Number 2035: Lance Lewis battles Mr Potato Head

Lance Lewis, Space Detective, was born of the Buck Rogers tradition. In this untitled adventure he and his girlfriend, Marna, zip off to Mercury (just like a trip to the corner grocery is the impression given by the old school of science fiction) to track down a force dragging both Venus and Earth into the sun.

That is when Lance and Marna meet the Mercurians, who look a lot like Mr Potato Head. You remember Mr Potato Head, don’t you? (He was invented in 1952, but now is much improved from my childhood. My parents bought me the parts, and then Mom handed me a real potato to play off. Oh, what joy...a 'tater rotting in your hand after a couple of days of play time. Digression over.)

Artist Bob Oksner, who eventually went to work for DC Comics, could draw funny. Adventures of Bob Hope and Adventures of Jerry Lewis — no relation to Lance — stand out for me. It looks like he had fun with the Sun King of the story, making him as silly as possible. It is the mustache that does it for me.

The story is from Startling Comics #47 (1947), and the bondage cover is by Alex Schomburg.

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