If you missed the last one…
The amazing adventures of Buster Crabbe did not begin in the comics but in the movie serials. Larry “Buster” Crabbe (1908-1983) is most famous as the star of Flash Gordon, though he also played Buck Rogers and Tarzan. He played several Jungle Men besides Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan (Thun’da for instance.) 
The serials were cheap and short features that played along with regular movies. The actors who appeared in them were loved by fans but got no respect from critics. The serials were really television before that device was readily available.
Crabbe finished his career on TV, mostly in Westerns. In 1980 he appeared alongside Gil Gerrard, the new Buck Rogers.
This wide range of movie genres that Buster appeared in was reflected in the comic books that bore his name in the 1950s. The first comic he had was simply entitled Buster Crabbe from Eastern. The majority of material was Westerns, promoting his TV career. Occasionally something off-trail would appear like the supernatural Western “The Ogre”. Two Space Opera pieces followed though the comic remained a Western over-all. Buster was lucky for he had the amazing artists, Al Williamson, Roy Krenkel and Frank Frazetta working on this strip. The authors of the stories are unknown.
Eastern
“The Ogre” (Buster Crabbe #3, March 1952) has cowboys being spooked by weird creatures. The local native shaman warns it is Kagagak, an evil spirit. Buster and his sidekick, Whiskers, go to a creepy cave to investigate. They encounter several scaly creatures. They discover the monsters are afraid of fire and gunfire.
“Buster Crabbe and the Maid of Mars” (Buster Crabbe #5, July 1952) begins with Buster and Whiskers prospecting for uranium. They run into a robot and see a strange ship. The robot proves to be a woman in a steel suit. They are taken to Sssss, the capitol of Mars. Buster does some John Carter of Mars style jumping since he is an Earthman. The two return to their planet with a warning that Mars may invade some day.
“Invaders From Beyond” (Buster Crabbe #9, March 1953) has Buster and Whiskers coming across another ship. This time it is filled with one-eyed reptiles from space. The aliens plan to kill off the humans and take the planet. Buster meets another prisoner, Zina of the planet Koroka. They escape and Zina helps them defeat the foe, returning to her own fleet of ships. This one is a real Space Western, in that it pairs Western motifs like a pistol duel with spaceships.
Lev Gleason
Lev Gleaon picked up the title after Eastern dropped it. LG added the “Amazing Adventures of…” to the title for four issues. Each issue had a jungle, Western and SF story, reflecting all aspects of Buster’s career. No Frazetta at LG but the wonderful Alex Toth worked on one issue. Mike Roy, who would become Jack Kirby’s top inker, also did an issue.
“I Cover Mars” (The Amazing Adventures of Buster Crabbe #1, December 1953-January 1954) takes Buster out of the Western. He is now a professor of Ichthyology, a scientist studying the ocean in diving bells. An ambitious Martian, Astros, works to reach the planet Earth. His ship crashes in the ocean but Buster rescues him. When they go to Mars, a faction working against Astros try to have the Earthmen killed. Buster breaks Astros out of jail and they force Feros, the man behind the plot, to confess.
“Dark of the Moon” (The Amazing Adventures of Buster Crabbe #2, February 1954) starts with Buster making a Sci-Fi picture. Finished filming, he goes for a long drive. He runs into a mad scientist, Professor Griers and his daughter, about to launch their rocket. Buster goes along with the pair to the Moon. There they find a city under a dome, inhabited by aliens. The aliens’ ship was destroyed but with Griers’ vessel they can now invade Earth. The humans escape, taking the ship back to Earth, stranding the aliens forever.
“Invisible Monsters of Callisto” (The Amazing Adventures of Buster Crabbe #3, April 1954) has Buster’s plane crash into an invisible spacecraft. He is taken to Callisto. There, he is chosen to fight in the games along with a prisoner named Gathrid. Again more Edgar Rice Burroughs stuff happens, with a living chess board game. Both men pretend to be killed in the fight. They escape and don spacesuits. They go to the power station that runs the invisibility weapon. They destroy the weapon and save the day.
“The Thing From Outer Space” (The Amazing Adventures of Buster Crabbe #4, June 1954) begins with Buster finding a strange star-like device. It whisks him away from Earth to another world. There he learns that scientists sent the device to Earth long ago. The people of Klaz now worship superstition in the Black God of Rogor. Etarre, the last ruler of Klaz, is being forced to marry the high priest, Lasha. Buster stands up for the princess but gets beaten and thrown down a hole. Exploring he discovers the outfits for the worshipers of the fake Black God. Dressing up, Buster pretends to be Rogor and tries to save Etarre. Buster destroys the idol and Etarre’s people are free. His mission done, Buster fades back to Earth. Once again, ERB stuff like that in The Mastermind of Mars.
Other
Two stories meant for LG were published long after the comics were gone.
“Savage World” appeared in Wally Wood’s independent underground comic, Witzend #1 (Summer 1966). The script was re-written by Wally Wood. Art by Al Williamson, Angelo Torres, Roy Krenkel and Frank Frazetta. The lettering was done by Arlene Williamson. A nuclear bomb test opens a crater in the desert. Strange creatures appear and take Larry and Helen to an underground world. They are taken to Xantor, the ruler of the Inner World. He tells them the history, how in prehistoric times the Inner Worlders fled the terrors of the surface. Larry and Helen have their brains scanned. Helen is a good choice, because there are few females in the Inner World. Larry, Helen and another scientist, Mark, escape. Another nuclear bomb is exploded, destroying the Inner World. Larry realizes that they were the bad guys.
“The Killers From Outer Space” was another unpublished story that appeared in Fantastic Adventures #1, July 1987. Art was done by George Tuska.
Conclusion
I was too young to enjoy Buster’s work when it first appeared. I do remember his appearance on the 1980s Buck Rogers but 
I doubt I had any idea why “that old guy” was on that week. He left a fine library of older works for the fan to go back and enjoy today. Some of those old serials are hard to watch, but I like to remember that it was memories of Flash Gordon that inspired George Lucas to create Star Wars. Buster’s many roles were an important link between comic strips and movies in the history of Space Opera. It still surprises me when I hear someone talk about Star Wars in a vacuum, like there never was anything before it appeared in 1977. I have to laugh and think of Buster Crabbe.
Next time...The Space Heroes of Planet Comics!
