Crusader from Mars #2

Martian secret agents Tarka and Zira arrive in the small town of Cottonwood, posing as Earth businesspeople, to protect a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer named Albert Reiner from a violent hate group called the Black Hoods who have already murdered one of his friends. When the Hoods kidnap both Reiner and Zira, Tarka reveals his true identity as the Crusader from Mars and confronts the gang in a dramatic showdown. Justice on two worlds hangs in the balance as Tarka takes decisive action to end the reign of terror.

In this 1952 tale, Tarka and Zira infiltrate the Uralian pirate forces hidden on the Moon by posing as a defector, hoping to uncover why Dictator Boris Zandrozov has been systematically looting the Solar System's anti-gravity fuel shipments. When Tarka's cover lands him in General Gubovich's inner circle, he learns the terrifying truth: Zandrozov is assembling an invasion fleet aimed at conquering the planets one by one, starting with an assault on Saturn's satellite Iapetus. Now Tarka must find a way to alert the Solar System to the approaching danger before the Uralian armada can establish its deadly beachhead.

A tour of the solar system's most peculiar wonders, "Astronomical Oddities!" takes readers on a fascinating journey through the strange behavior of planets like Uranus, which spins nearly flat on its axis, and Jupiter, the giant world orbited by eleven moons traveling in different directions. From the mystery of Venus's perpetual cloud cover to the puzzle of how Uranus's extreme tilt might flip its seasons entirely, this 1952 exploration reveals the genuine oddities that have puzzled scientists studying our cosmic neighborhood.

When Captain Jon Barrett of the Space Police is convicted of shielding Martian smugglers, he's banished to Prison Planet—a barren, hostile world where the galaxy's most dangerous criminals are exiled. There, Barrett discovers the inmates are secretly assembling a fleet to launch a devastating attack on Space Police Headquarters, and he's forced into an impossible choice that will test whether his loyalties lie with the law or with his own survival. With giant alien creatures, deadly radiation, and a mysterious woman named Exotica at his side, Barrett must navigate a planet of cutthroats while uncovering the truth behind his own disgrace.

Two broke space bums, Thick and Thin, cobble together a ramshackle ship from junkyard scraps to race for a fortune in interplanetary credits, convinced they've got what it takes to reach Venus first. Their hastily built contraption doesn't exactly inspire confidence—held together with string and scotch tape—but the scrappy pair somehow blast past the competition and touch down on a mystery planet teeming with welcoming women. The pair's celebration turns upside down when they discover exactly where they've landed, and the consequences promise to keep them from any prize money.