Number 1051


Mr. Universe and the jungle that time forgot


Mister Universe ran for five issues in the early '50s, and it had different artists handling each issue. Ross Andru did some penciling and inking in number one, but number two, which I'm showing today, is the only issue done front to back by the Andru and Mike Esposito team, and the only issue with a book-length story.

"Jungle That Time Forgot" is credited to writer Harry Kantor. It's a precursor to many stories Andru and Esposito would later do for DC, featuring lost worlds and modern soldiers fighting dinos.

I took the scans from an online source, and although I've cleaned them up to the best of my ability, they still show that the issue was printed poorly with off-register colors. I've mentioned several time in this blog it's probably no surprise to anyone who has read comics for many years that early comics were the Rodney Dangerfield of the publishing world. They got no respect, printed by the millions on giant web presses by (sometimes) indifferent pressmen.