Alien Enterprise
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Alien Enterprise
or: Give Peace a Chance
Believe me kiddies, I’m not trying to turn this into an ongoing discussion on war and peace. This is purely luck of the draw which, this week, reveals Captain Johner and the Aliens #1 from Valiant. Originally in ran in the back of Magnus, Robot Fighter from Gold Key/Dell back in 1963.
The world was in the midst of the space race. Tensions ran high. The bomb hung over everything. Sci Fi was a hot ticket. Captain Johner and the Aliens foreshadowed Star Trek by a couple of years when Johner and crew are sent forth to discover new worlds and civilizations... and immediately panic and start shooting at the first sign of the Aliens, who are happy to respond in kind because, well... patriotism.
Both sides are convinced the other must be destroyed. Neither side can allow the other to follow them home. Things are getting close to hand to hand when Capt Johner decides to try communicating... that dirty, hippy pinko! The Aliens and humans agree to swap out a portion of their crews that each might learn from the others... awww.
The stories aren’t much. Variations on killing-bad, understanding-good. Russ Manning’s art is always a treat, the Alien’s design being the highlight of the strip. These guys were just cool
Russ Manning’s - the Aliens!
Happy Trails,
Smitty