Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 140: Atlas/Marvel Horror & Science Fiction Comics!

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 125

November 1956 Part I

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Adventure Into Mystery #4

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Hex!" (a: Don Heck) ★★1/2

(r: Chamber of Chills #13)

"The Voice in the Shell!" (a: George Roussos) ★★

"The Invaders" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★

"The Menace of the Little Men!" (a: Chuck Miller) ★

"None Are So Blind!" (a: Al Williamson) ★★

"Those in a Trance" (a: Bob Powell) ★★1/2

Frank Hubbard agrees to move with his new wife to her hometown in Pennsylvania but is peeved by "The Hex!" painted on their barn. Julia explains to Frank that the hex wards off evil and bad luck and that everyone in the area has one.

Frank refuses to become one of "the savages" and paints over the hex, much to the dismay of gorgeous Julia. It's not long before bad luck befalls the couple. Frank falls ill with a mystery malady, the crops burn in a freak lightning storm, and the entire farm floods during a once-in-a-lifetime storm. Still, Frank refuses to give in to his wife's wishes to repaint a hex on the barn.

Then, one morning, as if by magic, Frank feels wonderful and there's a knock at the door. It's the mailman, bringing Frank the news that he won a $25,000 sweepstakes. With glee, he races out of the house into the garden where Julia... is finishing repainting the hex! A cute little cautionary fable (I still refuse to remove the labels on my pillows for just such a reason) with some fabulous Donn Heck art. If Don's 1960s work had half the charisma and vivaciousness of "The Hex!," critics would have been quite a bit more positive when assessing the man's art.

Deep-sea diver Ken Bayard is searching for unusual seashells for his "cute as a button" eight-year-old niece and he latches onto what looks like the perfect specimen. When he gets back up above the water and puts the shell to his ear, he can hear "The Voice in the Shell!" Actually, voices! Intrigued, he dives further down the next day and is sucked into an underground world. Ken has found Atlantis (he knows it's Atlantis because there's a big ATLANTIS sign over what appears to be an ancient road). 

Suddenly, men rise from the city with weapons and evil etched upon their faces. Ken knows it's time to grab a hunk of highway so he blasts up to the surface in record time, with the seamen staying behind. Ken gets a bad case of the bends but it's better than being skewered by Namor's trident. Silly but harmless stuff, forgotten five minutes after being consumed, with by-the-numbers graphics by George Roussos.

Earth seems on the verge of World War III when "The Invaders" from space appear in the sky. Suddenly, the world's military forces must join together for the survival of humanity. This one has been done a time or two as has the really silly twist at the climax. In "The Menace of the Little Men!," a group of vacationers are stranded at a hunting lodge, held hostage by a trio of little green men. The Martians are looking for the perfect specimen as a blueprint for their fleet of robots. Another dopey twist climax, but at least this one only wastes three pages.

Explorers Guy and Clark are searching for the magical "valley of giants," a land where giants wander the tundra freely. The expedition is grueling, but finally they come to the fabled valley and are disappointed when the natives are all normal-sized. They say their goodbyes to the friendly villagers after a brief stay, unaware that they drank a potion that made them just as large as the natives, who don't want their wonderland publicized! "None are So Blind!" is very silly (I think our heroes probably would have felt their bodies going through some kind of change), but the Al Williamson art makes it worth a read.

Composer Serge Mazerik is working on his latest symphony, surely a masterpiece, when he notices that the piece is putting his dog to sleep. Later, he invites his friend Armand over for a listen and, again, the sound of snoring fills the air. At first outraged, the musical genius then begins to ponder a future where the rich come to listen to his music and fall asleep, leaving their wallets and purses to be pinched. All goes haywire though at the first concert, where everyone falls asleep... except the cop who arrests Serge. The detective came to the concert with his wife and, not being a fan of classical music, turned his hearing aid off! Thumbs up to "Those in a Trance" for its cute and clever twist and Bob Powell's best art in quite a while.-Peter

Astonishing #55

Cover by Bill Everett

"The Creature in the Cave" 

(a: George Roussos & John Giunta) ★1/2

"The Way He Died!" (a: Reed Crandall) ★★1/2

"Where Prowls the Beast!" (a: Angelo Torres) ★★★1/2

"Ravalo the Mysterious!" (a: Dick Ayers) ★1/2

"The Man Who Was Taken!" (a: Joe Maneely) ★1/2

"His Brother's Keeper" (a: John Forte) ★★1/2

A big game hunter is after the biggest game of his career... the legendary creature, the Evil One! The thing lives in a foreign country in a hidden valley filled with monks. When Ellis seeks permission to shoot the thing, he is denied. No one, and I mean no one, tells Ellis no! That night, he sneaks out of the village and heads for "The Creature in the Cave." When he finds it, the thing looms above him but makes no move to assault him.

Just then, the monks arrive and explain that the thing is their way of keeping villagers from committing crimes. The monster removes his head, revealing a man in a costume. The monks then tell Ellis that he will stay in the valley as the new Evil One. Predictable script with art that very much resembles 1960s Gold Key; it does the trick without much work involved.

Paul was born a mutant, with powers of suggestion that can alter a man's mind. Now, the US government wants Paul to fly to "a foreign country" (hmmmm...) and force his will on a dictator who's about to declare war on the free world. Paul accepts his assignment and arrives just outside the evil man's residence. As the commie unknown country's leader gets a breath of fresh air on his balcony, Paul gives him a "push" with his mental powers and the Russkie despot drops dead. 

But then Paul remembers that if he uses his entire power at once, he'll drop dead as well. He does. It's only then, in the epilogue, we discover that the government official who's been narrating was Paul's father. Yep, it's pretty hokey and convoluted, but "The Way He Died!" is also pretty effective. I'm not sure how Paul knew that turning his "energy" level to 11 would kill him (I assume from past mutant experiences), but the fact that he forgot it would deep-six him is pretty silly. This is not prime Reed Crandall, by the way; the figures are stiff and need a better inker.

Daniel Morey receives a bundle of correspondence from his old friend Mark Trask, whom he hasn't seen in years. Daniel reads the letter and becomes engrossed in what became of Mark Trask, who always insisted that mental power won out over physical. Trask had stumbled upon a lost world populated by dinosaurs and, through an unfortunate encounter with a T. Rex, was trapped in the deep valley with no way out. He had grabbed the nearest giant bird available and hoped the map and letter would reach his old friend. Intrigued, Morey packs up and heads to the Lost Valley.

Wow! Angelo Torres delivers art so far above his comrades-in-Atlas at the time that you'd (again) mistake it for work left over when EC's science fiction/fantasy line collapsed. Lump Torres in with Frazetta and Williamson as the best artists of jungle peril stories. The script is exciting and comes equipped with an effective twist ending. "Where Prowls the Beast!" might be the best story I've run across so far in the post-code era.

"Ravalo the Mysterious!" is a silly "what if" story about a woman who meets a handsome man on a station platform who informs her he works for the great Ravalo the Magician and they're looking for a female assistant. But who is the handsome man and should she accept his invitation? No.

Good-natured Ollie takes all the pranks and jokes thrown at him by the mean folk of Hooterville and still emerges smiling, unscathed. When aliens arrive on Earth looking for one single human being without malice, they select Ollie, of course. It's only when he's on the ship and doffs his mask that we discover Ollie was an alien. "The Man Who Was Taken!" has three pages of Joe Maneely's art and that's about it.

In the finale, "His Brother's Keeper," astronaut Larry Collins has lost his nerve while on the planet Mars. He doesn't have the guts to get on the ship back to Earth and that's that. But his brother, the famous pilot Dave Collins, is living nearby and Larry's C.O. explains the situation to the space vet. Dave finds Larry in a pub, nursing his sorrow, and insists that the next spaceship to Earth will definitely have a Collins on board. 

Larry disagrees and his brother cold cocks him, carries him to the spaceport, and dumps his unconscious body on the tarmac. Larry awakens, tells his brother he's seen the light, and climbs aboard the rocket. As Dave leaves the base, two soldiers discuss the fact that Dave Collins lives on Mars because he lost his nerve to make a return trip! Somehow, I never saw that ironic twist coming! The script for "His Brother's Keeper" was written by EC vet (and future DC mystery line powerhouse), Jack Oleck.-Peter

Journey Into Mystery #40

Cover by Bill Everett

"I Saw a Demon!" (a: John Giunta) ★★

"The Silence!" (a: Gene Colan) ★★

"How Harry Escaped" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★1/2

"The Strange Secret of Henry Hill!" (a: Bill Draut) ★★

"The Victim!" (a: Vic Carrabotta) ★1/2

"The Question That Can't Be Answered!" (a: John Forte) ★★

A scientist named Morgan has a theory that a machine could be used to read sound waves etched on ancient surfaces and he builds a machine to test it. Using an ancient rock unearthed in Egypt, he hears a chant and suddenly a demon appears, explaining that he will use his powers to rule the world. There's only one problem: the demon has to grant one wish to the person who summoned him. Morgan wishes him back to where he came from and destroys the machine.

Extra points to "I Saw a Demon!" for the unintentionally hilarious speech where the demon explains that he's really a mutant created by ancient radiation and ancient people called him "the man." Over time, that was garbled into "de man" and, finally, "demon." The demon also resembles Sub Mariner in a red cape that drags on the ground. You'd think a demon would be smart enough not to announce his plans to the person who could wish him away.

In 2076, the first men reach Mars and find that it has a breathable atmosphere. On exploring the planet, they find a town that looks just like one on Earth! However, there are no inhabitants. Befuddled by "The Silence!," the astronauts leave a signpost that reads, "We came, we saw, we found nothing!" and then take off back to Earth. An hour later, apelike Martians emerge from hiding, puzzled that the humans left so soon after the Martians built them a town just like one on Earth.

Gene Colan's art is the highlight of this pointless three-pager. It's interesting how his style remained so consistent for decades.

A banker named Harry Thomas flees the U.S. after embezzling millions. He discovers a portrait that causes the person looking at it to grow younger as long as the portrait is hung in moonlight. After paying crooks to steal the portrait, Harry finds himself growing younger until the police enter the house and arrest him, insisting that he's too young to be who he says he is. The portrait remains in moonlight and Harry keeps growing younger until he disappears. The portrait is now blank!

Once again, Jack Oleck gives Carl Wessler a run for his money in the bad script department. "How Harry Escaped" is a story we've all read before and the art by Ed Winiarski doesn't do it any favors.

Abner Ferris wonders what is "The Strange Secret of Henry Hill!" that allows the rich, handsome young man to succeed at everything. Discovering that Professor Seth Blye put Henry through school, Abner pays a nocturnal visit to the abandoned house where the Prof lived and worked. He finds a mysterious machine that is still running and a diary that explains that the Prof transported Henry as a baby from another dimension to our own. The jealous man discovers that he can eliminate Hill by turning a dial on the machine so, like any good villain, he attempts to blackmail Henry for $100K. Too bad Abner doesn't realize that he, not Henry, was the baby from another dimension; when he destroys the machine, Abner fades away, having returned to the dimension from whence he came.

This story is more enjoyable than it has a right to be, mainly because of the odd plot and the twists and turns it takes along the way. The best thing Bill Draut (or whoever colored the story) does is to give the baby blond hair, so we think it grows up to be blond Henry rather than dark-haired Abner.

A con man named Adam Stokes targets an old inventor named Charles Perkins and convinces "The Victim!" that he is a promoter, interested in developing his gizmos. Perkins shows off his new rainmaking machine and gives Stokes a check for $5000 to start a publicity campaign. Stokes is living it up! Soon, he spies a machine that Perkins calls a Space Diminisher. The inventor throws a switch and both men find themselves on the planet Pluto! Turns out Perkins is a purple Plutonian who was intent on proving that his machine worked by bringing an Earthling to Pluto! Stokes played along perfectly.

Another Atlas story ends with a development out of left field where one of the characters turns out to be an alien from outer space. Carrabotta's art here is not bad and reminds me in spots of Ayers or Sekowsky.

Ned Parker is a cynical reporter determined to expose Prof. Jiminez, a hypnotist whose act involves bringing back to life a woman who has been dead for 200 years. During a performance where Jiminez puts his assistant, Cara, to sleep, Parker is in the audience and also nods off, hypnotized. He travels 500 years into the future, where he accuses another hypnotist of fraud and is hypnotized into going 500 years into the past. On stage, Cara accuses Jiminez of fraud and he thinks he's ruined, but Parker confronts him backstage and tells him he's for real. Parker poses "The Question That Can't Be Answered!," asking the hypnotist "'Who am I'"?

The puzzle that ends this story is intriguing: is the Ned Parker of 1956 the real one, or is the man 500 years in the future the real Ned? The writer provides no answers. John Forte's art is serviceable but hardly exciting.-Jack

Journey Into Unknown Worlds #51

Cover by Carl Burgos

"Who is Nokki?" (a: Joe Sinnott) ★★

"He Was Nobody!" (a: Wally Wood) ★★

"I'm Afraid to Shut My Eyes!" (a: Bob McCarthy) ★

"The Faceless Man!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

"Inside the Dark Cave" (a: John Severin) ★★★

"Our Strange Neighbors" (a: John Forte) ★★

High in the Tibetan mountains, a greedy explorer named Grover Clayton learns of a large vein of gold and offers to reward any native who will guide him to it. One man agrees and, after an arduous journey, they reach the gold. Grover turns on his guide and shoots him, but the guide reveals that he is a spiritual being known as Nokki, and he leaves Grover alone to die on the remote, snowy mountain.

I must be losing my faculties, since I did not guess the twist ending of "Who Is Nokki?" in advance. I figured Nokki would be an abominable snowman or an alien from outer space, or perhaps an abominable Martian snowman. Joe Sinnott's art is decent, especially in a panel with Grover blasting away at Nokki that looks like an illustration from a Western pulp.

The only thing keeping the town of Valley Ridge from being destroyed is a dam, and it's been raining so long and so hard that the dam can't hold back the water for much longer! An old man called Preston the Magician offers to help, but his advice to have faith and pray seems to yield little benefit. The dam watchman warns everyone to clear out, but suddenly a young stranger appears and leads the townsfolk up to the dam, where they try to avoid destruction. It's too late--the dam bursts and the town is destroyed. The people rebuild the town and the state builds a new dam; the people look for the silent stranger who led them in their hour of need, but it turns out that "He Was Nobody!" The old magician denies being the source of salvation and, when he's alone, takes off his fake beard and reveals himself to be the young stranger, who used the faith of the people to accomplish a miracle.

I give the writing of this story one star, but I give the art by Wally Wood a rating of four stars. The graphics are as good as anything he did for EC, even though his hard work was in service of a worthless tale.

After renting a house in France that was once owned by a famous painter named Rambeau, John Martin returned to the States, where he tells his psychiatrist that "I'm Afraid to Shut My Eyes!" Rambeau was known for his primitive paintings of jungles, but one day he vanished. While staying in the house, Martin had a dream that he walked into one of the jungle paintings and heard a voice calling him to stay. Now he fears that if he snoozes, he'll be trapped forever on the other side of a canvas. John reluctantly accepts a sleeping pill from the shrink, has another dream of the jungle, and barely escapes.

Aside from the terrible scribbling by Bob McCarthy, this story made little sense. In the first caption, it says that John is back in America. Yet his shrink tells him "'Good night, monsieur,'" and at the end of the story he is seen fleeing the house, which suggests that he's in France. I'm confused.

Earl Tenley is happily married, but he keeps thinking there's something he should recall but cannot. While out for a walk one evening, he encounters three men whose faces are shadowy and who wear spandex suits and flowing capes. He suddenly recalls that he was sent from the planet Daneb to scout Earth and see if it's ready to benefit from the other planet's advances. The aliens invite Earl to return to his home planet and its cold, mechanized civilization, but Earl declines, having gotten used to Earth and this crazy little thing called love.

A sappy story is improved by very nice art from Steve Ditko, who clearly labored over each page. It may only by 1956, but his style is already evident in the four pages of "The Faceless Man!," including a panel I've reproduced here that features one of Ditko's trademarked silhouetted figures.

"Inside the Dark Cave" on a hill in Ireland live a group of leprechauns, imprisoned by a boulder that blocks the cave's entrance. One of the group produces a musical instrument that, when played, will send a thought to a mortal, who will come and move the rock, thus freeing the wee folk. They think hard and come up with the name of a man who will be bound to succeed. They play the instrument, which will work its magic only one time, but the man who responds can't budge the boulder. Who would think that such a puny lad would be named Samson Muldoon?

I have to hand it to the editor of this issue--Wally Wood, Steve Ditko, and now John Severin! Quite a lineup! I am particularly fond of Severin's art, and this three-pager gives him the opportunity to draw some spiffy leprechauns. The twist ending is cute, too.

 A real estate man named Henry Daniels is surprised when a trio of green-skinned aliens from the planet Zeraphon show up at his office, wanting to buy a piece of land to settle on. He sells them a patch of crummy land on the outskirts of town and they pay him in gold nuggets. Soon, the local bigots start to talk about "Our Strange Neighbors" and grab their torches and baseball bats in order to drive the immigrants back to where they came from. The aliens fight back and the bigots run off. Days later, they vamoose, having left a lovely neighborhood in place of what was a wasteland. The local bigots kick themselves for chasing off the aliens, realizing that they could have done some good.

The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh? A story from 1956 looks an awful lot like the U.S. in 2025, where people are all too ready to chase off immigrants. Shameful.-Jack

Next Week...
The Rogues Join Forces!

Batman in the 1960s Issue 50: March/April 1968

 

The Caped Crusader in the 1960s
by Jack Seabrook
& Peter Enfantino

Novick

Detective Comics #373

"Mr. Freeze's Chilling Deathtrap!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Chic Stone & Sid Greene

Bruce Wayne and his ward, Dick Grayson, race to the hospital in an ambulance with Aunt Harriet. She's got something wrong with her but don't ask what, cuz the info is not forthcoming. All we know is that she'll die unless the surgeon uses cryosurgery on the much-loved Harriet. In the middle of the procedure, the "cannula" ("a tube which feeds liquid nitrogen into its diseased target") suddenly ceases to work. Bruce and Dick are crestfallen when they hear the news. Where the heck can they get another tool that shoots a freezing solution?

Meanwhile, not so coincidentally across town, Mister Zero Freeze is pulling a caper using his very own Cryo-Gun, a bazooka that fires a spray of pure ice, when the gizmo suddenly conks out. "No problem," says the newly christened rogue, he'll use the heat modulator on his blaster instead. The villain is now the proud owner of the most celebrated masterpiece of cold weather, "Winter Wonderland." He and his boys head back to their HQ.

While brainstorming what they'll do if the incredibly irreplaceable Harriet succumbs to her mystery malady, Bruce and Dick look out the window and notice the Bat-Signal! Bruce calls Gordon at the golf course and the Commish spills the beans on Freeze's art theft. Suddenly, the light bulb goes on over Bruce's head and he knows just where to get a freezing tool. Through devious and clever trickery, he fools Freeze into showing up at a warehouse, where fisticuffs immediately break out.

Batman manages to grab Freeze's Cryothermal Gun and lobs it to Robin, who hoofs it out of the building and heads for the hospital. Batman and Freeze engage in a little tit-for-tat as each gets the better of the other for a couple pages before Bats lays the cuffs on and hands the hoods to Gordo. Later, at the hospital, Harriet has made an incredible recovery thanks to the Cryo-Gun, but both Bruce and Dick do double takes when it appears that their beloved boarder has aged a few decades and gained a bit of weight.

More influence from the TV show which, ironically, had just gotten the axe and was televising its final episodes.. Hilariously, Robin even remarks on the fact that Mr. Freeze sounds like "a campy name invented for a villain in a television program!" Suddenly, a not-so-popular baddie is elevated to All-Time Rogue status. My memory is really bad, but I remember when Harriet was introduced I thought she looked awfully young and, if not hot, mighty cougar-ish. Now she's a dumpy old matron. Poor woman. Which reminds me: when does she disappear from the titles? The story itself is fluff (what the heck is G. Fox trying to say when he unloads "The crown prince of chillblains?"), but at least the art is better. The work here by Chic and Sid (who could have been a famous TV comedy duo) falls right smack dab between the high of Carmine and the basement of Shelly.-Peter

Jack-This issue really feels like we're on the right track. The art by Stone and Greene is a step up from that of Moldoff and Giella, and it reminded me in spots of the cartoony style that would later be used for the Super-Friends. There are no hoods in fedoras and suits; instead, we get one of my favorite TV villains. There's even a bit of depth to the storytelling, with Aunt Harriet in danger and the need to rescue her with one of Mr. Freeze's weapons. The backup story with Elongated Man has a cameo by the Dynamic Duo and the villain is another TV favorite, the Riddler! All in all, this was an enjoyable comic, made even more so by the house ads for a Supergirl giant that I recall as one of the first comics I ever saw, along with teasers for two new Ditko titles.

Adams

Batman #200

"The Man Who Radiated Fear!"

Story by Mike Friedrich

Art by Chic Stone & Joe Giella

When the Scarecrow confronts Batman, the villain is paralyzed by fear! What's going on? It's a test--one of the Scarecrow's gang is dressed as Batman in order to try out a new pill that causes the person who takes it to radiate fear. A few nights later, the Scarecrow and his gang wait for the Dynamic Duo to respond to a jewelry store robbery. The Scarecrow's new fear pill works like a charm, causing Batman and Robin to collapse from fright and allowing the crooks to get away.

Batman and Robin return to the Batcave, still shaking, and tell Alfred that they might as well hang up their capes and cowls. Alfred helpfully reminds them in detail of their respective origin stories and they snap out of their funk and head to the gym for a workout.

In the nights that follow, the Dynamic Duo happen upon the Joker, Killer Moth, and the Penguin, all separately, and arrest them. Each bad guy has some colored straws on his person that represent clues from the Scarecrow. Batman and Robin intercept him and his gang at a fur store and a battle follows but, once again, the good guys are defeated by fear. They awaken to find themselves tied to chairs with guns pointed at them; the slightest movement will cause the guns to go off. This proves not to be much trouble for our heroes to escape, and soon they have caught the Scarecrow once again.

Fan-turned-pro Mike Friedrich wrote this, which appears to have been his first pro sale. Since it's the 200th issue, he finds a rather awkward way to work in a retelling of the origin stories, but the tale as a whole is thin. The strangest part is the way Batman and Robin happen across three villains and those villains have straws on their persons that are clues to the Scarecrow's plans. The art is definitely a step up from Moldoff's pages, but having Adams draw the cover makes me salivate for his debut on the inside pages.-Jack

Peter-Friedrich had already sold a couple of scripts to DC, but neither would see the light of a newsstand until post-Batman #200. For an early stab at writing, it's not bad, certainly no worse than a Gardner Fox script. But it's also meandering and rudderless and never explains the biggest mystery: how the heck Scarecrow got that straw into Joker's hair. The art certainly proves the point that the proper inker means a lot. Whereas Chic's art in 'tec #373 was impressive when aided by the inking of Sid Greene, it's two steps back with Joe Giella finishing. My favorite bit in this issue has to be the interview Friedrich conducted with Biljo White, one of the founding members of 1960s comic fandom and editor/publisher of Batmania. Nice touch naming one of Scarecrow's goons after Biljo. Funny how these anniversary issues didn't have the impact they would have decades later. No lenticular covers, extra pages, or high cover price. It's just another monthly.

Novick

Detective Comics #374

"Hunt for a Robin-Killer!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Gil Kane & Sid Greene

The Lemon Brothers are knocking over yet another warehouse when the Caped Crusaders arrive to put the "squeeze on them" (as Robert Plant might say). Batman sends Robin to the back of the building but then remembers that the rear has been barricaded. The Dark Knight puts the KO on the Bros and then goes to check on his little buddy, only to find him dead, beaten to death in an alley. Yep, definitely dead.

While on his Bat-cell phone making funeral arrangements, the "World's Greatest Detective" notices signs of life from the pre-teen titan, lifts him in his arms, and hoofs it to the local hospital. Exiting the building, he swears to find the party responsible for Robin's near-death experience and to make him pay.

Based on clues acquired at the scene (garment fibers, footprints, etc,), Batman puts together a mental picture of Robin's attacker and heads off to search every inch of Gotham. Three minutes later, Batman finds who appears to be the guilty party at a bar called O'Malley's, reading the want ads and enjoying a Pina Colada, and he goes nuclear on the guy. After beating the man to a bloody pulp, our hero drags him to Gordo's office, where the Commish exclaims that this man, a prizefighter named Jim Condors, couldn't possibly be the man who beat the Boy Wonder in the alley. Gordo was with Condors at the exact moment the attack took place! Condors vows to sue Gotham's Avenger!

Disgraced, Batman heads back to the Batcave to look through old files. On a hunch, he searches through some of Robin's old cases and discovers that his partner once busted Jim Condors's twin brother, Ed. With some sly trickery, he tricks Jim into confessing to the beating of Robin (as revenge for his brother's incarceration). Batman and Condors trade right crosses and left upper cuts until Bats gets the drop and kayos the teen beater. Weeks later, Robin is up and out of his hospital bed as if he had never even died!

For the most part, I love the Gil Kane art, with the possible exception of Batman's facial features (which, I guess, is a major "except") and that hellacious full-page pin-up on page 13 (reprinted here). The pose and action are both dynamic, but I assume the Dark Knight might be at the chiropractor the next day after twisting his anatomy in impossible directions. Still, there's a heck of a lot more style and energy here than in so many of the other 1960s strips. The script is lame as usual; it's amazing, for instance that the "World's Greatest Detective" can pull minute fibers from a wall and yet pronounce his partner "dead" from twenty feet away.-Peter

Jack-We all knew from page one that Robin was not going to die, so the real appeal of this story lies in Gil Kane's art. His panels and pages are so dynamic that it's fun to read and see what positions he'll have the characters contort themselves into next. There are a lot of people flying upside down and backwards, but it's entertaining. He still needs practice on faces, though--in the last panel, Batman and Robin look goofy.

Adams

The Brave and the Bold #76

"Doom, What is Thy Shape?"

Story by Bob Haney

Art by Mike Sekowsky & Jack Abel

"The Man Called '50-50'!"

Story by David Vern

Art by Jim Mooney

(Reprinted from Star Spangled Comics #128, May 1952)

When a sports car pulls up to a bank's drive-through window, the driver's mirror turns into a long, malleable arm and reaches in to grab a satchel of loot! Batman is alerted and chases the car, but he is befuddled when it disappears and only a deli delivery van is in the area. This is the work of a costumed villain who calls himself the Molder and who helpfully explains to the reader that the car was made of plastic with a memory; it began as a truck, was remolded into a sports car, and then regained its original truck form from memory. The Molder crows about the Age of Plastic and predicts that the material will revolutionize crime.

He next creates a group of Plastoids, human-like forms who rob the passengers on a subway train. Again, Batman is alerted and he flies into the subway on his Bat-Copter, only to have the Molder engulf him in a gushing mass of plastic that cements him right in the path of the onrushing train! Fortunately, Plastic Man has also been tracking the Molder and uses a stretchy arm to stop the subway cars from crushing the Caped Crusader. Plas explains to Bats that the villain was a plastics research scientist who went berserk after a lab accident.

Plastic Man chases the Molder but is zapped by a ray emanating from his helmet that breaks the stretchable sleuth into five pieces. Batman flies up in his Whirly-Bat and doesn't fare much better. He reassembles Plastic Man while the Molder heads back to an abandoned warehouse, where he completes his latest deadly invention. He soon appears outside of Gotham City Hall and begins to cover it in plastic. Plastic Man puts his body in the way of the stream of plastic shooting from the Molder's big gun, but this only causes our hero's molecules to begin to replicate endlessly.

As Plastic Man's body send out tentacles that threaten to destroy every building in Gotham City, Batman confronts the Molder, only to find himself drowning in plastic. Commissioner Gordon enlists police to blast away at Plastic Man's expanding form, causing Plas's head and shoulders to shear off and bounce into the Molder's lab, where he drinks memory plastic solution. The Plastoids attack and his head and shoulders bounce back into contact with the rest of his body, which shrinks back to its normal shape and size. Batman manages to escape suffocation and finds the Molder atop a building, where a good left hook knocks the bad guy off the edge. Plastic Man's giant hand catches him before he goes splat on the pavement and Plas explains to Bats that the memory solution that he drank allowed his body to recall its prior state and return to it.

The Molder is one of those villains who comes out of nowhere, seems to have powers that are unlimited and unstoppable, and then suddenly is beaten by a good punch thrown by Batman. The story breezes by quickly with nary a mention of the Boy Wonder. Fortunately, this issue also features a reprint from 1952 of a Robin solo story, where he outwits a crook knows as "50-50" Finley, whose face and clothes are equally divided between light and shadow. He claims to give everyone an even chance to beat him, but Robin  finds that the bad guy always stacks the odds in his own favor. I like the early-'50s Mooney art.-Jack

Peter- Most of the art for the Plastic Man story is strictly amateur hour, in particular the "human" faces, but the script has a goofy, non-stop energy to it that's infectious and the panels with Plasty pasted all over the city are genius. In the best sense, "Doom, What is Thy Shape?" feels like an improv, with Haney one-upping himself as the script progresses. To me, it's the most entertaining B+B story yet. The Molder is as generic a villain as they come; the costume immediately brought to mind Spider-Man's nemesis, Hobgoblin. The back-up, an old Robin solo yarn, is fun but "Fifty-fifty" Finley is strictly low-rent Two-Face.

Next Week...
Wally!

The Hitchcock Project-Act of Faith by Nicholas Monsarrat [7.27]

by Jack Seabrook

"Act of Faith" is based on a short story called "Up the Garden Path" by Nicholas Monsarrat. The story was collected in The Ship That Died of Shame and Other Stories (1959), and a postscript says that it was first published in the British tabloid, Daily Sketch. A copyright date of 1953 is given. I have searched Daily Sketch in the online British Newspaper Archives, but I could not find the story.

"Up the Garden Path" is narrated by an unnamed, successful London author. As the story opens, he speaks to his secretary, dictating responses to letters that he has received from friends, strangers, and people asking for money. The last letter he dictates is to Alan Chatterton, a fellow author who offers to let the narrator read the part of a novel he has written so far and asks for help if he likes it.

Recalling his own days as a struggling writer, the narrator invites Chatterton to visit, and he arrives a few days later. He is twenty-two years old and needs money to survive while finishing his book, a job he estimates will take six months. The narrator reads the sample, likes it, and agrees to pay a small amount each month but, as time passes, Chatterton begins to ask for more money but does not want to show his benefactor any more of his unfinished work.

The requests for money continue and the reasons pile up: a holiday, rent, an overcoat, a new typewriter; by year-end, the total is about 1000 pounds. In May, Chatterton reveals that he has to get married and claims that, if he doesn't, he may never finish the book. He asks for 500 pounds to settle down with his new wife and offers the narrator a contract giving him a half-interest in the novel.

A few days later, the narrator is dining at an opulent club when he sees Chatterton entertaining a large party; a waiter confirms that he is a good customer. The next morning, the narrator confronts Chatterton in a rage, thinking he's been conned out of a total of about 1800 pounds. Chatterton claims that it was his wedding party and just one of the many experiences he needs for his book, which is nearly done. The men argue and the narrator angrily tears up the contract and dismisses Chatterton. He soon learns that at least two other men have been supporting the young writer as well.

Chatterton's book is published while the narrator is out of the country on a lecture tour and it's a runaway best-seller. The narrator returns home to find a check repaying him in full. He reads the book, thinks it brilliant, and realizes that the young man had been working on it the whole time. The narrator sends a congratulatory note and runs into Chatterton later that year. The young man thanks his benefactor and adds, "'But you never really believed in me, did you?'"

In his postscript, Nicholas Monsarrat writes that "Up the Garden Path" is based on personal experience. He loaned money to a struggling writer, whose book was a modest success and who never repaid the loan. Monsarrat later discovered that two of his friends had also supported the writer. He concludes that it was not his only "exercise in Good Samaritanism," but it was "the least edifying." The short story is an odd choice to adapt for Alfred Hitchcock Presents because no crime is committed and there is little suspense, other than the question of whether Chatterton will finish his book and pay the narrator back. The reader, like the narrator, grows to suspect that Chatterton is a fraud as the story develops, but the surprise at the end is that the young man was being truthful all along. In other words, the twist ending is that there is no twist!

Nicholas Monsarrat (1910-1979) was an English author who served in WWII and who wrote novels beginning in 1934, including The Cruel Sea (1951) and The Tribe That Lost Its Head (1956). He also wrote short stories from 1943 to 1974. His works were adapted for film and television, including two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents; the other was "A Secret Life."

George Grizzard as Alan Chatterton

In the short story, the narrator thinks he is being led "up the garden path" by Chatterton, only to learn that he was mistaken. The phrase means to be misled into believing something that is false. The title was changed to "Act of Faith" when the story was adapted for television by Eric Ambler and the TV version follows the plot of the story closely. The location has been moved from London to New York City and the narrator has been christened Ralston Temple, who has an English accent and is the only British character in the show. In the first scene, Temple dictates letters to his secretary, who has been named Alice; her role in the TV version is much larger than it is in the story.

In the story, the narrator responds to Chatterton's letter and the young man responds by visiting and bringing sample chapters from his novel; the narrator then reads them and agrees to sponsor him. In the TV show, the secretary has already read the sample chapters and encourages a reluctant Temple to support the writer. The second scene shows Chatterton's visit to Temple, and the young man is far less charming than he is in the story. He wears shabby clothes and his behavior is rude and arrogant, making the viewer wonder why Temple agrees to give him money.

A new scene follows, where Temple is sick in bed and his secretary visits him. This scene summarizes the section of the story where Chatterton keeps asking for more money for various things, and the secretary remains supportive. In between scenes, there is stock footage of New York City at different times of the year, showing the passage of time. In the next scene, Alice takes a phone call from Chatterton, followed by his visit where he offers Temple a half-interest in the book because he has to get married. Temple refers to his decision to fund Chatterton's marriage as an "'act of faith,'" thus giving the episode its title, though his entire course of sponsorship could be seen as such an act.

Temple then sees Chatterton at the restaurant and, unlike the story, where the narrator summons the young author to his home the next day, in the TV show, Temple confronts Chatterton in the restaurant. In the following scene, at Temple's apartment, the teleplay deviates from the story by having Chatterton admit that he made up the story about needing to get married. Temple asks Chatterton if he has any other sponsors; in the story, he discovered this after his rift with the young man. The scene ends with Alice accusing Chatterton of stealing the sample chapters from another writer, a suggestion that is not in the story.

Dennis King as Ralston Temple

After stock footage of a ship entering New York Harbor represents Temple's return from a voyage, Alice hesitantly hands him a newspaper and there is a cut to the final scene, which plays out differently than in the story. In the TV version, Chatterton is at a bookstore, signing copies of his best-seller for a long line of women. Alice and Temple visit the store and Temple confronts Chatterton, who is now more of an equal to Temple as a successful author with a group of admiring fans. Chatterton signs a book for Temple and dismisses him as women gather around the table.

"Act of Faith" is a disappointing adaptation of a short story that, while enjoyable, probably should not have been chosen for this TV series. The camera setups at times recall those in the early days of live TV, when the camera is placed too close to one character, making them look unnaturally large in relation to other characters. The show as a whole looks like it was made on a low budget. There is no suspense and the attempts at humor fall flat. Worst of all, the two lead performances render the characters unlikeable. Temple seems like a flamboyant, older man, as if he is playing the part on stage for a large audience, while Chatterton seems like the "'angry young man'" Temple accuses him of being in the first scene when they meet. The two acting styles are quite different and don't match up well.

Eric Ambler (1909-1998), who wrote the teleplay, was born in London and was married to Joan Harrison, who produced this episode. He had a long and successful career as a novelist and is considered the father of the modern spy novel, having influenced such writers as Graham Greene and John le Carre. He was a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America and adapted Monsarrat's novel, The Cruel Sea, for film. "Act of Faith" is not indicative of his writing and is the only episode he wrote for the Hitchcock TV show.

The show was directed by Bernard Girard (1918-1997), who directed many TV shows and a few movies between 1951 and 1975. He directed twelve episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "Ride the Nightmare."

Florence MacMichael as Alice

Alan Chatterton is played by George Grizzard (1928-2007), who was on screen from 1955 to 2006, working more often on television than on film. He had a Broadway career that spanned the same years and was in the original cast of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Grizzard was seen in three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "Fog Closing In," as well as episodes of The Twilight Zone and Thriller and the famous Bus Stop episode, "I Kiss Your Shadow."

Dennis King (1897-1971) plays Ralston Temple. He was born Dennis Pratt in England, served in WWI, and began a long career as a stage actor in 1919. He moved to the US in 1921 and worked steadily on Broadway until 1969. He was both an actor and a singer and, though he made only a small number of films, he was a busy TV actor from 1948 to 1963. This was his only role on the Hitchcock TV show.

Alice, the secretary, is played by Florence MacMichael (1919-1999), who appeared on Broadway and whose long screen career lasted from 1943 to 1971. She was on The Twilight Zone and she was a semi-regular on Mister Ed (1963-1965); she also is credited with roles in three other episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "Annabel."

The cast and crew of "Act of Faith" were a talented group, but the episode is one of the weakest of the series. Read the story here or watch the TV show here; it first aired on NBC on Tuesday, April 10, 1962.

Sources:

"Act of Faith." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 7, episode 27, NBC, 10 Apr. 1962.

"Eric Ambler, Thriller Writer Who Elevated the Genre to Literature, Is Dead at 89." The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/1998/10/24/arts/eric-ambler-thriller-writer-who-elevated-the-genre-to-literature-is-dead-at-89.html.

Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. OTR Pub, 2001.

IBDB, www.ibdb.com.

IMDb, www.imdb.com.

Lane, Christina. Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman behind Hitchcock. Chicago Review Press, 2020.

Monsarrat, Nicholas. "Postscript." The Ship That Died of Shame and Other Stories, Pan, 1980, pp. 203–204.

Monsarrat, Nicholas. "Up the Garden Path." The Ship That Died of Shame and Other Stories, Pan, London, 1980, pp. 115–129.

Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "The Dangerous People" here!

In two weeks: "Final Escape," starring Stephen McNally!

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 139: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Horror Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 124

October 1956 Part IV

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Uncanny Tales #48

Cover by Russ Heath

"Power Mad!" (a: George Roussos) ★1/2

"The Whirlpool" (a: Bob Forgione) ★1/2

"The Night Watcher!" (a: Bill Everett) ★★1/2

"They'll Never Find Me" (a: Doug Wildey) ★1/2

"What Happened to Harry?" (a: Pete Morisi) ★

"The Door I Dare Not Open!" (a: Jim Mooney) ★1/2

With his new "Compound K" formula, scientist Conrad Elton finds he can bend the will of his favorite dog, Otto. So why shouldn't it work on people? Conrad begins to dream of unparalleled power, unending wealth, and a wife like Christina Urbana! Sure enough, when Conrad dumps a vial of "CK" into the punch at a social gathering, everyone in the town of Nordsburg votes him mayor and Christina accepts his proposal of marriage.

But, after just a few months of mayordom, Conrad's magic begins to wear away and, after demanding a new City Hall be built, the villagers light torches and chase Conrad and Christina (and Otto) out of town. Suddenly, while driving, Conrad realizes that it wasn't "CK" that won him the trust of his neighbors, but love. Gosh, how sweet. "Power Mad!" perfectly represents all that was bad about the post-code. Just two years before, Conrad would have been taken to the nearest town square and disemboweled for his grievous errors, but here we see him heading into a new life, completely cleansed of bad intentions. There's literally no suspense or danger in these yarns.

After his girlfriend leaves him for another man while he's fighting in the war, Jeff Dawson gives up, wanting only to die. So, naturally, he accepts a professor's challenge to recreate the raft voyage of a group of South American Indians, who disappeared and were found safe thousands of miles away in the Polynesian Islands. Days into the journey, Dawson's raft is sucked into a whirlpool and he awakens in an undersea cave, surrounded by fishmen in bad spacesuits. They tell him that he will never be released and suddenly Jeff Dawson wants to live! "The Whirlpool" is yet another story about the triumph of the will and all that, with nary a surprise nor a twist in sight (well, except for the fact that Dawson seems to exist for a long period of time on a small box of provisions). 

An alien lands in the middle of a backwoods forest, looking for the dominant species in order to duplicate it and then rule the world. Along comes brain-dead hick (well, at least that's what the other hillbillies in Coonskin Junction call the poor man) Pete, hunting raccoons with his trusty dog, Bob. But Pete ain't so dumb after all and he tricks the alien into transforming into a raccoon before he gives it both barrels. "The Night Watcher!" is a fun little distraction with some decent Bill Everett artwork. If only they gave poor Bill something to draw other than Pete, Bob, and a smoke monster. Definitely a waste of a master's talent.

In the three-page "They'll Never Find Me," escaped convict Jerry Owens hides in a satellite that is about to be launched into space. Weighing the cops outside his small shelter against fifty years in space, what will Jerry do? Well, I can't tell you that even if I wanted to because the story ends with Jerry's contemplation. In "What Happened to Harry?," the E-12 spaceship lands on Earth after five years in space and authorities are alarmed to discover that only one of the crew made it back and that's Harry. The sole survivor confesses that he had to leave the rest of his crew back on planet Zeno when a duplicate crew of explorers made it impossible to tell which batch were friends and which were foes. The climax is oddly muddled; I thought for sure we were going to be handed the old "the other guys are actually these guys from the past or future" cliche but, instead, no explanation is given.

Ben just has to get away from his wife, Julia, after a typically heated argument. When his car breaks down, he finds shelter in a remote house owned by a kindly old man who invites Ben to stay the night. "But," he warns sternly, "whatever you do, don't go through that door right there... no matter what, just don't open it, ya hear... no way no how should you go through that doorway!" Ben agrees but then finds it hard to sleep so, naturally, he opens the door and enters a misty corridor. 

There he witnesses a grim scene... his wife, Julia, standing over his fallen form, admitting she's poisoned him for the insurance money. He turns away and finds another door. Opening that, he sees himself captured by savage natives, the kind with bones in their noses, after the ship he's sailing on shipwrecks on a deserted island. Suddenly, Ben awakens to find himself in a partially constructed house with workers all around him. They inform him that the house is just now being built; Ben smiles and promises himself he'll find a pay phone to call Julia to tell her how much he loves her. Sure, right after he sees a glimpse of a future where the woman has killed him for his dough. Sounds like someone you want to run back to. The Mooney art reminds me that, aside from Bill Everett's work on "The Night Watcher!," this issue is filled with merely competent art.-Peter

World of Mystery #3

Cover by Bill Everett

"The Bugs!" (a: Angelo Torres) ★★

"Who is Raymas?" (a: Jack Davis) ★★★

"The Mystery Man!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

"I Received Letters from Nowhere!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★

"The Man Who Failed!" (a: Manny Stallman) ★

"Nobody" (a: Bernard Baily) ★

A metal thingie resembling the wing of an airplane crashes into the barn belonging to a hick farmer and his young son. The boy insists that the object is a spaceship, but the older man is having none of that. He cuts open a section and inside spots some bugs. The boy once again insists the craft is from outer space and that, with his younger eyes, he can see the "bugs" are actually space travelers. Having had enough of his son's poppycock, the hillbilly tosses the metal into the garbage and orders the boy back into the house. The last panel of "The Bugs!" proves the kid was right. The art of Angelo Torres is so radically different than that of some of the hacks working on the Atlas genre titles that anything sporting its sheen is, like those stories blessed with Everett, Ditko, Heath, and Maneely, eminently more readable despite cliched scripts.

A troop of entertainers, including Raymas the Magician, are forced to work in the factories owned by the stinkin' commies. Unfortunately for the Reds, Raymas begins a reign of mischief, shutting the plant down and forcing the State's leader, Baruta, to sign a peace treaty with a neighboring country. The politics are hazy, as is the meandering script, but the Jack Davis work is solid and the whole thing has an EC vibe to it. In my book, that makes this a standout this month.

Government agent Peter Dennis is tasked with finding an answer to why so many people across the world are sending large sums of money to a Professor Moros, who preaches a belief known as "cosmic harmony." When Dennis finally finds Moros, he tells the professor to denounce his own beliefs and tell the sheep who are sending him dough to put a halt to it. Dennis believes the old man is a crackpot, but an incident at a rally changes his mind. After Dennis is accidentally shot, Moros heals his wounds and begins to fade away, explaining that he will return when mankind is ready to hear his message of peace. The reveal for "The Mystery Man!" is very Klaatu barada nikto, but the graphics by young Steve Ditko are eye candy. Agent Dennis is a dead ringer for Ditko's Norman Osborn.

In "I Received Letters from Nowhere!," Eugene Page buys a ratty old mailbox from an antique store and, when it's installed, the relic spits out recipes for riches. Page's interest is piqued after he makes thousands on the tips received, but when he enlists the aid of postal inspectors, he discovers that the antique dealer has been running a scam. So how did his tips pay off?  In the inane "The Man Who Failed!," an inventor attempting to create a time travel machine accidentally whips up a space travel gizmo, sending him to Pluto. 

A strange being (let's call him "Nobody" for now), oddly dressed in what appears to be a superhero outfit is discovered in the desert and brought to a bevy of scientists for study. The creature cannot talk but, with the magic of word balloons, we discover that his name is Holdar and he's from another dimension. Some of his buddies from Dimension X arrive (they're invisible) and tell Holdar that the pressure from arriving on Earth has caused him to lose his memory. Now that the earthlings have found him and will no doubt yearn to trace his origins, Holdar must make the supreme sacrifice and remain on Earth.

After reading three more crappy Atlas comics,
Peter makes a startling confession

Holdar transforms into human form and regains the power of speech, explaining to the scientists that his name is John Billings and he was exposed to an atomic explosion, which explains his amnesia. The world's most brilliant men all nod in agreement that such a cataclysmic event would cause memory loss and no blisters. They accept Holdar's story, thus adding weight to P. T. Barnum's theory. The good will generated by the art for the first three stories in this issue is erased by the sheer ugliness found in the last three.-Peter

World of Suspense #4

Cover by Carl Burgos

"Something Is In This House" (a: Paul Reinman) ★1/2

"Bait!" (a: Manny Stallman) ★★

(r: Strange Tales #173)

"He's Hiding on Earth!" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★★

"They Were Reborn!" (a: George Roussos) ★★

"Volcano!"(a: Hy Fleishman) ★1/2

"Brainwash" (a: Bob Forgione) ★★

Phil Evans has a recurring nightmare in which he visits a big house where a maid and a dog both run in fright when they see something that Phil can't see. He wakes up and his wife Julie suggests a vacation, but as they drive, they suddenly see the house in Phil's dream. Phil approaches it alone (because there are some things a man must do alone) and the maid is terrified. Phil confronts her and she tells him that he is a ghost!

When we worked our way through the DC horror comics, we frequently encountered Jack Oleck. I don't recall if his stories were as bad as "Something Is In This House," but this one demonstrates that he must have learned at the feet of the master of confusion and dopey twist endings himself, Carl Wessler. Why does the maid call Phil a ghost? Who knows? It's page four, so it has to be over. Paul Reinman's art is mediocre.

Three scientists take a fishing trip and one hooks a bizarre fish from the depths that appears to have lungs. The boat captain is disappointed in the catch, especially when the trio want to cut the trip short and head back to land with their fish. The creature thinks back to its origin in the time of dinosaurs; when they became extinct, it shrank and hid in the depths of the ocean. Now it will grow again and go on the attack! Well, it would have if the captain hadn't cut it up to use for "Bait!" the next morning.

I'm getting used to Manny Stallman's art, which has an EC vibe in spots. The story isn't much and depends on the reader accepting that the captain is a simpleton.

Professor Duncan lectures his students, suggesting that even though there is no water on Mars, the Red Planet may still sustain intelligent life. A student named Bellows upsets the prof by arguing that any life form that could exist without water must be very simple. At home, Duncan muses about his true identity as a Martian, gathering data for the coming invasion; he catches Bellows snooping outside and follows him to the lake, where the professor confronts the student in a boat and admits that, as a Martian, "He's Hiding on Earth!" The boat tips over and Duncan disappears--Bellows realizes that he must have drowned because Martians would not need to know how to swim on a waterless planet.

Another alien invasion foiled by a simple thing! H.G. Wells must have been rolling over in his grave. Just once I'd like to see an Atlas Martian succeed! Sales's art is average and creates no reader interest or excitement.

Rex Mott and his mob held up an armored truck and stole a half-million bucks, but when a policeman makes a TV announcement that they know who did it and have blocked all exits from the city, Rex is concerned. He sees a TV interview with a scientist who can put people in suspended animation for 200 years, so Rex and the gang seek him out and take a very long nap. Upon awakening, they are greeted by bald men of the future and boast of their crime. One of the future men hands Rex a contract to appear on stage and Rex blithely signs it, only to discover that the whole thing was a fix; they never traveled into the future and his boastful confession was recorded.

I was so convinced that "They Were Reborn!" was a prototype for "The Rip Van Winkle Caper," an episode of The Twilight Zone, that the ending caught me off guard. It's not as clever or effective as Serling's twist, but the premise of this story is so similar to the later TV episode that I wonder, and not for the first time, if the great TV writer secretly read and mined Atlas comics for some of his plots (also see "The Bugs!," above).

Gerald Hawkes is a rich jerk who buys up the leases to the land in a Mexican village and then orders the residents to pay up or get out by tomorrow morning. Gerald has his eye on minerals under the ground, but that night, a nearby "Volcano!" erupts and pours gold nuggets into the village. The next morning, the villagers pay off their leases in gold and Gerald is forced to leave the area.

Simple, silly, and forgetful, the story matches Hy Fleishman's art.

A new American fighter jet being tested over Russia encounters problems and the pilot is forced to land in enemy territory. The plane explodes and the Russkies grill the pilot for details of the new plane, but he refuses to divulge any information. Starvation doesn't work. Depriving him of water doesn't work. He even resists the charms of a sexy agent named Marla. Diplomats order his release and the pilot returns home, where it is revealed that he is a robot and he, not the plane, was what was being tested! He resisted the enemy's attempt to "Brainwash" him!

Not a bad little story, with solid art by Forgione and Abel, this wraps up an underwhelming issue with a minor surprise and some good old anti-Communist themes.-Jack

Next Week...
The 200th Issue of Batman
Has to be Something Special, Right?