Futura - Chapitre 11

Planet Comics #53

Chapter 11

March 1948

Superficially, Science Fiction is about life in the future. But the idea behind the genre is more complex. In spite of the trappings of things to come science fiction is almost always about the present and it is often, even unintentionally, used to enlighten or warn the present day reader. The alien threats to a society from without typically represent the greater fear of a threat from within. There are exceptions of Planet Comics #53 (March 1948)

course. Sometimes there is no deeper meaning and the story is about nothing more than cowboys in outer space.

One of the many ideas that the science fiction creator attempts to relate to an audience is that often messiahs are hazardous to your health. It is a recurring theme in all types of fiction and as human history has so repeatedly proven, it has more than a bit of truth to it. This is painfully evident to the slaves of Pan-Cosmos in the eleventh chapter of the Futura Saga from Planet Comics #53 (March 1948) as they learn the road to Cymradia is paved with good intentions. This story not only marks the finale to the mediocre "Magic Sword" story arc but also some elements of the original settings as well. The teaser on the final page of this installment promises a new direction for Futura though it really is more of a return to the original idea to be found at the beginning of the series.

Planet Comics #53 (March 1948)

Planet Comics was a science fiction comic-book title produced by Fiction House and issued from Jan. 1940 (issue 1) to Winter 1953 (issue 73). Like many of Fiction House's early comics titles, Planet Comics was a spinoff of a pulp magazine, in this case Planet Stories, which featured space operatic tales of muscular, heroic space adventurers who were quick with their 'ray pistols' and always running into gorgeous females who needed rescue from bugeyed space aliens or fiendish interstellar bad guys.

Planet Comics #1 (January 1940)

Planet Comics was considered by noted fan Raymond Miller to be "perhaps the best of the Fiction House group," as well as "most collected and most valued." In Miller's opinion, it "wasn't really featuring good art or stories... in the first dozen or so issues," not gaining most of "its better known characters" until "about the 10th issue." "Only 3 of its long running strips started with the first issue... Flint Baker, Auro - Lord of Jupiter, and the Red Comet."