Number 2328: The Maid of Mars is so hot sssshe ssssizzles!

A few weeks ago I showed a story drawn by Al Williamson I believe was intended for Buster Crabbe (the comic book), and sold instead to another publisher, where Buster was re-named Captain Comet. (Go to Pappy’s Number 2314 for that post.) Today I am featuring a genuine Buster Crabbe story, “Maid of Mars,” with art by Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel, as identified by the Grand Comics Database.

Martians apparently look just like human beings, but as the Maid tells Buster, they have no phonetic language. Instead, their vocals sound like sssssnakesss hissssssing. Despite the fact that the Maid speaks English to Buster and his old pal, Whiskers, which she learned from Earth’s radio, a sentence from her to one of her fellow Martians on page 8 is “SSS SS SS SS SSSSS!!”

Because she is a woman, and Buster is a man of considerable charms, she falls for him. She helps Buster and Whiskers, and the whole human race, avoid the fate intended by the Martians. The story is from Buster Crabbe #5 (1952), published by Famous Funnies, and given some extra prominence with its ssssnazzy cover by Frank Frazssssetta.

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