From the exhibition
Piratas submarinos
· 1961

Piratas Submarinos by W. Sampas
This Spanish-language science fiction serial from 1961 (Ediciones Toray) opens with reporter Robert Blood receiving his breakthrough assignment: exclusive press coverage of the maiden voyage of the *América*, a revolutionary atomic-powered cargo vessel displacing 300,000 tons and capable of 200 knots. Blood rushes to inform his brother Davy, a physical education instructor at the Space International Police Academy in Washington, before heading to New York. Daisy, his wife, reveals she is pregnant as he departs.
The narrative shifts to the *América*'s departure from New York with cargo of uranium and machinery bound for Europe and the Middle East. Captain Lew Wiston shows Blood the ship's advanced features: disintegrator cannons in the prow that molecularly break down water rather than displacing it, and six reactor piles generating unprecedented power. The story culminates in an officers' dinner celebrating the voyage's beginning. The narrative suggests complications or conflicts may emerge during the crossing.
Public domain (copyright not renewed), restored and presented by comicbooks.com public-domain