Mystery in Space (Pulp Fiction Library) [Paperback]

Gardner Fox (Author), Alex Toth (Illustrator), Virgil Finlay (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563894947
• ISBN-13: 978-1563894947
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,639,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars DC Space stars of the past return, February 14, 2000

By 

Terry McCombs (Birmingham, Alabama) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mystery in Space (Pulp Fiction Library) (Paperback)

I truly enjoyed seeing some of the classic science fiction comics stories from DC comics past. 33 stories in just 223 pages! They did know how to get to the point back then. The stories range from the years 1946 to 1981 and include just about every DC artist, writer and character that was involved in their space comics. Space Ranger, Adam Strange, The Atomic Knights, Tommy Tomorrow, Space Cabby and even Ultra the Multi-Alien are there, as well as a number of non series stories. Mind you, you don't get a lot of any of them. I for one would like to see the Atomic Knight reprinted in it's entirety... But I will take what I can get. There are also examples of the writing and art work of Gardner Fox, Kirby, Binder, Kubert. etc. Like I said just about all of them.I found this a very entertaining bit of nostalgia.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real blast from the past!, June 19, 2002

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Mystery in Space (Pulp Fiction Library) (Paperback)

If you grew up reading, and loving, those great old DC science fiction comics of the 50's and 60's then you'll love this book. It is a nice little sampler of such comics as Tommy Tomorrow, Captain Comet, Star Hawkins, Space Cabby, Adam Strange, Space Ranger, the Atomic Knights, plus some really good general science-fiction themed stories. If anything, the printing is brighter and sharper than the originals were when they were first published. Other than the nostalgia value, these are some very good stories and some excellent retro art work (though it was anything but retro back then.) Funny, some of this stuff is more futuristic looking than anything you see nowdays.
My only disappointment was that my all time favorite sci-fi comic story "Brain Robbers of Satellite X" wasn't included. I got over it though- unlike some reviewers who didn't get their favorites....

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun collection - with name artists and writers represented, August 8, 2008

By 

Andromeda "Palimino" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mystery in Space (Pulp Fiction Library) (Paperback)

If you are looking for highly literate science fiction comics...well, this is not quite for you. But, some of these stories are well written, and the art, for most of them, is very good to excellent. Murphy Anderson is well represented, along with two comics drawn by Virgil Finlay, two from Joe Kubert (decades apart), one by a young Gil Kane, a couple from Jack Kirby. Single stories by Alex Toth, Frank Frazetta, Nick Cardy Rick Veitch, Tom Yeates.

There is some solid, if mostly unspectacular, writing from comic book sci-fi stalwarts John Broome, Gardner Fox and Otto Binder. Edmond Hamilton and Manly Wade Wellman apparently wrote for comics as well, and there are a few stories by them. Most of the work in this anthology is very readable, with interesting characters, well paced plots, and very engaging art. There are certainly some clunkers, and the Introductory text by Stuart Moore leaves much to be desired, though he does provide some good background information. He sometimes appears to be writing for young, pre-teen comic readers, which is odd, since I doubt many comics fans that age would buy this book.

The editors clumped the stories under different classifications. Most of the comics are reprints from the 40's, 50's and 60's. The last section jumps to 1980-81, with stories from more modern DC sci-fi anthology comics. These stories are by far the worst of the collection. The plots are riddled with holes in logic, and are reliant on the "twist" ending, usually contrived to be a dark ending, that one can generally see coming a mile off, or seems forced. The collection begins with comics that are not stories, per se, but are full of science "facts" and "what if" type exposition. The facts are often wrong. So, the collection begins and ends with it's weakest comics. But in-between there are a lot of very fun, interesting, engaging stories, with wonderful art. And the art in the two weaker sections is also very good. But these are not hugo award winning stories, so don't expect that level of literature.

This collection also has a section devoted to the ongoing series that ran through DC's silver age sci-fi titles. So you get a good overview, with each series getting one reprint. I find myself in agreement with another reviewer - I would love for DC to collect the entire "Atomic Knights" series some day, as they have with Adam Strange.