Lance Lewis, Space Detective is a fictional superhero from the

Golden Age of Comics The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known chara ...

. He first appeared in ''Mystery Comics'' #3 (1944), published by

Nedor Comics Standard Comics was a comic book imprint of American publisher Ned Pines, who also published pulp magazines (under a variety of company names that he also used for the comics) and paperback books (under the Popular Library name). Standard in t ...

. The character was revived by writer

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...

for

America's Best Comics America's Best Comics (ABC) is a comic book publishing brand. It was set up by Alan Moore in 1999 as an imprint of WildStorm, an idea proposed to Moore by WildStorm founder Jim Lee when it was still under Image Comics. History ''America's Best ...

Nedor Comics

Lance Lewis is a detective from the 22nd century. With his girlfriend Marna, Lance would solve mysteries involving

Martian Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s as the Moon was evidently lifeless. At the time, the pr ...

s, rocket ships, and rayguns. According to ''Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes'', "with the help of his beautiful girlfriend Marna and his high-tech spaceship, Lewis fights telepathic amoebic Saturnian space pirates, alien crab men, and Anton Gregor, the Tyrant of Astra". Lance Lewis's adventures debuted in Nedor's ''Mystery Comics'', but later moved to ''Startling Comics'', beginning with issue #44 (March 1947). No credits were given for the debut story; later stories were written and drawn by

Graham Ingels Graham J. Ingels (; June 7, 1915April 4, 1991) was a comic book and magazine illustrator best known for his work in EC Comics during the 1950s, notably on ''The Haunt of Fear'' and ''Tales from the Crypt'', horror titles written and edited by Al ...

and Bob Oksner
Spotlight Comics website. Last accessed 2/16/2007. Lance Lewis's last Golden Age appearance was in ''Startling Comics'' #53 (September 1948).

America's Best Comics

Alan Moore revived Lance Lewis, along with many other Nedor Comics characters, for his

Tom Strong ''Tom Strong'' is a comic book created by writer Alan Moore and artist Chris Sprouse, initially published bi-monthly by America's Best Comics, an imprint of DC Comics' Wildstorm division. Tom Strong, the title character, is a "science hero", wi ...

series. In ''Tom Strong'' #12 (June 2001), Lance Lewis was given a new backstory. He had traveled back in time to take part in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, but found himself unable to return to his time. He became friends with Grant Halford (aka the Magnet), and the two of them joined SMASH. Lance Lewis was one of the members of SMASH that had been placed in suspended animation after an alien invasion from the moon in 1969. Awakened 30 years later, Lance Lewis joined his former comrades in the fight against the alien. After SMASH disbanded, Lance and Halford opened The Magnet Detective Agency. Lance Lewis was killed three years later by Mystico (''Terra Obscura'' #2, September 2003).

Notes

External links

Space Detective
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on July 23, 2017. 1944 comics debuts Lewis, Lance Lewis, Lance Lewis, Lance Lewis, Lance Lewis, Lance Lewis, Lance Lewis, Lance Lewis, Lance Science fiction comics Lewis, Lance Lewis, Lance {{comics-char-stub