Chapter 11 March 1948Planet Comics #53

Superficially, Science Fiction is about life in the

future. But the idea behind the genre is more

complex. In spite of the trappings of things to

come science fiction is almost always about the

present and it is often, even unintentionally,

used to enlighten or warn the present day

reader. The alien threats to a society from

without typically represent the greater fear of a

threat from within. There are exceptions of

course. Sometimes there is no deeper meaning

and the story is about nothing more than

cowboys in outer space.

Planet Comics #53 (March 1948)

Planet Comics #53 (March 1948)

One of the many ideas that the science fiction

creator attempts to relate to an audience is that

often messiahs are hazardous to your health. It

is a recurring theme in all types of fiction and as

human history has so repeatedly proven, it has

more than a bit of truth to it. This is painfully

evident to the slaves of Pan-Cosmos in the

eleventh chapter of the Futura Saga from

Planet Comics #53 (March 1948) as they learn

the road to Cymradia is paved with good

intentions. This story not only marks the finale

to the mediocre "Magic Sword" story arc but

also some elements of the original settings as

well. The teaser on the final page of this

installment promises a new direction for Futura

though it really is more of a return to the original

idea to be found at the beginning of the series.

Planet Comics

was a science fiction comic-book title

produced by Fiction House and issued

from Jan. 1940 (issue 1) to Winter 1953

(issue 73). Like many of Fiction House's

early comics titles, Planet Comics was a

spinoff of a pulp magazine, in this case

Planet Stories, which featured space

operatic tales of muscular, heroic space

adventurers who were quick with their 'ray

pistols' and always running into gorgeous

females who needed rescue from bug-

eyed space aliens or fiendish interstellar

bad guys.

Planet Comics #1 (January 1940)

Planet Comics was considered by noted fan Raymond Miller to be "perhaps the best of the

Fiction House group," as well as "most collected and most valued." In Miller's opinion, it

"wasn't really featuring good art or stories... in the first dozen or so issues," not gaining most

of "its better known characters" until "about the 10th issue." "Only 3 of its long running strips

started with the first issue... Flint Baker, Auro - Lord of Jupiter, and the Red Comet."