(P)Raising Kane: "He That Hath Wings!" by Hamilton, Kane, and Esposito

Here's a beautifully illustrated adaptation of Edmund Hamilton's 1938 sci-fi fable, "He That Hath Wings!" It was the back-up (and the longest) story in the debut issue of Marvel's sadly short-lived sci-fi comic, Worlds Unknown (February 1973). Adapted, scripted, and penciled by Gil Kane (but of course!) and inked by Mike Esposito, one has to wonder just how much Hamilton's original story influenced Stan Lee and/or Jack Kirby in the creation of a certain winged mutant...and is that why it made the cut for this should-have-been prestigious first issue?

Groove's Faves: "The Day After the Martians Came!" by Pohl, Conway, and Reese

How 'bout another sci-fi shocker, Groove-ophiles? This is a goodie, "The Day After the Martians Came!" adapted by Gerry Conway and Ralph Reese from Frederick Pohl's immortal short story. This classic first appeared in Marvel's World's Unknown #1 (February 1973). Can you dig it?

SCI-FrIday: "Arena" by Brown, Conway, Buscema, and Giordano

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today Ol' Groove is gonna lay some high-quality science fiction on ya, so grab a zeta-beam, use the force, and full speed ahead warp factor 7! We're headed for Fredric Brown's "Arena"!

Cincinnati-born (just like Ol' Groove!) Fred Brown was a fave of other great writers like Mickey Spillane, Ayn Rand, Philip K. Dick, and Neil Gaiman, who wrote tons of sci-fi and mystery back during the Golden Age of sci-fi. His most popular work just might be "Arena", which he wrote for the June 1944 issue of Astounding magazine. The story has been reprinted dozens of times and adapted many times as well. Not only did Marvel Comics adapt it for their Worlds Unknown #4 (August 1973) the focus of today's post, but it inspired episodes of Star Trek ("Arena"), Outer Limits ("Fun and Games"), and Space: 1999 ("The Rules of Luton"). "Arena" was also voted one of the Top 20 science fiction stories written before 1965. And just 'cause Ol' Groove loves ya, baby, you can read Brown's actual prose tale here.

Mighty Marvel knew they were dealing with a classic and pulled out all the stops. Editor Roy Thomas handed the writing reins to his pal Gerry Conway (already a published sci-fi novelist at that time) and the art chores to the titanic team of John Buscema (layouts) and Dick Giordano (finished pencils/inks). He even got the future definitive X-Men letter and colorist, Tom Orzechowski and Glynis Wein to ply their talents. There were only two mis-steps, in Ol' Groove's opinion. They mis-spelled "Fredric" in the credits on page one (thankfully, they got it right on the cover! Whew!). The other boo-boo? Ol' Groove'll fill ya in on that one after you've savored today's masterpiece! Onward!


Marvel's other mistake was in their re-printing of "Arena" in their black and white Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction one-shot back in 1976. Naturally, Glynis' cool colors were gone, but the worst crime was that they re-lettered the story using rectangular word balloons and type-set letters in an effort to make the story look "more adult." Blecchh! Ah, well, nobody's perfect, Rascally One!

Warriors and Wizards Week! Science Fiction Theater: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

Sinbad the Sailor, star of an ancient Middle Eastern cycle of tales made famous in Sir Richard Burton's 1885 The Book of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, Volume 6, could possibly be considered one of the grandfathers of the Sword and Sorcery genre. Throughout the 1970s, Marvel Comics proved quite skillful at adapting popular (and sometimes not-so-popular) flicks into comicbook form. So in honor of our

Warriors and Wizards Week

celebration, Ol' Groove thought it'd be kinda cool to share Len Wein, George Tuska, and Vinnie Colletta's adaptation of Columbia Pictures' Golden Voyage of Sinbad. "Freely adapted from Brian Clemens' screenplay", this adaptation by writer Wein and artists Tuska and Colletta does a nice job of capturing the spirit of the movie (which was a hit with the kids at Fairfield West Elementary and eventually reached cult-status, especially since it featured such geek-cult stars as John Phillip Law, Tom Baker, and Caroline Munro--not to mention the far-out stop-motion wizardry of the immortal Ray Harryhausen) in the mere 38 pages Marvel allowed. While it's not "...in the miracle of Dynarama" it is "...In the Epic Tradition of Conan!", so what more d'ya want? From Worlds Unknown #s 7-8 (March-May, 1974), here's "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad!"