Alien attacks and murderous androids

Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein were hooked. Inspired by the pulp science fiction stories and weird fantasy literature of their youth, the two created the first editions of “Weird Science” in the early 1950s. They were inspired by the pulp science fiction stories and weird fantasy literature of their youth. The two developed stories, creatures and worlds that had never existed in this form before. “Weird Science” was to become the first real science fiction magazine to appear regularly. Gaines was the editor, Feldstein the creative mind behind the drawings.

Even though the cult publication is now 75 years old, the drawings have lost none of their appeal. Quite the opposite. If you look at the stories about mad scientists and aliens in the newly published anthology from TASCHEN-Verlag today, they certainly promise some exciting and entertaining moments while reading. Some ideas that were pure science fiction back then are unfortunately no longer so far-fetched today. Comic nostalgia included.

The first edition of “Weird Science” appeared on newsstands in the spring of 1950.

The first issue of “Weird Science” appeared on newsstands in the spring of 1950, with subsequent bi-monthly publications transporting readers into an ever-changing kaleidoscope of mad science stories with a strong horror slant. Included: Martian invasions, murderous androids, failed time travel, planets inhabited exclusively by women, and much more. This went on for four years. The comic appeared in 22 issues and ended with the November-December 1953 issue.

The large-format new edition published by TASCHEN now contains the first eleven issues of this comic series. When you open this huge volume, you find yourself in bizarre worlds. The very first story welcomes the reader with a crazy laboratory situation: Karl and his colleague Professor Einstadt are working on a chemical that makes rats shrink. Naturally, an accident occurs. Karl himself becomes smaller and smaller and ends up moving in a microcosm.

And so it continues over the more than 450 pages of the book. Countless aliens jump out at the reader, nuclear incidents occur again and again - the fear of them was a major theme at the time. Not to mention the evil characters who want to destroy entire worlds. There is chaos on every side.

Anyone who needs a breather from this should look at the book from a bibliophile's point of view. Because “Weird Science” certainly has a lot to offer. Instead of re-coloring the artistic drawings, high-resolution photographs of every single page were created for this volume. State-of-the-art retouching techniques were used to correct problems with the cheap, imperfect printing of the time. The result is a pristine product that retains the character and feel of the classic pulp comic magazines, but fresh off the presses of a high printer.

“Weird Science” is certainly made for a very specific readership. This concentrated read requires stamina and probably a certain amount of madness. Even if you don't think you have the latter, it's worth taking a careful look at this work of art. Because the book also tells you a lot about the zeitgeist of the 1950s.

Book:

Grant Geissman

EC Comics Library. Weird Science. Vol. 1

Hardcover, 462 pages

TASCHEN Publishing Cologne

ISBN 978-3-38653-9733-3 (in English)

Euro 150