Space Pirates in the Silver Age

If you missed the last one ….

The Golden Age, that time of poor art but wide open rules, gave way to the Silver Age and the Comics’ Code. That Code did not affect Science Fiction Comics the way it did Horror Comics. In some ways, it actually helped. One way to get around the Code was to make the monster a robot or make the scenario SF or superhero stuff. This meant we got Space Pirates in the MCU and DCU along with British and Australia comics that didn’t have to worry about the Code. We also have Funny Animals using the theme as well.

Not all the authors are known. I have indicated them where I can.

“Los Piratas del Espacio” (El Mundo Futuro #99, 1955) is a Spanish space comic with some very obvious pirates.

“The Space Pirates of Callisto” (Johnny Law, Space Ranger #3, September 1955) Buzzy and his sister are captured by space pirates who want their Federation (no, not that one) ship with its cloaking device (not that one either). Read the whole thing here.

“Planet of the Giants” (Wonder Woman #90, May 1957) was written by Robert Kanigher. WW flies to a planet of gigantic space pirates and uses her small size to pull Ant-Man style pranks on them.

“Space Pirates” (Rex Strong of the Space Patrol #1, June 1957) was written and drawn by Paul Wheelahan. This is an Australian comic.

“Rick Random and the Space Pirates” (Super Detective Library #127, May 1, 1958) was written by Harry Harrison. That is the same Harry Harrison who would later write The Stainless Steel Rat. He started as a comic artist at EC and other Horror comics of the 1950s but later wrote English comics to supplement his SF career.

“I Was a Human Satellite!” (Strange Worlds #3, April 1959) has a coward in the space fleet captured by space pirates and winning a newfound courage.

“The Man Who Floats in Space!” (Tales to Astonish #4, July 1959) has Captain Racer using an unusual method to snare a gang of pirates.

“They Call Me… Space Pirate! (Strange Worlds #5, August 1959) was written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber. A vicious gang of pirates descend on an unguarded planet only to find the inhabitants have evolved super mind powers.

“The Secret of the Martian Helmet” (Tales of the Unexpected #42, October 1959) has a gang of pirates steal an ancient Martian helmet that gives mind powers only to find they have fallen for a trap set by Space Ranger.

“The Robot Raiders” (World’s Finest #110, June 1960) was written by Jack Miller. An alien space pirate uses different robots to pull off his crimes.

“The Old Space Ship” (Unusual Tales #23, August 1960) was written by Joe Gill. Space pirates meet their match when a cargo hulk proves to be an armed military vessel.

“Planetary Pirates” (Four Color #1132, August-October 1960) was written by Carl Fallberg. Space Mouse takes on a ship full of space pirates — a real bunch of rats.

“I was a Decoy For Pildor: The Plunderer From Outer Space!” (Strange Tales #94, March 1962) was written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber. An Earth agent captured by the space pirates is forced to walk the plank into space. Unfortunately for the pirates, he isn’t human but a robot.

“The Menace of the Space Pirates” (The Adventures of the Jaguar #10, November 1962) was written by Robert Bernstein. The aliens on Sagitus call in the Jaguar when their supply ships are taken by pirates. The Jaguar figures out they are the Ziks, the worst pirates in the galaxy, then leads them into a trap.

“The Space Pirates!” (Forbidden Worlds #118, March-April 1964) was written by Richard Hughes. Jeremy Jones gets shanghaied to a regular pirate ship several hundred years ago. There he encounters an alien from another world, Kralik, who helps him defeat the pirates. Jeremy returns the favor when he helps take down a crew of space pirates.

“The Watcher’s Power!” (Tales of Suspense #57, September 1964) was written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber. The Watcher uses a loophole to get around his creed of non-interference. This one made me laugh because I was ribbing my son, who was watching What If?, about how powerless the Watcher really is. I got told.

“The Secret of the Mystery Legionnaire!” (Adventure Comics #330, March 1965) was written by Jerry Siegel. Vorm from the Pirate Planetoid joins the Legion of Super-Heroes so he can create a Legion of Super-Villains.

“The Thousand Foes of the Shield” (Fly Man #35, January 1966) was written by Jerry Siegel. The Shield faces off against a crowd of baddies only to learn there is a convention of Space Pirates in town.

“Flash Gordon and the Space Pirates” Part 1 (The Phantom #18, September 1966) More traditional fare, with Flash Gordon on the trail of pirates. Wally did the first four pages. Gil Kane would finish it off with two more segments. Read the whole thing here.

“Flash Gordon and the Space Pirates” Part 2 (The Phantom #19-20, November 1966-January 1967)

“The Space Pirates” (TV Century 21 #141-148, September 30-November 18, 1967) was based on the Gerry Anderson puppet and models show.

“The Space Pirates” (TV 21 #226-230, May 17-June 14, 1969) is another Gerry Anderson product. A newspaperman chases the space pirates story. This one will tie Fireball XL5 and the Doctor Who universes together.

Conclusion

Space Pirates in Silver Age, though they often have the same elements, feel different than the Golden. In the previous decades, we got a lot of ham-fisted space heroes. Now it is often superheroes who do the work. You can feel The Guardians of the Galaxy coming, which they did in 1969.  The idea of space pirates is not new in 1955-1969, so the writers often have to come up with a clever twist on how to defeat them. We also got ‘walking the space plank’ in two of these. Daring-do alone is not enough. Like many of the 1930-1950s Space Opera themes, space pirates have become too familiar.

Next time…Star Wars will relight the pilot flame…Space Pirates of the Bronze Age!