Tales of the Unexpected #33 Poster (1959) Bob Brown

Description

Sometime in the late 1950s, Tales of the Unexpected went from being an undistinguished sci-fi/fantasy anthology rife with tales of protagonists endowed with mysterious powers and handicaps-“The Man Who Ate Fire,” “The Man Who Stole a Genie,” and “The Man Who Hated Green” were typical titles from early issues- to a full-on alien-invasion comic stoking America’s fears of Communist assimilation. The “Martian of the Month” approach yielded a rich harvest of high-concept story ideas, such as “The Day the Earth Stopped,” “The Dissection of Planet Earth,” and this issue’s cover tale. In “Martian Town, U.S.A.,” a man returns to his old hometown to find it taken over by Martians, who have managed to convince the human inhabitants that they are merely a Hollywood film crew making a science-fiction picture. (Why the crew and not just the actors would have to dress up in Martian costumes is never addresses.) Several Twilight Zone-y twists ensue before things are put right again. The cover is by Bob Brown, an old-school draftsman best known as the original artist for Space Ranger, the intergalactic adventurer who would go on to dominate Tales of the Unexpected throughout the first half of the 1960s. Tales of the Unexpected was a science fiction and horror comic book series published by DC Comics from 1956 to 1968 for 104 issues. In response to the restrictions imposed by the Comics Code Authority, DC began a new science-fiction series in 1956. The series featured artwork by Murphy Anderson, Gil Kane, and many others, with stories by John Broome, Gardner Fox, and others. It was an anthology comic for many years, publishing a variety of science fiction stories. William Robert “Bob” Brown (August 22, 1915 – January 1977) was an American comic book artist with an extensive career from the early 1940s through the 1970s. With writers Edmond Hamilton and Gardner Fox, Brown co-created the DC Comics hero Space Ranger, drawing the character’s complete run from his debut in the try-out comic Showcase #15 (Aug. 1958) through Mystery in Space #103 (July 1965). Brown also penciled the DC title Challengers of the Unknown, taking over from Jack Kirby, from 1959 to 1968.