SPACE ADVENTURES Volume 9 Hardcover

#42 saw the last appearance of Captain Atom, who began in #33 -- but don't worry, the iconic space-age superhero created by Joe Gill and Steve Ditko would return in his very own comic a few years later! Keep watching for future sightings; who knows when he'll next orbit our world! Space Adventures #43...Report From Space updates us with the history of the first American manned space flight with Alan Shepard as pictured on the cover -- the 2nd man in space! #44 introduces us to Merco, the Mercury Man, the last survivor of Mercury, who travels to Earth in a bid to stop wars and save mankind! Also: Man on the Moon, U.S. Satellites vs. Russia; aliens, robots (on the moon), flying saucer...it's all here. Charlton's long-running sci-fi title began in 1952 and lasted until 1979! Quality was admittedly all over the place over the years; Charlton made a home for the great Steve Ditko and his Captain Atom -- a wonderful strip, drawn every bit as well as his work on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. The other material here was all over the place...Dick Giordano did some fine covers and stories early on, but by this time he'd moved on to other pastures, first with other Charlton titles and soon after to DC Comics where he'd eventually become Art Director and Publisher. Artists Molno, Nicholas and Mastroserio were Charlton stalwarts and did everything from sci-fi to war and westerns over several decades.