Junk Carter, Warmonger Of Mars

Semi-prosaic reality intrudes on free-wheeling fantasy now, as Wally Wood goes back to his MAD roots, while giving his then apprentice Ralph Reese a chance to shine in Creepy.
Warmonger Of Mars really does feel like a lost MAD strip ( though without the layers of 'chicken fat' background gags Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder would've snuck in there ), and while it's obvious that at least some panels were laid out by Woody, Reese's patented beautiful grotesqueries are really the stars.
And Kurtzman would've loved that ending.

Alan Class Presents Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents

This week just gone marked the anniversary of the birth of the one & only Wally Wood.
Woody was the first comic book artist I was ever a fan of, from the instant I saw his first issue of Daredevil reprinted in Mighty World Of Marvel.
But soon after that, I also discovered his magnificent T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series. However, rather than reading the adventures of Noman, Menthor & Dynamo in the original Tower comics, we on this side of the pond experienced this stuff in the glorious ( and shockingly badly printed ) Alan Class line.
Oh, you thought Charlton printed on bad paper?
As I've reminisced before, these comics ran to no publishing schedule known to man, each issue featuring completely different characters and stories, and were culled from Silver Age Marvel, Charlton, Tower, and god knows where else. There was no rhyme or reason to any of it.
In fact, they weren't even called Alan Class comics. They weren't called anything, except maybe 'Summer Holiday Comics', as that seemed to be when they mostly appeared.
In fact, even though Class obviously paid to reprint these stories, they do sort of feel like bootlegs these days.
So, as we head into summer, here's how Woody & Dynamo, and all the rest of the gang, were introduced to us.
For the full effect, read this on the beach while your parents repeatedly ask you if you're going to be spending the holiday doing nothing but reading comics.

Wulf The Barbarian: The Beast Of Famine

Here's the second, and last great, issue of Wulf The Barbarian, before it all went belly up for Wulf in general and Atlas Comics in particular. It's a rollicking good Arabian Nights style adventure wherein the blond battler gets himself some new pals, including Grey Mouser like thief / sidekick Rymnstrdle.
As you can see from the hacked together cover, this is one of those Diverse Hands / Crusty Bunkers pieces where everybody and his uncle helped out to meet a deadline. As well as creator Larry Hama, and regular inker Klaus Janson, you also get Neal Adams, Ralph Reese, Bob McCleod, Pat Broderick, Vincente Alcazar, Paul Kirshner & Jack Abel all pitching in. Larry credits Wally Wood too, but I don't spot him in there, so maybe this issue was done in his studio?
Anyway, this is a great fun romp of a comic, with Wulf slightly deviating away from his mission of revenge, which was already getting old halfway through issue #1.
On the basis of The Beast Of Famine, I'll say it again. Wulf The Barbarian could've gone places.
After all, his world was bigger than mortal comprehension, so there were plenty of places for him to go to.