Major Matt Mason - the comic book that wasn't ?! by Denny O'Neil and Murphy Anderson

I have recently been on a bit of a comic buying spree, in large part due to the fact that my local comic store (Forbidden Planet, Glasgow) has been in receipt of several large back issue collections from folk who have for whatever reason, decided to cash in their collections (one I heard had sadly passed away and his wife was selling his old comics) . Two comics that I picked up as part of my “spree” were issue 7 & 8 of DC’s SF reprint comic “From Beyond the Unknown” purchased on a whim as they were only £3 each. On skimming through these issues, it became clear that one strip “Earth Shall Not Die starring Cmdr. Glen Merritt” by Denny O’Neil and Murphy Anderson, was not a reprint. On checking this tale online, it seems that this story was to have been the first issue of a comic book based on the Mattel toy “ Major Matt Mason”. However, for some reason the licensing deal between DC and Mattel fell apart so rather than waste the story DC split the story into 2 parts and released it under the name Commander Glen Merritt in issue 7&8 of “From Beyond the Unknown”.

Back in 1966 as the US was working on landing a man on the moon, Mattel had released the Major Matt Mason astronaut action figure. The figure was a massive success in the US with many adverts (example above) appearing in US comics.

Above the cover to "From Beyond the Unknown” #7 and example pages from the first Commander Glen Merritt tale.

Above the cover to "From Beyond the Unknown” #8 and example pages from the last episode witht he finaql page of the story hinting that Commander Glen Merritt may return, which (as far as I am aware) he never did.