| Comments |
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| More than a few of the stories were certainly repurposed for this book by adding a couple of sci-fi words here and there but I have to say that 'Kenny Carr of the Martian Lancers' takes the cake, right down to our hero boarding a dang train for his trip back to Earth. |
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| Is it just me, or is Kenny Carr of the Martian Lancers simply a re-lettered historical war comic? |
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| Kenny Carr certainly does look like a repurposed military story. However they didn't have to re-letter anything but the logo and opening caption. Nothing else refers to Mars or anything else science-fictional. I notice however that Carr's last name has been re-lettered throughout. So the original hero must have been Kenny [SomethingElse]. On the same subject, Gale Allen flies a propeller-driven plane to Saturn. Some feat! Obviously the editor/writers didn't give a hang...like Dr C suggests, they just plugged a few s-f words into some old adventure stories. |
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| Is it possible that Kenny Carr of the Martian Lancers was originally Denny Scott of the Bengal Lancers? I just read a Denny Scott story stories in Mystery Men #1, and the art, setting, and general tone look awfully similar. It wouldn't be that hard to change "Denny Scott" to "Kenny Carr" (especially when everything's in all caps).
I'm not sure how kindly Fox Features would've looked on seeing one of their stories re-lettered and sold to Fiction House, but I don't actually know anything about either company, so it's possible they merged or something before the reprint occurred.
Anyhow, I'm gonna glance at the other Denny Scott stories on the archive to see if any of them look familiar. |
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| Nope. Looks like none of the stories match, but I'm going to stand by my theory until a more likely candidate presents itself. |
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| It's also possible that the story was written to be a Denny Scott story then it got rejected, or the series was cancelled, and the story was repurposed. That's happened a few times in the history of comics. |
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| Additional Information |
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| Publication | April 1940 | Price: 0.10 USD | Pages: 1 | Frequency: Every month |
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| Cover | Slave Planet; Space Islands of Destruction |
| Featuring | Flint Baker |
| Credits | Letters: typeset |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: Flint Baker |
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| Featuring | Bull's-Eye Bannon |
| Credits | Letters: typeset |
| Content | Genre: Detective-mystery | Characters: Bull's-Eye Bannon |
| Notes | Found on the inside front cover.
Indicia lists Thurmond T. Scott as President, Malcolm Reiss as Editor, William E. Eisner as Art Director, and S. M. Iger as Feature Editor.
Illustrated promotional advertisement and contest from the publisher, offering $25 in prize money plus a membership in the new exclusive Junior Detective MANHUNTER Agency. Readers are told that each month Bull's-Eye would present a new case in the form of a strip at the bottom of a page in Planet, Jumbo, Jungle and Fight Comics which the readers would examine, then write out their solution to the case and submit it to the publishers along with the coupons found in each of those issues. The best solution gets $5, while the next 20 get $1 each. Deadline is May 1, 1940.
On sale date for Planet #5 (May, 1940) is listed as April 15th. |
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| Comic Story | Slave Planet (11 pages) |
| Synopsis | On their way back to Earth, Flint and Mimi are attacked by a space monster as they pass the planet Jupiter, and when others threaten,the crew decides to land on Jupiter. There they face the threat of the Great Eye, the Great Ear and the Great Mouth. |
| Featuring | Flint Baker |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: Fletcher "Flint" Baker; Mimi Wilson; Parks (crew member); the Great Eye (villain, introduction, death?); the Great Ear (villain, introduction); the Great Mouth (villain, introduction); space monsters (villains, creatures, some die) |
| Notes | The story title is taken from the cover.
HS notes that the last three pages show evidence of involvement by Will Eisner.
Script credit suggested by the Who's Who. |
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| Synopsis | The people inhabiting Auro's planet gather to watch a strange space ship hurtling from space and landing in a lake. When Auro investigates, he discovers the ship contains a young Prince of Saturn who was shot into space by his madman uncle. |
| Featuring | Auro Lord of Jupiter |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: Auro [also as Thogra]; Jano (Prince of Saturn, introduction); Thogra (villain, Jano's uncle, a Saturnian, introduction, death) |
| Notes | Powell's credit suggested by the Who's Who. |
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| Synopsis | While cruising in outer space, the Comet spots an Earth ship heading directly toward Vegeto, the Planet of Deadly Plants. He decides to follow them down and saves them before the planet's vegetation destroys them. |
| Featuring | The Red Comet |
| Credits | Inks:? [shop] |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: The Red Comet; unnamed Earth explorers |
| Notes | Art credits suggested by the Who's Who.
Oddity: The Red Comet shrinks down and communicates with termites (ala Ant-Man). |
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| Synopsis | As Captain Cole is being recognized as guest of honor at the Third Centenary of the Solar Police Force, a death ray strikes and kills a number of dancers. Cole investigates the ray and discovers that his enemy, Felon, is behind it. Cole follows his foe to Earth, where Felon is offering his services to aggressor nations. |
| Featuring | Captain Nelson Cole of the Solar Force |
| Credits | Script:? [as Beekman Terrill (byline)] |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: Captain Nelson Cole; Felon (villain) |
| Notes | Art credits from Roy Thomas Presents Planet Comics (PS Artbooks, 2012 series) #1. |
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| Text Story | Mist Men of Mercury (2 pages) |
| Synopsis | Kirk was spinning out of control through space after escaping from a concentration camp on Earth, being placed there by a mad dictator who was going to execute him for a crime he never committed. He lands on Mercury by chance and discovers the eerie Mist Men. |
| Credits | Script:? [as Arnot Bissel] (credited) | Inks:? (spot illustrations) | Letters: typeset |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: Kirk; Hoffer (scientist); the Mist Men |
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| Comic Story | Space Islands of Destruction (7 pages) |
| Synopsis | Spurt is sent to Mercury to battle the dreaded beaked men who wear detachable bat wings and have been attacking the commerce routes and taking hostages for ransom. |
| Featuring | Spurt Hammond, Planet Flyer |
| Credits | Script:? [as Wm. S. Mott (byline)] |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: Spurt Hammond; Janice Dale (introduction); Mercurian pirates (villains, introduction for all) |
| Notes | Story title is taken from the cover blurb.
Story occurs in the year 25000. |
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| Synopsis | Dr. Curan brings desperate news from the Earth to Lt. Crandall that the Moon is going to explode due to the build-up of hydrogen gas at its core. Unfortunately for them, one of the passengers invited along for the trip, Dr. Zynnon, has an intense hatred for mankind and seeks to destroy them. |
| Featuring | Buzz Crandall of the Space Patrol |
| Credits | Script:? [as Bob Jordan (byline)] |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: Lieutenant Buzz Crandall; Doctor Curan [aka Curran]; Sandra Curan (the doctor's daughter); Dr. Zynnon (villain, introduction, death) |
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| Synopsis | The colonel and Dwight scheme to get Kenny to re-enlist. Unknown to them, their phony plot turns out to be real, and Carr re-ups to help repel the invaders. |
| Featuring | Kenny Carr of the Martian Lancers |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: Captain Kenny Carr (introduction); Dwight (Carr's service buddy); unnamed colonel; enemy soldiers (villains, half die) |
| Notes | Only appearance, even though the story seems to imply that this is a continued story from somewhere, and the final blurb indicates that Carr will return in the next issue. |
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| Synopsis | North receives an urgent SOS from a scouting party, stating that they have been captured by pirates from Pluto. North asks the commandant for help and Gale Allen and her Women's Space Battalion arrive to help out, much to his disdain. |
| Featuring | Gale Allen of the Women's Space Battalion |
| Credits | Script:? [as Fred Nelson (byline)] |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: Gale Allen and the Women's Space Battalion (introduction for all); Captain Jack North (Universal Space Patrol member, introduction); The Plutonians (villains, introduction for all, some die) |
| Notes | On the cover, this feature is billed as "Gale Allen of the Girls' Space Patrol." |
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| Featuring | Space Facts |
| Credits | Script:? [by Lunar] (signed) |
| Content | Genre: Non-fiction; Math & Science |
| Notes | Amazing space facts are presented in four separate illustrated panels. |
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| Comic Story | Case 2....File-A....Clue 4 |
| Featuring | The Case of the Frightened Killer |
| Content | Genre: Detective-mystery | Characters: Bull's-Eye Bannon; Nora Earl (Dean's daughter-in-law); Clarence Dean (Earl's younger son); Miss Kane (a nurse) |
| Notes | The 4th and final clue is provided in Case 2 and which Junior Manhunters of American are asked to solve and discover the identity of the true guilty person. |
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| Comic Story | The Strongest Man in the Universe (5 pages) |
| Synopsis | Giant must face fierce men from the North Pole who travel in strange sleds that can reach speeds of 100 mph and are armed with ray guns. |
| Featuring | Jim Giant, the Strongest Man in the Universe |
| Credits | Script:? [as Ned Small (byline)] |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: Jim Giant (introduction); an unnamed dictator to be (villain, introduction) |
| Notes | Only appearance, even though the final blurb indicates that Giant will back in the next issue. |
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| Credits | Pencils: various | Inks: various | Letters: typeset |
| Content | Genre: Adventure; Jungle |
| Notes | Found on the inside back cover.
Illustrated house advertisement for Jungle Comics #4 (Charles Sultan ? art), Fight Comics #4 (Lou Fine art), and Jumbo Comics #14 (Bob Powell art), all covers reproduced with on sale dates. Readers are asked to read all four (including unseen Planet Comics) and join in the new Manhunter contest. |
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| Credits | Pencils:? (photo) | Inks:? (photo) | Letters: typeset |
| Notes | On back cover.
Photo illustrated advertisement from the Book Coupon Exchange in New York City, offering to Planet Comics' readers the opportunity to get the works of 25 great authors in 25 giant volumes. By sending in the coupon provided, the reader will receive the first volume, "The Complete Works of Shakespeare", in advance, then submit payment within one week for 89 cents (for the regular edition) or $1.39 (for the deluxe edition). Once payment is received, the reader will receive a form for future books in the series. |
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| The data in the additional content section is courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under a
Creative Commons Attribution License.
More details about this comic may be available in their page here |
