Confusing Time Travel or Rex Havoc & The Missing Magic Trick

Today, let us travel back to 1984 in 1978. As confounded as that might sound, it's actually pretty simple - the year was 1978, the comics appeared in Warren's 1984 magazine.

When a series opens with "You will never see anything more horrible than a boy's dead dog return from the grave to bite its young master's face off" one might immediately suspect that things are going to get a bit strange. And then when you see who's doing it, fun strange can be expected.

The team of Jim Stenstrum and Abel Laxamana, who we've seen previously with their Joe Guy: America's Foremost Hero, bring us another odd hero - Rex Havoc. As you might suspect from the opening statement, our hero lives in a world of monsters and denizens of the unknown.

Let's take a look, shall we?

Unsurprisingly, Rex Havoc's adventures were gathered together into a reprint magazine -
 

But! They skipped the second tale since they only had 72 pages, and this one was another 14 pages long. However, in so doing, they jumped right past the great magic trick, in which Abel and Jim turn a carrot into a potato -

That blurb should read "NEXT: The Scroll Of RA-Sisboom-Bah" but i guess the old Egyptian censors didn't like the nudity.

page art by Abel Laxamana for 1984 #s 4 & 5 (1978, 1979)

Tass Times In Sunuria

Back in 1975 one of the more unusual fanzines emerged. 

Charlton Bullseye, rather obviously devoted to Charlton Comics, lasted for only 5 issues in its original incarnation. But those few issues were packed with talent. Editors included Bob Layton and Roger Stern, and the first issue credits alone included "John Byrne, Nick Cuti, Steve Ditko, Jeff Jones, Dave Kaler, Sanho Kim, Frank Maynerd, Allen Milgrom, Jim Starlin, Joe Staton, Roger Stern, Howard Siegel, Tom Sutton, Barb Weaver, Phil "Lester" Wesner, and the Big Cheese-George R. Wildman."

For a quick peek inside today, let's just look at the story that goes with that first issue cover. It's a two-parter, continued in the second issue, but E-Man got the second cover. I can't complain about that - i dig E-Man and Joe Staton. 

This tale picks up after an 8 year gap, with words by Roger Stern (using the name Jon G. Michels for part one) and art by Steve Ditko and John Byrne!

When i look at the clean black & white on some strips and covers like these, i think of having some fun colouring.
That might not make a bad post, eh? 
A collection of things to print and colour for some fun while trapped inside by Trump Flu in the air.

Hmm... 

page art by Steve Ditko and John Byrne from Charlton Bullseye #s 1 & 2 (1975)

This Post Is Rated GP

Somewhere between the Challengers Of The Unknown and the Blackhawks existed the Ghost Patrol.

So, who were these guys?

Originally written by Ted Udall and Emmanuel Demby with art by Frank Harry, (good luck figuring that out from the page credit below), the Ghost Patrol debuted with their origin in 1942 in the pages of Flash Comics...

Things sure worked out better for them than for these guys...

Like the Blackhawks, the Ghost Patrol continued well past the end of World War II - until 1949 - appearing in most issues of Flash Comics between #s 29-104. And, like those other guys, they sometimes had trouble finding direction without the war that spawned them. Things evolved and changed, with John Wentworth now scripting...

...things always change...

(Thanks, kiff57krocker)

...except   War. War Never Changes.

There was a Ghost Patrol that appeared in Our Army At War in 1963, but that was some other guys. They were Infantry. 
Fred, Slim and Pedro seem to have moved on from this realm.

page art by Frank Harry from Flash Comics #s 29, 38, & 70, panel art by kiff57krocker (1942, 1943, 1946, 2019)

(Yes, i've been playing FallOut games again)