Fantastic Adventures June: Viking vs Space Invader, 'Whom the Gods Would Slay'
A newsstand browser in 1952 would have done a double-take: a muscle-bound, red-caped Viking with a horned helmet is throttling a bald, armored space invader on a stormy beach while a raven wheels overhead. The collision of Norse mythology and pulp science fiction is pure Ziff-Davis showmanship — brazen, colorful, and designed to sell. Artist McCauley renders the Viking's scale armor and the alien's sleek suit with equal conviction, making the ludicrous premise feel thrillingly inevitable.
A Viking strangling a space alien on a beach while a raven flies overhead is the kind of gloriously deranged high-concept pulp imagery that defined an era. This belongs on every dorm room wall in the known galaxy.
“EXCITING ADVENTURES IN THE WORLDS OF TOMORROW! fantastic ADVENTURES JUNE 25¢ WHOM the GODS WOULD SLAY ... By IVAR JORGENSEN A THRILL-PACKED TALE OF EARTH'S FIRST INVADERS!”
