Norman, is that you? 4 4

[adamstrange]

On 3/4/2023 at 1:04 PM, Flex Mentallo said:

It was only two issues I think?

If there was a #11 there must have been 10 issues preceding, right?

Nope.  Just a marketing gimmick to fool the distributors that it was a well-established, commercially viable publication, and they should be sure to treat it properly.  Their first few issues were #1s, but they were concerned enough about the distribution such that they soon started all titles with #10, confusing the first generation of fandom, frustrated by the search for the "missing" issues.

[Flex Mentallo]

On 3/4/2023 at 7:15 PM, adamstrange said:

As a young'n, Murphy was a huge fan of sci-fi.  That's why his early art was in Planet comics, from which he was able to get the assignment for the "Buck Rogers" syndicated strip.  This was a dream job as he had grown up reading this strip, the first nationally syndicated sci-fi serial.  Unfortunately, it did not pay well and there were "complications" with the syndicate that led to him quit the strip and movie from Chicago back to North Carolina where he worked at his father's cab company. 

Jerry Siegel recruited him for Z-D and he got enough money to move to NYC.  Together they created "Lars of Mars", which was just a variation of Buck Rogers (even the costume is very similar).  It was from Murphy that I first learned of Allan Anderson, painter of both Lars' covers.  He is no relation of Murphy's.

Murphy inked the first issue himself (the art is gorgeous) but needed help with the second, where he was assisted by John Guinta.  I asked whether he thought there was some loss of quality from the Giunta's inks, but he refused to offer even the slightest criticism, just indicating that it was "different" than his style.  While the Z-D assignments eventually petered out, Murphy was in NYC long enough to establish connections with Standard and eventually DC, providing him sufficient work to support himself and, later, a family.  At DC he was later responsible for the creation of another Buck Rogers knock-off that is near and dear to my heart.

My interest in Lars was sparked by the cover image of #11 in the Gerber Guide.  The very first pedigree I ever owned was the Cosmic Aero copy of Lars 11, purchased from an Ernie Gerber auction.  There was a slight paint stain on the cover and the requisite checkmarks throughout but, after being used for the PhotoJournal, it had to be sold as they were so expensive to print.  That copy went in trade to MrBedrock, part of the notorious Houston Airport Affair.

Shown below is my first upgrade from the Cosmic Aero and a shot of the interior of issue #10.

I thought MINE was the notorious Houston Airport Affair. They must be a regular occurrence!

[Flex Mentallo]

On 3/4/2023 at 7:15 PM, adamstrange said:

As a young'n, Murphy was a huge fan of sci-fi. 

From Buck Rogers to Lars of Mars to Captain Comet and Adam Strange! Since we are already a trillion miles off topic now, I'd love to know what Murph had to say about C.C. and A.S!