Alien Fire No. 2 by Anthony Smith and Eric Vincent (1987)

ALIEN FIRE #2 (1987) --Written by Anthony F. Smith and drawn by Eric Vincent.

This highly praised science fiction comic came out of the chute strong (#1 sold over 30,000 copies) and showed tremendous promise, but the complex plot, bizarre array of aliens and relative dearth of humans evidently proved too challenging to the average comics buyer. Sales on Alien Fire dropped precipitously and the series was cancelled by publisher Kitchen Sink Press after the 3rd issue when Vincent had to chose between finishing the 12-issue series or retaining a girlfriend who wanted to eat and pay the landlord.

The surviving three issues (augmented by the prequel Alien Fire: Pass in Thunder) are still prized by cognoscenti who lament what might have been. The cover of #2 shows a coveted Wurlitzer model 1015 "bubbling" jukebox in a lustful alien's eye. (Did we mention that Earth is a pariah planet, off limits to a plethora of advanced intergalactic cultures, but that its cultural artifacts are so desirable that there is dangerous black market traffic for its collectible treasures?) Sigh.    Near Mint condition.