Beyond Mars | |
---|---|
Author(s) | Jack Williamson |
Illustrator(s) | Lee Elias |
Current status/schedule | Concluded daily & Sunday strip |
Launch date | February 17, 1952 |
End date | March 13, 1955 |
Syndicate(s) | Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate |
Publisher(s) |
Blackthorne Publishing IDW Publishing |
Genre(s) | Science fiction |
Beyond Mars was a science fiction comic strip written by Jack Williamson and drawn by Lee Elias. The Sunday strip ran in the New York Daily News from February 17, 1952, to March 13, 1955, initially as a full tabloid page and, near the end, as a half tab. It is set in the same universe as the Williamson novels Seetee Ship and Seetee Shock. [1]
The creation of Beyond Mars happened in an unusual way—because of a bad review. The New York Times reviewed a Williamson novel, stating that his writing "ranks only slightly above that of comic strip adventures." The review was read by Daily News editor Ana Barker who immediately contacted Williamson, hired him to script a similar comic strip and teamed him with illustrator Elias. [1]
The strip's storyline was loosely based on Seetee Ship: in the year 2191, freelance pilot and "spatial engineer" Mike Flint carried out odd jobs - usually on behalf of beautiful women - across the wild frontier of the asteroid belt. Flint had a base on the small habitable asteroid of Brooklyn Rock, from where he and his alien partner/sidekick Tham Thmith (a Venusian with metal-based biology and a speech impediment) operated a classic Art-Deco rocketship powered by antimatter.
As the product of a notable SF writer, the strip was somewhat more scientifically accurate than most of its contemporaries, at least by period standards. The pre- Mariner Venus and Mars were depicted as the homes of intelligent species (the Martians being essentially sentient bivalves), and even very small asteroids could be made to retain a habitable biosphere via gravitational manipulation.
Comics historian Dave Karlen reviewed:
In 1987, the entire strip was reprinted in two Blackthorne trade paperbacks. Blackthorne also reprinted it as series of comic books. [2] IDW Publishing reprinted the entire strip in an oversized hardback book in October 2015.
Beyond Mars | |
---|---|
Author(s) | Jack Williamson |
Illustrator(s) | Lee Elias |
Current status/schedule | Concluded daily & Sunday strip |
Launch date | February 17, 1952 |
End date | March 13, 1955 |
Syndicate(s) | Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate |
Publisher(s) |
Blackthorne Publishing IDW Publishing |
Genre(s) | Science fiction |
Beyond Mars was a science fiction comic strip written by Jack Williamson and drawn by Lee Elias. The Sunday strip ran in the New York Daily News from February 17, 1952, to March 13, 1955, initially as a full tabloid page and, near the end, as a half tab. It is set in the same universe as the Williamson novels Seetee Ship and Seetee Shock. [1]
The creation of Beyond Mars happened in an unusual way—because of a bad review. The New York Times reviewed a Williamson novel, stating that his writing "ranks only slightly above that of comic strip adventures." The review was read by Daily News editor Ana Barker who immediately contacted Williamson, hired him to script a similar comic strip and teamed him with illustrator Elias. [1]
The strip's storyline was loosely based on Seetee Ship: in the year 2191, freelance pilot and "spatial engineer" Mike Flint carried out odd jobs - usually on behalf of beautiful women - across the wild frontier of the asteroid belt. Flint had a base on the small habitable asteroid of Brooklyn Rock, from where he and his alien partner/sidekick Tham Thmith (a Venusian with metal-based biology and a speech impediment) operated a classic Art-Deco rocketship powered by antimatter.
As the product of a notable SF writer, the strip was somewhat more scientifically accurate than most of its contemporaries, at least by period standards. The pre- Mariner Venus and Mars were depicted as the homes of intelligent species (the Martians being essentially sentient bivalves), and even very small asteroids could be made to retain a habitable biosphere via gravitational manipulation.
Comics historian Dave Karlen reviewed:
In 1987, the entire strip was reprinted in two Blackthorne trade paperbacks. Blackthorne also reprinted it as series of comic books. [2] IDW Publishing reprinted the entire strip in an oversized hardback book in October 2015.