Buck Rogers, a hero whose name came to define a genre, first appeared in an original story entitled "Armageddon--2419," written by Philip Francis Nowlan. The main character was a pursuit pilot, who in an unlikely turn of events stepped into a cloud of radioactive gas inside an abandoned mine and disappeared into 500 years of suspended animation. When he emerged, Anthony -- soon to be "Buck" -- Rogers, found himself in a land of rocket pistols, hovercrafts, paralysis rays, and electo-hypno mentalaphones. Artist Dick Calkins made the strip rich with sidebar features, designing scores of odd aliens, sleek rayguns, and streamlined rocketships. Collector's note: this piece is limited to only 600 numbered copies, so allocation may occur.