Every Sunday morning we showcase a classic comic cover, complete with compelling pop culture commentary, for your cordial contemplation. It’s the Classic Comic Cover Corner!
House of Mystery #87 – June, 1959
Cover art by Bob Brown
Space-nerds around the world are going crazy over last week’s New Horizons spacecraft flyby of Pluto. Incredible new imagery of the “dwarf planet” has been beamed back to NASA, but what most Earthlings really want to know is, ‘When is Pluto going to stop sending us their menacing pets?’
Back in June of 1959, in DC Comics’ House of Mystery #87, two years before Russia sent the first man into space (Yuri Gagarin), Earth men had to contend with a weird Plutonian pet that was trying to freeze our tropical forests; and as you can tell from this classic cover, not even bullets could stop it.
There has been a lot of fun news regarding the naming of Pluto’s landmarks – like designating the dark spot on its largest moon’s surface as “Mordor.” I’m no astrophysicist, but I’d say there is a good chance that the dark region of Pluto’s moon (Charon) is a breeding ground for the frightening beast depicted in this comic. I’m waiting for science to prove me wrong.
When you stop to think about it, if we could harness the freezing power of these “menacing pets,” perhaps they could help us with our planet’s global warming problems. Maybe that’s why the Plutonians send them here in the first place. All the more reason why we should re-instate Pluto as a real planet!
All joking aside: For our Arizona readers (or friendly visitors from other planets), you can still catch the “Pluto Palooza” this Sunday night at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff (birth home of Pluto.) Go to lowell.edu for details.
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