Futura - Chapter 10

This installment of the Futura Saga from Planet Comics #52 (January 1948) continues the "Magic Sword" story. The cover is another fine example of the Good Girl Art school of marketing so common to the pulps and other popular printed media of the time. The inclusion of the penis-dentata monster and the coloring detail highlighting the "fun zones" of the distressed damsel make the cover noteworthy above and beyond the usual Fiction House covers.

While the Futura story delves however superficially into the complex aspect of the character as being the Resurrection and Savior of the Pan-Cosmos slaves the art is reduced to simple and uninspired 6 panel layouts. The demon-like Cymridians and their leader, Mentor are more comical than dangerous, appearing as troublesome gremlins underfoot that no one knows how to eradicate. The "Magic Sword" story arc effectively ruined the Brain-Men of Pan-Cosmos as villains and the threat and plot impetus they once posed is left behind soon enough. After this arc concludes the early fantastical "Scientifiction" aspects of the serial changes to become reminiscent of a more mature mix of Robert A. Heinlein and Alex Raymond. Out of all the features in this issue of Planet Comics it is Futura that is the most disappointing and this is due mainly to the comparisons to the far more intricate story and line work of the previous and later chapters.