Showcase #44: Tommy Tomorrow of the Planeteers
Arnold Drake (W) Lee Elias (a)
I picked up my well worn copy of this copy with some trepidation last night as it's not in the best of condition, needing to be read flat on a table. It certainly has been well read by all of it's previous owners since it was published in in January 1963 and worth thumbing through (with care) even now.
This was the second appearance of one of DC's minor characters which I would have thought would have had more success than it did. For British readers who might not be familiar it's sort of a cross between Dan Dare and Star Trek.
This is quite a quaint adventure from the days when science fiction didn't take much notice of science fact. For example you'd need more than an anorak to survive on the surface of Pluto!
A story of two intrepid "Planeteers", the bright one being our Tommy along with his mate a blue faced alien called Vurian.
The plots straightforward enough as the adventure spans between earth Venus Pluto and the asteroid belt. But one has to ask why a huge moon sized brain machine would create a giant mechanical cat to attack Tommy is best left to your imagination.
Perhaps the author went on to write for Archie Comics superheroes they had a reputation for silliness beyond the call of duty.
Still a cracking read if you set aside any question of disbelief.
Here's a couple of covers from some of Tommy's later appearances.
Worth tracking down I reckon.
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