Ray's X-Blog

(From Ray X X-Rayer #137.) You got troubles?  Imagine what it must be like for the cyborgs depicted in the Space Man comic book series (Dell, 1962). The US government has joined the Galactic Guard, pitching in to defend peaceful worlds from evil aliens.  Some brave American men have volunteered to become cybernetic organisms that can handle living in outer space. High tech mechanisms have been added to each volunteer through surgery.  Cyborg conversion means no more need to breath oxygen or depend upon food for energy.  Human lungs have been replaced with an oxygen and carbon dioxide converter.  A cyborg is enwrapped in a special skintight protective covering that blocks his mouth and ears.  He can only communicate through a speaker embedded in his chest.  And as for hearing -- no go.  He has to lip read what a normal person is saying.  (Microphones couldn't be installed?  Lousy cyborgizing.) Not discussed is what happened ...

He was hooked in a Flash. A boyhood memory still vivid in the mind of Guy H. Lillian III. He remembers the particular comic book issue that changed his life. Guy: "My folks, little brother and I were visiting my grandparents in Rosamond, a bedroom town in the desert near Edwards Air Force Base. My grandmother had a basket of old magazines through which, one fateful day, I went leafing through and I chanced upon an issue of THE FLASH. The Mirror-Master was on it, beaming a light down on the Scarlet Speedster which reduced him in height. Hooked, gaffed, flopping in the floor of the boat ..." This was back in the days when a comic book cost a dime. Then there was a tremendous price increase to 12 cents but that didn't stop young Guy from following the adventures of the Scarlet Speedster. For your 12 cents not only did you have stories told in four colors but also a letter department where readers via envelopes and stamps submitted their comments. An editor wo...