Chapter 5 March 1947Planet Comics #47

For a B-Minus retrograde secretary Futura nee Marcia Reynolds handles herself pretty well when challenged with adversity. Having become the leader of the rebels Futura settles in and makes plans to not only defeat the Brain-Men but return to her previous life on her own terms.

Adapting quickly to her situation Futura makes use of the local population and exploits the environment as a weapon against the Masters of Pan-Cosmos. Several of the chapters of Futura address animal exploitation but not as a preachy, animal rights message. The animals in the story are used and discarded in much the same manner by both the protagonists and antagonists alike. The typical mind-set of 50 years ago was that nature existed to be used with little regard to the consequences and wise management of resources was given little consideration by anyone not raised in the country. Few people cared how chickens were raised and in what conditions, they just wanted it on the table for eating when they got home.

The Brain-Men attempt to manipulate nature for their own ends and Futura and the rebels do much the same using both native and engineered creatures against against one another. This works for both factions with varying success. The Brain-Men are hoisted by their own petard as their creations are used against them. The rebels have little control over their animal forces and are as much at risk of falling prey to the beasts as the Masters of Pan-Cosmos. The unintended message of the story is that nature is ultimately not to be brought under the will of man.

Planet Comics #47 (March 1947)

Planet Comics #47 (March 1947)

It refuses to be manipulated and both the wild animals and the genetically manipulated creatures are of limited use. They create havoc and eventually self-destruct and need to be killed when their usefulness is ended.

The public consciousness has changed in recent years and some common sense is being applied in the way humans interact with the environment (at least in countries that can afford to). It is a slow process but one that is gaining in momentum. Real and lasting progress may soon be evident unless some unmanageable disaster occurs to threaten the food supply. Uncontrollable costs, dwindling supply and the amount people will accept to be inconvenienced may cause what progress that has been made to be set back. It seems nearly inconceivable now but in America during World War II there was the perception that there just wasn't enough food to go around. rationing was enacted for food, fuel and most other products because the supply could not meet wartime demands. People were urged to grow their own food to take up the slack and recycling was nearly mandatory. Nothing was wasted at risk of social ostracism and being thought of as unpatriotic.

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."