Holiday Tales Bonus! The Marvel Family in "The Year Without a Christmas!"

You probably know the story. DC came out with Superman in 1938, creating the superhero craze that still exists to this day. Sometime in 1939, Fawcett Comics created Captain Marvel, another superhero who, at one point in the 1940s, was outselling Superman. DC sued Fawcett for copyright infringement, and in 1953, won their case, forcing Captain Marvel's cancellation. For nearly 20 years, Captain Marvel and his pals lingered in limbo, their only hold on the public consciousness being Gomer Pyle shouting their magic word on occasion. In 1972, though, DC acquired the rights to Captain Marvel and decided to publish "the Big Red Cheese" themselves. Everyone thought it was going to be "the next big thing" (even if they did have to call the comic "Shazam", after Captain Marvel's power source/mentor, to avoid copyright problems with Marvel Comics' space-born superhero, Captain Marvel). The first issue came out between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 1972, and it was fun, but it didn't set the world on fire. Shazam lasted just over five years (35 issues, the last published in February, 1978) before becoming a back-up feature in World's Finest Comics (issues 253-282) .

Still, DC did put out some pretty neat stories featuring Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., and Mary Marvel (aka the Marvel Family). Here's a special holiday treat by Elliot S! Maggin and Kurt Schaffenberger, the whole Marvel Family facing "The Year Without a Christmas!"


UPDATE: This has nothing to do with Christmas, the holidays, or the Marvel Family story above, but it's so cool I had to share it with ya! Groove-ophile Planettom has created a Killdozer flash game, and man, is it far-out! Check it out here, then visit Planettom's site for more groovy games!

Science Fiction Theater: Killdozer

What's happening, Groove-ophiles? Welcome to the first-ever Diversions of the Groovy Kind Science Fiction Theater! Remember those Saturday afternoons or evenings spent in front of the old boob-tube watching old sci-fi/fantasy/horror movies hosted by some dude with a schlocky shtick telling really bad jokes before and after commercial breaks? If you do, then you know what Ol' Groove is up to here. If you don't, well, you're in for a treat, Grasshopper! The popcorn's popped, the tubes are warm, so have a seat and let's get started!

"Killdozer" was famed s.f. author Theodore Sturgeon's breakout story. Written in just 9 days, "Killdozer" was the only story Sturgeon, famous for his bouts of writers' block, produced between 1941 and 1945. It was first published in the November, 1944, issue of Astounding Science Fiction, then revised and reprinted in 1959's Aliens 4 collection.

In February, 1973, Marvel Comics started a new comicbook series called Worlds Unknown. The purpose of this series was to present adaptations of classic science fiction stories in comicbook form, similar to their fledgling Supernatural Thrillers which adapted classic horror stories. Worlds Unknown ran for 8 issues, ending in May, 1974.

For some reason, in 1974, the big-wigs at ABC-TV thought that "Killdozer" would make a great movie for their fledgling Saturday Night Movie of the Week series. The movie first aired on February 2, 1974 and starred guys like Clint Walker, Neville Brand, and a young Robert Urich.

In January, 1974, Worlds Unknown Presents the Thing Called... Killdozer #6 hit the stands, complete with an "as seen on TV" blurb on the cover (which is kinda wonky since we wouldn't see "Killdozer" on TV until the second day of February!). It was fate. Karma. Kismet! The stars aligned way back then...so Ol' Groove could lay this post on ya today. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Can you feel the positive vibes? Have you never been mellow? No? Well, then see how you feel after you've read...Killdozer (Written by Gerry Conway, art by Dick Ayers and Ernie Chan)!