Number 950
Sex ed gives me a Woody
Who says comic books aren't educational? Here's a sex ed lecture on X and Y chromosomes and what makes males and females, and it even uses the word "sperms." Whew. Heavy stuff for the early '50s. EC Comics prided itself on having older, more mature readers, but for every one of them there were probably many more pre-teens looking goggle-eyed at this story. Two prospectors are kidnapped by a flying saucer sent by females of our far future for the purposes of reproduction. And do these good ol' boys get into THAT idea! It's drawn by Wally Wood.
Pass me your fan, Granny, I'm gettin' hot over here lookin' at these pretty gals and thinkin' of what I'd do in Marty and Phil's shoes.
From Weird Science-Fantasy #24, 1954:
As a bonus, here are scans of the original art, which I downloaded a few years ago from the Heritage Auctions site.
Hairy Green Eyeball recently posted something similar, both the original art and printed comic for a Wood story from Valor. You can find it here.
DANG, Wood is good! Great story and I love the black & white originals too. You gave us a real gem today, Pappy!
ReplyDeleteFascinating, Pappy, (especially being able to compare the finished art with the original).
ReplyDeleteBut - maaan!!! - there where so many directions that story could've gone in!
...when the glamorous feminine figures get their kit off we're confused - until our heroes suddenly realise it was actually the WOMEN who became extinct...at which point a handlebar moustached third flying saucer passenger dressed in bikers' gear we've never noticed before steps forward and says, "Excuse me, 'girlfriend' - looks like this's a job for a REAL 'man'!"
Alternatively, our heroes, unable to believe their luck exclaim, "You mean you're go'n'o increase your population by having us fertilise the whole frickin' planet?"
"Good god, no! We're go'n'o transform YOU into women!"
Or:
"We're go'n'o transform you into women..."
"Oh, no!"
"...and us into men"
"Ooh, now I'm conflicted!"
Gad, Borky...I think you should write comic books. You show a gift for dialogue.
ReplyDeleteJeff, we're lucky William M. Gaines was the type who kept everything, and stored all that original artwork. I've been an EC fan, reading the comics for decades. The originals give me a buzz, seeing the familiar stories in a whole new way.