Crap, Nixon sold me on this comic; maybe I can't say anything.

Futurama got a lot of mileage out of him, and Conan O'Brien mentioned him as well on Hot Ones; but while he was reprehensible and objectionable in so many ways, Nixon was kinda funny? Just his mannerisms and tics; not anything he tried to do intentionally, god no. I mention this because one of my nephews has a pretty solid Trump impression, that I can't stand: even when he's being made fun of, I don't like having to think about him? But, we can have some laughs with Nixon, sort of, in today's book! From 1972, From Beyond the Unknown #17, cover by Murphy Anderson...mostly. (We've seen two other issues from this series fairly recently: I suspect they were part of somebody's collection, that ended up at the comic book shop and slowly trickled down to me!)

The cover story, "The Impossible World Named Earth!" originally appeared in 1956's Mystery in Space #30, but it didn't predict Nixon; the president was Dwight Eisenhower in that one! A Jovian keeps having visions of another world, which of course is impossible: everyone knows Jupiter is the only world in the whole universe! (Presumably, they don't call it that, but whatever.) Meanwhile, on earth, a sci-fi writer keeps having the same ideas as other writers, via telepathy. Can the writer and the Jovian help each other? Yes, since the Jovian is stout enough his mind doesn't collapse when he finds out "Nee-xon" is real. (Written by Otto Binder, pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Joe Giella.)

"Mystery of the 12 O'Clock Man" was the cover story for 1964's Strange Adventures #162: a rocket scientist on the moon has a good job and good friends, but he also seems to disappear at lunch every Friday, for reasons even he doesn't know. A friend tries tailing him, and gets nowhere; but as the scientist starts pulling on strings, his entire history seems to unravel: the orphanage and the high school he attended have no records of him. This doesn't push on into Phillip K. Dick territory, but not bad. (Written by Ed Herron, art by Sid Greene.)

"The Magic Typewriter" probably should be "the Magic Typist," as a flaky stenographer keeps going into trances and typing out massive scientific advances, like an anti-gravity belt and a death-ray. But was she more than she seemed...? Well, yeah. (From 1953's Strange Adventures #31, written by Sam Merwin, art (maybe) by Frank Giacoia.) I didn't love that one, or "Super-Cook of Space!" or "Rocketeer for Hire!" All three are dated, sexist, and/or rah-rah go American-Earth in ways I wasn't in the mood for right now.