Thursday, April 16, 2015

Free Science Fiction Comic Book Resource - Chartlon Comics Space Adventures Issue #58 For Your Old School Science Fantasy Or Science Fiction Campaigns

A nice public domain source of old school science fiction goodness is the free goodness of the boys from Derby Connecticut's Charlton Comics title. 
You Can Read This Issue Right Over
HERE


 Space Adventures issue fifty eight features a great old school pulptastic cover. . Space Adventures was pure pulpy goodness with anthology flare to its title. According to Wiki: 
Space Adventures (sometimes cover-titled Science Fiction Space AdventuresSpace Adventures Presents Rocky Jones and other variations for particular issues) was an American science-fiction anthology comic book series published sporadically by Charlton Comics from 1952 to 1979. Its initial iteration included some of the earliest work of industry notables Steve DitkoDick Giordano, and Tony Tallarico, and at least one story by EC Comics mainstay Bernard Krigstein.
In 1960, a second iteration introduced the superhero Captain Atom by writer Joe Gill and artist Ditko, shortly prior to Ditko's co-creation of Spider-Man for Marvel Comics. This issue is from August sixty four and features some high weirdness in the old school Charlton tradition.
We start off the proceedings with The Guise of Beauty is a slightly different alien society with a different take on the whole Doppelganger theme. Easily applied to any old school retroclone rpg system such as Hulks and Horrors or perhaps as a quick adventure encounter for Star Ships and Space Men second edition.
The Eye In Space is the six page cover story and has some nice space background elements that can easily  be applied to either X plorers or another Star Ships & Space Men Second edition game.  All is not at all as it seems with a race of mechanism using aliens. Not a bad little tale to use as quick mid game filler. 
Comic Book Cover For Space Adventures v3 #58

'The Isotope Man' introduces yet another alien race with a gang of adventurers from Earth stumbling upon what they think is a weird race of beings only to discover that they can have the tables easily turned upon them by atomic warfare. A quick trade and perhaps the near Earthlings can be saved. This is a nice situation to use as a way to make some quick coin for your space going adventurers. I think that this story might work for Hulks and Horrors where mankind has lost touch with other colony worlds. 
'We are among you' is an interesting little tale that has elements of a race of terrifying aliens with the familiar Achilles heel of being able to be defeated by an ordinary substance. This might make an excellent piece for an X plorers game where the PC's have to do as much investigation as they have blasting with their ray guns. 
Comic Book Cover For Space Adventures v3 #58
Black Omen is another tale with an over arching feel of an adventure that takes place at the edge of a Federation style interstellar empire. This comic book story looks like it might involve an Arduin  monster the  Thunderbird. And might make an excellent bridge gap with between a Star Ships and Space Men Second edition game and a bloody,bloody, Arduin campaign.

Comic Book Cover For Space Adventures v3 #58

All in all this is a rather nice little issue that features a number of good mid point adventure encounters which could be added right into an existing retroclone science fantasy or fiction retroclone game. The stories are not connected to any particularity storyline or background giving the DM plenty of room for DYI improv when it comes to adding them into the backdrop of their campaigns. So in my estimation this isn't the best of the Charlton Space Adventures comic books but not the worst either. This issue can easily be added to your favorite retroclone science fiction campaign as a quick and dirty filler easily sewn into the backdrop of your campaign setting. 

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