LOOK! Up In The Sky! It's... What IS That?

While prepping this weekend's presentation of Vic Torry And His Flying Saucer, some related comics were piled off to the side, as is often the case around here.

Vic came from the dawn of the modern UFO era and many more followed over the years, gaining greater cultural presence in the late '60s and through the '70s. At the height of the Groovy Age, Gold Key published UFO Flying Saucers. The title lasted for at least seven issues (based on my pile here) between 1968 and 1975.
(Nope. Deeper investigation reveals there are six more issues not in the current pile. UFO ran for 13 issues, through 1977. And another 5 issue series followed from Whitman.)

The book establishes their editorial tone on the inside of the front cover with a short essay on the subject. The basic attitude is covered in the opening three sentences:

WHAT IS A UFO?
UFO simply means Unidentified Flying Object. A UFO is a phenomenon, usually a bright light in the sky, which has been observed but cannot be explained.

A brief overview follows, with this paragraph concluding the piece:

UFOs are nothing new. Sightings were made thousands of years ago. Still they defy all efforts to discover what they really are, where they come from and whether they amount to anything more than an interesting curiosity. In short, UFOs remain one of our most intriguing and persistent mysteries.

Now, don't fret. I didn't just blithely skip the middle. Much of what it had to say was more interestingly presented in some greater detail throughout the book in comic format. Let's go to the introduction, written by Leo Dorfman, along with everything else in the issue, and illustrated by Jet Dream's Joe Certa -

After that rather abrupt stop, the book shifts to short accounts of more modern encounters. Mixed in with those were various speculative pieces, usually 2-pagers like these:

LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS (art by Luiz Dominguez)

WHO FLIES THE SAUCERS? (art by Rocco Mastroserio)

EARTH'S OWN FLYING SAUCERS (art by Luiz Dominguez(?))

Oddly enough, this all links back to my favorite caveman comic...

page art from UFO Flying Saucers #1 (1968)

Covering The Sewer (No - Not Manhole Covers)

The previous post of Un-Comics came from Robin Bougie's very odd mag - Cinema Sewer.

In our adult content back room we've got a monster's dozen* covers from the magazine to wrap up today's Blue Monday Catch-up.  Step on back to the full mirror of this post on The Other Voice Of ODD! to view the cover gallery.


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*(Bakers don't use that dozen any more - time to hand it off to someone else)

Blue Monday Bonus - Un-Comics From The Sewer

Say you're a fan of 'trashy' movies. You love discovering what weird creations have sprung from the minds of those artists who dwell off on the sidestreets, far from the main Boulevard of Dreams.
Where do you go to find them?

Okay. You go to the internet these days - though it can be a daunting expedition that may leave one suffering from things that can never be unseen. It's often safer to find a trusty guide. For the past 20+ years, one man has put his sanity on the line for us, bringing back his (and his team's) reports from the Cinema Sewer - a guide named Robin Bougie. We'll be talking more about the magazine, but today's focus is on their frequent use of Un-Comics for both stories and reviews.


That's the focus of the latest post in our adult content 'back room'. To view the accompanying artwork, visit the full post on The Other Voice Of ODD!
The rest of the text is presented here for context (and search engines, since they can't get past doorman)


Given the focus of the magazine, it should come as no surprise that the creators seem completely unfettered, in the finest underground comix tradition. They are designed to express personal voices - quite bluntly and proudly. (In the dark corners of my mind, the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny is fought between Robin Bougie and Chris Gore, both summoning their troops from the best/worst of cinema)

So, here's a sampling of Cinema Sewer Un-Comics, ranging from film reviews to slice-of-life experiences to a History Of Bukkake and celebrity features and condemnations...



They even did a profile on The Fake Detective, Ed Lake -



Ed's done some great work over the years. I encountered him back in the late '90s while crafting some fakes (all clearly labelled, per his suggestion). The few months i spent playing with those taught me more about Photoshop than a decade of professional work using the tool. (In case you were wondering why.)

Sorry - couldn't find any on the active systems. I'd have to go digging in the archives to find examples.


page art by Robin Bougie, Kim Dietch, D.J. Bryant, David Paleo, Phil Barrett, Josh Simmons, Priscilla Equis, Joseph Bergin III, and Hugo for  Cinema Sewer #s 16, 18, 19, 20 & 22 (2005-2009)

Blue Monday - Dirty Shorts

I've been neglecting Blue Monday lately - a rather natural side effect of having no clue what day it is. Alas.
Today in our adult content back room we'll try to make up for it a little bit, starting with a selection of shorts. These have been piling up in my work bin from a wide variety of sources. Some, like the first and last offerings today, were not published in English, but the minimal dialogue needs no translation. Artists include Luis Royo and Lee Burks.

To take a look, please visit the complete mirror of this post on The Other Voice Of ODD!

Later today - we descend into the Sewer...

Blue Monday Calendar 2018 Week 23

I've Been Spotted is this week's Gil Elvgren painting from 1943 -

painting by Gil Elvgren (1943)

3-Day Weekend Matinee: Day The Third

I've got too many exclamations points laying around unused. Time to unload some!

Welcome back to our 3-Day Weekend Matinee!
Three Thrilling Tales!!!
Our 3rd chapter of Oskar Lebeck & Alden McWilliams' classic Twin Earths!
The return of Joe Kubert's Son Of Sinbad!!
The concluding chapter of Bob Powell's Vic Torry And His Flying Saucer!!!
Oh, the excitement! (Most of which comes from finally managing to connect and post this to the queue. Weather warming up again, and net connection failing. Oh, the joys of living outside the city!)

Okay... I think we used up a fair bit of our surplus - On With The Show!

Twin Earths - Chapter 3:

Previously on Twin Earths: Vana, an agent from Terra, has revealed the existence of her world to government agents of the United States. Occupying the opposite position on the same orbital path as Earth, Terra is scientifically more advanced than Earth, and poses a great potential danger - if she can convince the men in charge...

To Be Continued...

If you missed it, we recently took a quick look at Son Of Sinbad from Joe Kubert back in 1950. Here's another tale from that lone volume -

And, now - the exciting conclusion of Vic Torry And His Flying Saucer!

While looking for background information, i found that not only has Vic Torry's tale been reprinted in recent years, but Atlantis put out a 5" model of his flying saucer!

Nice to see some of those old lost strips being remembered. If you're interested in the model, here's their web page for it.

Twin Earths by Oskar Lebeck and Alden McWilliams for United Features,   Son Of Sinbad by Joe Kubert for Son Of Sinbad #1, Vic Torry by Roy  Ald and Bob Powell for Vic Torry And His Flying Saucer #1 (1947, 1950, 1952)

Sunday Morning Flicker Funnies

In keeping with our weekend movie theme, a double feature of John Graham & Al Walker's Flicker Funnies from back in the '40s -

pages by John Graham and Al Walker for Movie Comics #s 1 & 4 (1946, 1947)