TRAVELS IN THE INTERIOR (1887) – Nearly eighty years before the movie Fantastic Voyage, this work of “ancient” science fiction detailed a party of shrunken heroes on an odyssey through a human being’s body. This cleverly-titled tale was written by Alfred Taylor Schofield under the name Luke T Courteney.
London medical student Luke Theophilus Courteney passes his examinations to be admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons. His uncle, Captain Goodchild, helps the young man celebrate by taking Luke (nicknamed Pill from his middle name) and his younger sister Belinda to Trebizond, Turkey for a brief holiday.
Goodchild kindly takes along Pill’s friend Sutton, who failed the examinations and needs some moral support. Pill’s mastery of anatomy will enable him, Belinda and Sutton to survive their upcoming microscopic adventure.
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CAPTAIN MORS VS HIS MORTAL ENEMY – The brilliant and deadly Ned Gully, Kapitan Mors’ archenemy, at last returns! Along with his female associate Nelly he is in the Rocky Mountains overseeing the construction of his newest airship – one capable of vertical take-off and landing.
SILVER SCORPION
Powers: The Silver Scorpion was in peak physical condition and excelled at jiu-jitsu and other martial arts. In addition, she was as agile as an acrobat.
FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH (1907) – Written by Thomas William Lawson, a writer and stock manipulator who made a fortune from shady stock deals … in between advocating for cleaning up Wall Street to shut down those fleece jobs. The reforms Lawson campaigned for were taken up decades later when Franklin Roosevelt appointed future Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas to head the Securities Exchange Commission.
Jim Randolph, one of the novel’s main characters, is in the T.R. mold: he may be a bloated rich pig but at least he’s a bloated rich pig with a sense of noblesse oblige. Jim shares Teddy Roosevelt’s disdain for the Trusts and for con men who use the stock market to rip off their clients.
SECRETS OF THE METEORITE – Once again Kapitan Mors and his crew take off from their secret island base on a space exploration mission. Among the crew of Mors’ spaceship the Meteor are the regulars – Executive Officer Lindo of India, Engineers Stern and Schrecken, Ship’s Astronomer Van Halen, plus Science Officers Anita and Lucy Long.
CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS Vol 1 #1 (June 1982)
They both agree that since Earth has the greatest concentration of superbeings it will be the site of their mysterious contest. The two villains abduct every single superhero in Marvel Comics at the time, plus several new ones from around the world who were just introduced in this story.
A BATTLE BETWEEN AIRSHIPS – Word reaches our Air Pirate Kapitan Mors about French efforts to duplicate his Luftschiff in anticipation of the global conflict that many fear is inevitable. Still considering himself outside international law, Mors determines to nip in the bud any challenge to his aircraft.
BATTLE BRICK ROAD IS NOT TO BE MISSED.
Get ready for Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion like you’ve never seen them before – as technologically and biologically enhanced warriors in a dystopian world that not even Mad Max could survive.
APOCALYPSE CULTURE (1987) – Call me a purist, but the only Apocalypse Culture book I like is the very first one from 1987, not the later editions nor the sequel from the year 2000. By 2000 the book was pointless and unnecessary since the internet was already replacing such publications as Apocalypse Culture, Answer Me! and much of the Loompanics catalogue.
JOURNEY WITH DEATH – Talimbo, one of the Indian members of the Luftschiff’s crew, has died. His widow Siva is devastated and asks to travel on the spaceship Meteor‘s next journey. Kapitan Mors okays the request little dreaming that the widow blames Machinist Mate Schrecken for stopping her from immolating herself in mourning and wants to kill him for revenge.