539 – Superboy, Back to the Future

Only a couple months after visiting the 25th century, Superboy visits the 30th century in Superboy #27 (June 1953) in a story called “The Movie Star of Tomorrow!”. This time it is thanks to an inventor working on a device that captures artifacts from the past for his museum, who snags Superboy into the 30th […]

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538 – Speed Carter, Spaceman!

Atlas Comics (Marvel) debuts Speed Carter, Spaceman #1 (May 1953). Speed Carter was a member of the Space Sentinels, which jetted around space stopping invasions and battling space pirates in 2075. Speed Carter was drawn by Joe Maneely who had a pretty distinctive style filled with action and emotion.

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537 – New Krypton?

In Action Comics #182 (May 1953), scientists on Earth detect a new planet entering the solar system. It turns out to be a perfect replica of Superman’s home planet, Krypton. So Superman goes to investigate: Of course due to the intense gravitational power of the planet, Superman has to borrow a rocket to fly around […]

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536 – Sky Girl

Remember that time Lois Lane had super powers and became a super-powered heroine until Superman put her in her place? Or that time when Lana Lang thought she had developed super powers until Superboy per her in her place? Well yet another plot permutation around this concept happens in Adventure Comics #189 (April 1953). This […]

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535 – Faced with Horror

The Vault of Horror #20 (March 1953) features a pretty gruesome cover. It depicts a man beaten to death with a sledgehammer, which appears to be taken from the story titled “Easel Kill Ya!”. By early 1953, EC was definitely pushing the boundaries of what Gaines called “good taste”.

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534 – The October Game

Ray Bradbury’s story-telling prowess makes another very memorable appearance with “The October Game” in Shock SuspenStories #9 (March 1953). I love it a lot because it’s dark and scary in ways that are completely different from other bits of horror schlock that EC comes up with because it’s about the real and true horror within […]

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533 – Wonderful Multiverse

In Wonder Woman #59 (March 1953), Diana meets a doppleganger who has identical appearance and powers. This is Princess “Tara Terruna”, which means “Wonder Woman” in their language. Wonder Woman deduces that she is on a parallel Earth that has doubles of everyone on Earth: We are still a long ways away from a true […]

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532 – Superboy in the Future

Although it has been well-established that Superboy can willingly travel through time, in Adventure Comics #187 (February 1953), Superboy is accidentally snatched into the 25th century and must spend some time there until the next “fortuitous planetary conjunction”. While in the 25th century, he learns that records of the 20th century have been wiped out […]

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531 – Not Man-Bat

While EC was producing some of the most thought-provoking stories of their time, I can’t say the same thing was happening over at DC. In Batman #76 (February 1953), the Penguin escapes and starts assaulting Gotham City with giant mythical birds that appear to have powers. Amidst basilisks, dragons, and rocs, the Penguin introduced a […]

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530 – Judgment Day!

In EC’s Weird Fantasy #18 (January 1953), the now-infamous story of “Judgment Day!” appears. This tells the story of an astronaut from Earth who lands on a planet populated by sentient robots to see if the planet is ready to enter the great Galactic Republic. After being taken through the orange robot’s society, the astronaut […]

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