darkness #12, from Dec., 1953! And who did that great cover logo!?


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“The Living Dead of Kulatum” might be by Jack Katz, while “Nightmare” may be by Bernard (The Spectre) Baily.

FYI, AID #12 leads off with a great story by Alex Toth, Serpent of Doom!, that you can read over at The Horrors of It All.

Steve Rude On Sale

Crystal © Marvel Comics. Art by Steve Rude

Our favourite witch by Jack Kirby!

Heads up True Believers! As of the time stamp on this post you can order a copy of the deluxe, signed edition of Steve Rude’s, Artist In Motion over at Amazon.com for under $20!

From Flesk Publications