{"id":29208,"date":"2024-01-07T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2024-01-07T09:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=29208"},"modified":"2024-01-04T18:55:52","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T18:55:52","slug":"buck-rogers-in-the-25th-century-the-complete-newspaper-dailies-volume-1-1929-1931","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/01\/07\/buck-rogers-in-the-25th-century-the-complete-newspaper-dailies-volume-1-1929-1931\/","title":{"rendered":"Buck Rogers in the 25th<\/sup> Century: The Complete Newspaper Dailies volume 1 – 1929-1931"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Philip Nowlan<\/strong> & Dick Calkins<\/strong> with an introduction by Ron Goulart<\/strong> (Hermes Press)
\nISBN: 978-1-93256-319-1 (HB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not really a lot you can say about Buck Rogers<\/strong> that hasn\u2019t been said before – and probably better – by the likes of such luminaries and fans as Ray Bradbury, Howard Hughes and Chuck Jones. The landmark, game changing comics strip feature grew out of a cover-featured prose novella printed in the August 1928 issue of \u201cscienti-fiction\u201d pulp magazine Amazing Stories<\/strong>. Written by journalist Philip Francis Nowlan, \u201cArmageddon 2419A.D<\/em>.\u201d told of retired US Army Air Corps officer Anthony Rogers<\/em>, who fell into a 500-year coma whilst surveying a deep mine. He awakened to a world controlled by a Chinese looking Empire governed by tyrants called \u201cMongols\u201d or \u201cThe Han\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2026And that\u2019s my cue to remind everyone NOW that at that time in human evolution, creators and consumers of popular culture were far less socially advanced. You might even want to call them racist, but it\u2019s works like these that – whilst pandering to popular tastes – also began a process of change. Perceived as Past or Future though, these were Very Different Times and if that could offend then stay away\u2026 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The valiant battle to free America from Asiatic oppression was another thinly-veiled \u201cYellow Peril\u201d story, (embarrassingly for us liberals, this dubious prejudice has generated some of the most enduring escapist adventure fiction of the 20th<\/sup> century) but something about this particular tale caught the public\u2019s attention. Consequently John Flint Dille – head of National Newspaper Service Syndicate – secured the rights to adapt the text tale into ongoing picture form and had the author and artist Dick Calkins (Sky Roads<\/strong>) produce the industry\u2019s first action\/drama continuity feature. It became the most influential Science Fiction strip ever: jet packs, robots, space flight, atomic bombs, weaponized medicine, anti-gravity and even television all appeared in these panels long before their real world introductions\u2026<\/p>\n

The daily strip premiered on January 7th<\/sup> 1929, about the time prose sequel The Airlords of Han<\/em> appeared in Amazing Stories<\/strong> (cover-dated March 1929). It was also the day that the Tarzan<\/strong> newspaper strip debuted.<\/p>\n

Renamed Buck Rogers, 2429 A.D.<\/strong> (and advancing one year every January 1st<\/sup> thereafter), the strip was a monster hit and Dille\u2019s marketing genius made it an incredibly profitable one. There was merchandise, premiums, giveaways, a radio show, books and a movie serial. What we now consider part and parcel of an entertainment franchise was all invented by Dille.<\/p>\n

This premiere tome gathers the 6-days-a-week monochrome episodes covering the first two years and is preceded by a captivating Introduction by author and strips expert Ron Goulart, describing the genesis of the feature, its antecedents, impact and successors. \u2018Buck Rogers, Ray Guns, and Science Fiction\u2019<\/em> is also a cornucopia of captivating toys, figures, games, house ads, comic book, pulp mag and pop-up book covers, posters and movie memorabilia and other promo material.<\/p>\n

Although the feature just unrolled in a wave of innovation, here the saga is partitioned into discrete tales beginning with \u2018Chapter 1: Meeting the Mongols\u2019<\/em> as Buck awakens, meets freedom fighter Wilma Deering<\/em> and all-knowing scientist Dr. Huer<\/em> and enlists in their struggle to liberate a subjugated America (AKA \u201cthe Federate Orgzones\u201d) of scattered enclaves, bewildered, amazed but never overwhelmed by the fantastic changes\u2026<\/p>\n

Buck\u2019s life takes a big twist when Wilma is captured and taken to the Han\u2019s World Capital. Doggedly in pursuit amidst fresh wonders and ancient lusts and intrigues, our hero repeatedly upsets the applecart: winning staunch allies across the enslaved globe. His protracted campaign memorably debuts \u201crace traitor\u201d, arch-collaborator and ultimate nemesis Killer Kane<\/em> and opens the planetary saga to the marvels and terrors of space warfare.<\/p>\n

Despite being framed and judged a traitor to the freedom fighters, Rogers soldiers on. After clearing his name and reuniting with Wilma, \u2018Chapter 2: Capturing the Mongol Emperor\u2019<\/em> sees him and his allies retaliate as the war of superweapons intensifies\u2026<\/p>\n

Ultimately victorious, the aftermath provides more peril as \u2018Chapter 3: Pact of Perpetual Peace\u2019<\/em> sees Buck, Wilma, Chilean guide Enrique<\/em> and Mongol rebels Morke Ka Lono<\/em>, Liu <\/em>and Lanlu<\/em> despatched as envoys to meet the Emperor\u2019s unsuspected superior officer – The Celestial Mogul<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

The perilous voyage takes them from ocean depths to mountain top fortresses, facing pirates, monsters, traitors and bigots before shockingly discovering the past four centuries of enslavement were the result of a single foe\u2019s prejudice and greed\u2026<\/p>\n

With diplomacy triumphant and the world free, \u2018Chapter 4: Defeat of the Mongol Rebels\u2019<\/em> sees Buck and his pals pitted against those inevitable power-hungry hold-outs who benefitted most from the previous status quo. The insidious insurgents begin by kidnapping Wilma and luring Buck into a deadly chase across medical monolith the Aseptic City. Perpetrator Hum-Toy<\/em>\u2019s greatest threat was to destroy everyone with her deadly germ bombs and her resistance inspired legions of Mongols to take up arms again and destroy the Celestial Mogul\u2019s<\/em> new peace\u2026<\/p>\n

With Earth again at war, \u2018Chapter 5: Tiger Men of Mars\u2019<\/em> upped the ante as curious aliens witness the carnage and – after taking Wilma as a specimen for further study – head for home on the Red Planet. Deering was a dangerously uncooperative lab rat whose antics allowed Buck and Earth\u2019s forces to effect a rescue. Negotiations seemed to settle the crisis and both sides opened diplomatic relations, but soon after, humans started disappearing. Among them was Wilma\u2019s sister Sally<\/em> and when hostilities erupted the Tiger Men briefly lost custody of another captive: a golden girl called Illana<\/em> from a rival race on the Red Planet\u2026<\/p>\n

When the Tigers flee back to their world with Sally and Illana, Buck spearheads a rapid construction project to build an interplanetary rescue rocket and humanity takes its first big step into the cosmos\u2026<\/p>\n

After some teething troubles and a brief stopover on The Moon, the humans head off only to encounter a derelict alien ship and revive its sole survivor. Tallan<\/em> is from Jupiter and the last time he saw humans they still lived in caves. With his aid the humans soon establish contact with Sally and Illana and before long Buck and Tallan have infiltrated the Tiger City, just in time to spectacularly scotch a scheme to conquer Earth. That battle separates many of the Earthling space-farers and leads to more conflict in \u2018Chapter 6: Land of the Golden People\u2019<\/em>, with the Martian conflict soon drawing in Earth too.<\/p>\n

With Humanity\u2019s home invaded by terrifying war machines, this first volume concludes with \u2018Chapter 7: Synthetic Gold Plot\u2019 <\/em>as Wilma goes missing again. As Buck hunts her beside acerbic journalist Herby Swipe<\/em>, their frantic inquiries unearth a covert mission on behalf of the World Government and that she may not be a willing companion of suave plutocratic rat Wyn Winters<\/em>. Rogers\u2019 increasingly wild and inept efforts against a backdrop of espionage chicanery and economic chaos soon make him many new enemies and a fugitive from the law, but also point to a connection with global pariah Killer Kane as he seeks an incredible secret weapon\u2026<\/p>\n

First in a line of Daily and Sunday collections now criminally out of print and (other than this tome) unavailable digitally, Buck Rogers in the 25th<\/sup> Century: The Complete Newspaper Dailies volume 1<\/strong> offers a crucial window into the birth of our art form, one that should be revered for its innovations and discussed for its social impact good and bad. Let\u2019s hope the publishers can revive the project and make all that happen in our imminent future.
\n\u00a9 2009 The Dille Family Trust, reprinted with permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Philip Nowlan & Dick Calkins with an introduction by Ron Goulart (Hermes Press) ISBN: 978-1-93256-319-1 (HB\/Digital edition) There\u2019s not really a lot you can say about Buck Rogers that hasn\u2019t been said before – and probably better – by the likes of such luminaries and fans as Ray Bradbury, Howard Hughes and Chuck Jones. … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Buck Rogers in the 25th<\/sup> Century: The Complete Newspaper Dailies volume 1 – 1929-1931″<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,78,127,107,156],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-comic-strip-classics","category-nostalgia","category-science-fiction","category-world-classics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7B6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29208"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29212,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29208\/revisions\/29212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}