Monday, February 24, 2025

Batman in the 1960s Issue 42: November/December 1966

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


Anderson
Batman #186

"The Joker's Original Robberies!"
Story by John Broome
Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

"Commissioner Gordon's Death-Threat!"
Story by Gardner Fox
Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

There's a new member of the Joker's gang and his name is Gagsworth A. Gagsworthy, nicknamed Gaggy, a dwarf who is a refugee from a circus and whose new job is to keep the boss laughing. Every time Gaggy  makes the Joker guffaw, the Clown Prince of Crime comes up with a new idea for mayhem. "The Joker's Original Robberies!" include robbing an exhibition of original models of famous inventions from the Salon of Spectacles. Though the Dynamic Duo make the scene, the Joker and his gang escape.

Batman and Robin realize that the Joker's next target will be the original city hall of Gotham City. When the Joker uses a helicopter to airlift the building to a secret location, Batman and Robin hang on from below and burst through the door, quickly mopping up the gang and ensuring that Joker and Gaggy share a jail cell.

We are in full Batman TV show mode now and DC is making sure that they sell as many Batman comics as possible. Not only is Murphy Anderson drawing the covers, but the house ads include the latest issue of Jerry Lewis comics, featuring a guest appearance by Batman and Robin! The lead story in this issue is dreadful and Gaggy is an awful sidekick. He tries to make himself the equivalent of the Boy Wonder, but it doesn't work, and the art by Moldoff is worse than usual.

Batman receives an emergency call from Commissioner Gordon, who says that he is in Resort City, hiding out from Fred Purley, a jewel thief he locked up 40 years ago who has just been released. On his way out of the courtroom, Purley issued "Commissioner Gordon's Death-Threat!" to the then-rookie cop and now Batman's pal is afraid the crook will keep his old promise. What Batman doesn't know is that the call really came from Purley, who does a spot-on impression of Gordon's voice and who is holding the Commish hostage.

After racing to Resort City in the Bat-copter, the Caped Crusader barely escapes being blown up by a hidden bomb when he opens the door to what he thinks is Gordon's hotel room. Meanwhile, in Gotham City, Robin is out patrolling in the Batmobile when he happens upon Purley and two goons robbing a jewelry store. Robin is doing well against the goons when he's distracted by Purley's Gordon vocal impression; as a result, he's knocked out and left on the pavement. When the Dynamic Duo reunite at Police HQ, Batman quickly figures out what's going on and they take the Bat-copter to Flame Island, where Gordon has absent-mindedly scraped a Bat-signal in the black paint covering a window in the tower of the building where he's being held. Biff! Pow! Scratch one jewel thief and rescue one commissioner.

Unlike the first story in this issue, which was extra disappointing because it wasted the Joker, this one is just plain dull and features yet another run of the mill gangster. With all of the attention on Batman at this point, you'd think DC could do better, but I guess they could slap his picture on just about anything and it would sell during the heyday of Bat-mania.-Jack

Peter-In "Commissioner Gordon's Death-Threat," the Boy Wonder's inane one-liners had me screaming out "Robin! Stop!" at the same time as Purley! The hippy-cat lingo the kid keeps spouting reminds me we're almost into that Rebellious Robin phase we encountered in the early '70s. Old men writing dialogue for teenagers ("Wonder why Batman sliced air for Resort City?") never worked and probably never will. Hilarious that Purley got a life sentence for a diamond heist and Penguin and Joker are paroled before they're even arrested for multiple slayings. The Joker tale adds fuel to my argument that the 1960s Batman writers had no idea how to pen interesting tales centered on a madman. Take a look around at what DC Comics was selling in their funny books at the time and you can see there was no room for a genuine psychopath among yarns about super dogs and Kid Flashes.


Infantino/Giella
Detective Comics #357

"Bruce Wayne Unmasks Batman!"
Story by John Broome
Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella

Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson are the guests on the William B. Williams TV debate show when they are blind-sided by the appearance of... Batman and Robin! The quartet engage in a feisty debate on criminal rehabilitation, bad childhoods, and the number of jewelry stores located in Gotham, with the masked invitees unaware of the secret identities belonging to the gentlemen across from them. 

Watching from home are two members of the Frankie Fargo gang, Boo-Boo and Beefy. Boo-Boo gets the ingenious idea of going down to the studio and kidnapping the Dynamic Duo to impress boss Frankie. They grab a conveniently-placed container of sleeping gas and exit through the apartment door. Later, they pump the studio full of gas and dump the faux crime-fighters in the back of their getaway car. In a secluded wood, they unmask the Caped Crusaders to reveal a pair of college kids. Without ID, they can't place the kids, so they stash the comatose "heroes" and head off to find Frankie Fargo.

Meanwhile, back at the studio, William Williams explains to Bruce and Dick that the Batman and Robin idea was all his; the men behind the masks are a pair of university students who spend their idle time at parties imitating their idols. Bruce and Robin head to the university to look for clues and happen upon Frankie and his gang just as the mobsters are about to rub out the underwear-clad figures whom they believe to be Batman and Robin.

When the real deal emerge from the Batmobile, Frankie is, to be frank, a bit pissed, and he opens up on the Dynamic Duo. It doesn't take much, however, for the Dark Knight and the Teenage Torpedo to take the gang down and deliver them to the authorities (Gordon is on a much-needed vacation). At the studio the next evening, Bruce and Robin are introduced to Tom Wiley and Stewart Hall, the two frat boys who were nabbed, and Wayne congratulates Tom on his mockery of Gotham's Greatest Detective while Dick chuckles in the foreground.

This is another one of those "high-concept" ideas that works much better on the cover than it does on the inside. Much like other plots of this ilk ("Alfred is... The Penguin!" "Robin Shops at the Supermarket!"), a single image (cover) is a fun snapshot that doesn't necessarily translate into 14 pages of action and brilliant storytelling. I was hoping the addition of John Broome to the skimpy writing staff would elicit new ideas, but nope, it's still the same old sophomoric crap.-Peter

Jack-I think you're being generous. The cover is nicely drawn but hardly memorable, and the story inside is terrible. William B. Williams was a real radio personality in NYC for decades but I can't imagine that a kid who would plunk down 12 cents for this issue would care one whit about William B. The script is so bad that even Infantino and Giella's art is uninspired. And who names villains Beefy and Boo Boo? Infantino must have been feeling overwhelmed, because he doesn't draw this issue's Elongated Man story, which has the dubious distinction of using the wrong color for the hero's costume from start to finish.


Various
Batman #187

"Batman's First Case"
Story by Bill Finger
Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Charles Paris
(Reprinted from Detective Comics #265, March 1959)

"The Phantom Eye of Gotham City"
Story by John Broome (?)
Art by Bob Kane & Charles Paris
(Reprinted from Detective Comics #192, February 1953)

"The Last Days of Batman"
Story by Bill Finger
Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Charles Paris
(Reprinted from Batman #125, August 1959)

"Gotham's Cleverest Criminal"
Story by Al Schwartz
Art by Jack Burnley & Charles Paris
(Reprinted from Batman Sunday strips 10/28-12/9/45)

"Peril at Playland Isle"
Story by Bill Finger
Art by Dick Sprang & Charles Paris
(Reprinted from Detective Comics #264, February 1959)

"The Batman of Tomorrow!"
Story by Edmond Hamilton
Art by Dick Sprang & Charles Paris
(Reprinted from Detective Comics #216, February 1955)

"The Ballad of Batman"
Story by Edmond Hamilton
Art by Dick Sprang & Charles Paris
(Reprinted from Batman #95, October 1955)

Peter-I love the constant rearranging of the mythos through the decades. Every so often we discover that a/Batman's first case wasn't really the first case; b/ there are umpteen people in Bruce Wayne's past that he's just lost touch with but reconnects with when a new villain arrives in town; and c/ Bruce Wayne had a myriad of inspirations for his alter ego. Most of these oldies have something that makes me smile, but if I have to pick a favorite it would be the dopiest of the six (I don't count the Sunday strips), "The Last Days of Batman," wherein the main plot is kicked off by the Dark Knight's need to travel back in time to the 17th Century. To save the world? To save Gotham? To save Robin? How about to save a kitten? Nope, it's to clear up a misunderstanding about museum curator John Kirk and an obscure painting. Thank goodness Gotham has its own time machine inventor! Gotta hand it to that Bill Finger; he could make masterpieces out of a sow's ear.

Jack-I don't think I've read this 80-page giant before, but it's an unusually strong collection. I loved the Sunday strips and now will have to go out and find a book of them so I can read them all. Art and story are great! Also great is the fact that we get three stories in a row penciled by Dick Sprang. My favorite of these is "Peril at Playland Isle," which makes fine use of an amusement park setting. "The Ballad of Batman" is a hokey tale that came out around the height of the Davy Crockett craze. 


Infantino/Giella
Detective Comics #358

"The Circle of Terror!"
Story by John Broome
Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

While out on patrol, Batman and Robin stumble upon the latest in a long line of 15th-tier Rogue villains--the Spellbinder! Exiting from the broken window of an antique store (definitely not the safest way to break into a business), Spellbinder and his two nattily-dressed henchmen dive into battle with the Dynamic Duo but the fisticuffs come to a screeching halt when Spellbinder unveils his secret power--hypnotism.

While doing cartwheels, the baddie envelops Batman with a mesmerizing pattern and our hero becomes... clock-eyed!!! Yes, clock-eyed. Suddenly, the Dark Knight believes he's facing the huge clock on the Lifetime Publications building in Gotham. Mobsters emerge from the timepiece and Batman gives wing, landing on the minute hand and delivering off-balance left hooks that seem to leave the criminals unfazed. Batman loses his footing and falls hundreds of feet to his death.

Or so it would seem, but just before he splatters all over the pavement, he awakens and finds a very worried Robin, informing his boss that the bad guys got away. Bats heads to the office of a police doctor, who tells him that the Spellbinder's trick seems to work on the Caped Crusader's inner fears and that it's very common for a frightened dreamer to die in his sleep (1960s medical research at its finest). Batman had better be well-prepared the next time he runs into the Spellbinder.

Ignoring this sage medical advice, Batman grabs Robin and hits the streets running, searching high and low for Spellbinder. He finds the dazzler in an alley (!), mapping out his next heist with his two bozos. Obviously expecting a different outcome, Batman is amazed when the Spellbinder hypnotizes him again and makes him believe he's landing a helicopter atop a speeding train to fight robbers. Unfortunately, the battle does not go our hero's way and he takes a topple from the locomotive into a body of water far below, waking up just before a whirlpool sucks him under. Again, Robin is there to roll his eyes and admonish his mentor for being foolhardy. "Next time," swears the World's Greatest Detective, "I'll be ready for him!"

Later that night, skyrockets in the sky lead the Dynamic Duo to a nearby deserted street, where the Spellbinder and his fiendish employees await. A well-hidden rocket blows up in Batman's face and becomes a pinwheel, once more hypnotizing him and sending him into an eerie dream state. Now, Batman is convinced he's in an amusement park fighting sideshow acts. But third time's the charm as Gotham's defender figures a way to foil the Spellbinder's trick and he delivers that solid left cross to the chin of his arch-enemy. Gotham's jail cells will be full again for at least a couple of months.

I gotta say that John Broome at least changes up the formula this time a bit. Batman is defeated twice before he gets a handle on the spinning trick; usually, there's one defeat and then Bats goes in swinging the second time. You can tell I'm so bored by this by-the-numbers era that I'll grab onto anything of interest. Like Batman's micro-sized crime book he keeps in his utility belt. Really, how much info could be kept in a journal the size of a folded business card? Or how about the questionable science of a helicopter blade that moves so slowly that it offers no harm to someone unlucky enough to get hit in the head by it? Gotham Villain Uniform Company must be running out of ideas; Spellbinder's get-up looks like pieces left over from three or four other 15th-tier rogues.-Peter

Jack-Is this the first op-art villain we've seen? He's described that way in the story and his costume features some go-go checks, so he has to be at DC! At the end of the story, Bruce, Dick, Alfred, and Aunt Harriet take in an op-art exhibit at a museum. Suffice it to say that Sheldon Moldoff's exhibits of op art on the museum wall do not inspire me to search for more. According to Wikipedia, the term op art was coined in '64, so DC is on the cutting edge. Sort of. Just like last issue, Infantino doesn't draw the Elongated Man backup story; this time, it's Sid Greene. From the looks of this one sample, I like him better as an inker over someone else's pencils.


Infantino/Giella
Batman #188

"The Eraser Who Tried to Rub Out Batman!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

"The Ten Best-Dressed Corpses in Gotham City!"
Story by John Broome
Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Sid Greene

Gazing at a giant eraser on display in a shop window (and ignoring the scantily-clad beauty who is giving him the eye), Bruce Wayne recalls a college classmate named Lenny Fiasco who made so many mistakes that he was always erasing the blackboard. The Dynamic Duo are soon summoned to the Riverside Bank, where Batman can find no evidence of any clue as to who robbed the vault. When he and Robin happen upon a toy store robbery in progress, they find an ad for the Eraser, who promises to remove every clue from a crime scene.

Batman and Robin disguise themselves as an organ grinder and his human monkey; when the organ grinder pretends to rob a safe in a jewelry shop, the Eraser suddenly turns up and reveals himself to be Lenny Fiasco, who quickly identifies Bruce Wayne in disguise due to the particular smell his shaving lotion gives off. Lenny still holds a grudge against Bruce for dating a certain girl in college and he knocks his old rival out by means of gas from one of his pointy, pencil-like shoes. Bruce manages to escape death by freezing (don't ask) before he changes into his Bat-suit and is joined by Robin. The duo make short work of the Eraser and his fellow goons and Lennie ends up in jail.

Bob Kanigher has been writing the most entertaining Bat-tales of late, and "The Eraser Who Tried to Rub Out Batman!" is nutty fun. The villain is a hoot, with a mask that resembles a pencil eraser and shoes that look like sharp pencil points. Women throw themselves at Bruce throughout the story, to Dick's chagrin, and there's even a brief attempt to kill Bruce Wayne by placing him in a non-melting ice sculpture.

Less fun is to be had in John Broome's "The Ten Best-Dressed Corpses in Gotham City!" It's not ideal to be on Squire Magazine's list of the ten best-dressed men in Gotham City, since three of the men have died in tragic accidents in the last week! The fourth name on the list is Bruce Wayne, who barely escapes death when his car loses control. Batman figures that the fifth name on the list is next, but when he and Robin visit Hampden Dennis, the rich realtor is not concerned.

The Dynamic Duo trail Dennis to a seedy part of the city, where the realtor and his beefy chauffeur engage in fisticuffs with the crime fighters. At Police HQ, Commissioner Gordon explains that Dennis was the secret king of the numbers racket, but when Batman and Robin return to Dennis's mansion they discover that the real killer is Matt Whitson, publisher of Squire, who betrayed his country during the last war. A man named Davis blackmailed him and Dennis killed him. The deaths of the best-dressed men were an attempt to cover up the initial murder.

Broome's story is overly complicated and poorly illustrated by Moldoff and Greene, whose inks are particularly heavy this time. The only brief moments of excitement occur near the end, when Robin and Batman both face danger from the magazine publisher at his mansion before they unmask him.-Jack

Peter-I'd like to think the Human Eraser was created as an answer to the camp that was being shown two nights a week on ABC. I love that--"Holy Coincidence!"--Bruce Wayne is just relating the story of Lennie Fiasco (with a surname like that, how could you fail?) to Dick when he gets word that a living eraser is wiping out all traces of criminal activity. What are the odds? And what are the odds a guy would run around with a giant eraser on top of his head? Owing also to the big hit show, we see our first wall walk and a "Zap! Pow!" nod as well. The best thing in this issue is Batman's lengthy expository detailing Matt Whitson's history in "Best-Dressed...". Deeming Whitson a "coward" for divulging government secrets while a POW, however, hasn't aged well.


Sekowsky/Giella/Anderson
The Brave and the Bold #68

"Alias the Bat-Hulk"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Mike Sekowsky & Mike Esposito

While patrolling Gotham City in the Batmobile, Batman is surprised when the Riddler appears on his dashboard closed circuit TV screen with a riddle that leads the Caped Crusader to the Diamond Exchange. The Riddler is robbing the store and gets away after distracting Batman with a phony diamond that emits gas. Batman next encounters the Penguin, who flies over Gotham using an umbrella; he is located at the museum stealing a rare bird, but like the Riddler, he escapes.

In the Batmobile again, Batman sees that his gear shift knob has been replaced by a talking Joker head! Batman is knocked out by gas and the car crashes; when he awakens, he transforms into the Bat-Hulk, a giant figure who lumbers through the streets of Gotham and can melt anything he touches. After wandering into a park, Bat-Hulk changes back into Batman and thinks of someone who can help him. Batman visits Stagg Mansion, where Metamorpho and his crew hang out, and Stagg, the scientist, runs tests that reveal what's wrong with Batman. Unfortunately, he has no cure, so Batman asks Metamorpho to control him when he transforms into Bat-Hulk.

That happens right away, but Metamorpho can't control Bat-Hulk, who escapes. Meanwhile, the Joker, the Penguin, and the Riddler are toasting their success when Bat-Hulk bursts into their hideout to announce that he plans a super crime wave with them as helpers. Bat-Hulk quickly reverts to Batman but, as the trio advance on him, he changes back into Bat-Hulk. The crime wave begins and the inevitable showdown with Metamorpho ends when a bolt of lightning changes Bat-Hulk back into Batman for good.

I've never been a fan of Mike Sekowsky's pencils, and Mike Esposito's heavy black inks emphasize everything I don't like about this style. Unfortunately, Sekowsky drew Justice League of America for years, making the series hard to enjoy. This story is clearly influenced by the TV show and the movie (which gets a full page ad in this issue) and, while I've always liked the three villains, they are wasted here. I can't imagine that Marvel's Hulk was very popular or well-known at this point, being half of the Tales to Astonish lineup, so perhaps Bob Haney was just having a bit of fun with "Alias the Bat-Hulk."-Jack

Peter-Pretty awful stuff, from the hip-lingo script by Haney ("Stop abusing that crazy, mixed-up TV antenna!") to the barely-professional art (the work reminds me of the truly dreadful stuff Tony Tallarico pumped out for Warren in the late 1960s). The plot is hard to follow (the Joker, Penguin, and Riddler spray Bats with something and he gets porky), as is the logic behind stealing the name off of one of the biggest characters in your number one competitor's barn. I assume (there's that word again) that Bob Haney was practicing a bit of parody but, unfortunately, there's nothing funny going on. I have no history with Metamorpho, so any powers he possesses and supporting characters he interacts with are lost on me. Give me a good old-fashioned Batman/Deadman team-up over this junk any day. The villainous trio team up, doubtless, because of the TV show's popularity and to remind any reader out there that a movie is being released as well. Which begs the question: where the heck is funny book Catwoman?

BATMANIA!

Imagine scanning a newsstand in September or October 1966, just as the first full season of TV's Batman premiered! In addition to all of the comics discussed above, DC released these, all of which featured the Caped Crusader prominently on the cover:








Next Week...
Jack Finally Snaps and Questions
Whether Reading So Much Bad Science Fiction
is Healthy for a Man His Age!

Thursday, February 20, 2025

The Hitchcock Project-The Children of Alda Nuova by Robert Wallsten [7.35]

by Jack Seabrook

"The Children of Alda Nuova" was adapted by Robert Wallsten from his short story of the same title that had been published first in the August 1961 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. The episode aired on NBC on Tuesday, June 5, 1962.

Robert Wallsten (1912-2005) acted on Broadway from 1933 to 1942 and wrote a play in 1941 before serving in the Navy in WWII. He wrote short stories from 1944 to 1963 and, in 1950, he began writing for TV. The short story, "The Children of Alda Nuova," was nominated for an Edgar Award, and his teleplay adapting it for the small screen was his last TV credit. Wallsten was friends with John Steinbeck and edited the Steinbeck collection, A Life in Letters, the book for which he is best remembered today. His papers are at the University of California Santa Barbara Library.

"The Children of Alda
Nuova" was first
published here

As the short story begins, a man named Frankie Filippo is driving a Fiat that he rented under an assumed name through the Pontine Marshes not far from Rome, Italy, in the hot August sun. He has been avoiding crowds and tourists for fear of being recognized by an American who has seen his photograph. A week ago, at a cafe in Rome, Frankie struck up a conversation with Ainsley Crowder, who "knew Rome like a book...history, art, archaeology, the works." Crowder wrote down a list of places to visit, including Alda Antica, "'a ruin, abandoned nearly a hundred years before Christ,'" that is located near the more modern village of Alda Nuova. Crowder described the villagers as "'mountain people, a race apart--inbred, undernourished, desperately poor.'"

Frankie drives into the village and sees squalor unlike any he has seen before. A young boy named Paolo approaches his car and offers to be his guide; more boys quickly surround the vehicle and Frankie agrees to drive Paolo and two others to explore the ruins. He drives out of the village until they reach an old stone wall. Soon, more than a dozen other boys and a man arrive on foot; the man, Cesare, will stand guard by the car and Frankie thinks that he resembles a boy he had badly beaten in his youth.

Jack Carson as Frankie
Uncomfortable with "the undecipherable malignity of the place," the American follows Paolo through the "great gate" and into the ruins. Paolo points out what is left of the ancient temples and, when Frankie pats the boy's shoulder, he realizes that the boys are older than they seem: they are 14 or 15 years old but small for their age due to malnourishment. The criminal has been on the run for less than two months and the boys observe his "New York suit, his monogrammed shirt, his amethyst cuff links, the diamond in his ring."

Frankie sees a stone ring surrounding the entrance to a small tunnel in the ground and Paolo explains that five ancient tunnels run through the middle of the mountain  and come out at its base. He explains that they were built "'to dispose of enemies,'" and the boy "made a comic gesture describing it." Another boy, Giulio, leads Frankie to the edge of the ruins, where he sees that there is a sharp drop down to the valley below. Frankie accidentally drops a pack of cigarettes and, as the boys scramble to pick them up, he heads back to his car.

Thano Rama as Paolo
Paolo and the other boys begin to ask for money. As Frankie approaches the car, he steps down hard on the nearest boy's foot before taking a switchblade from his pocket and stabbing Cesare in the stomach. The boys attack Frankie, driving him back through the gate and into the ruins, taking his knife and encircling him. Fearfully, he offers them money, tossing bills into the air and calling for help, as the circle of boys around him shrinks.

Three weeks later, a police officer named Sinai arrives in Alda Nuova with Ainsley Crowder, having followed clues along the trail of the missing Frankie Filippo. The townsfolk claim ignorance and the visitors approach the ruins with the boys as their guides. Sinai notices boys wearing new items of clothing but they explain it all away. Crowder quietly points out the charred remains of a Fiat lying at the bottom of the mountain and Sinai cautions silence. Back in the village, Crowder notices Frankie's jewelry adorning two local women. He and Sinai leave together and Sinai reveals the nature of the crimes that made Frankie flee the U.S.: "'He was the chief of a group that sold narcotics to...High school children.'"

Christopher Dark as Ainsley Crowder
"The Children of Alda Nuova" is a powerful, well-written story that vividly evokes a place where ancient justice is meted out by disadvantaged boys. The author makes it clear that Frankie Filippo is a wanted criminal on the run who has left the U.S. and fled to Italy; his crimes were notable enough that he fears recognition by tourists who would have seen his photo in American newspapers. The final lines reveal the exact nature of his offenses and imply that his fate at the hands of poor village boys is poetic justice. But should the boys be celebrated as heroes for killing Frankie and later denying knowledge of his existence? The fact that he stabbed one of their own is used to justify their violent act, since they had no knowledge of his criminal past. Not heroes, no--more like victims who enact a rough justice that is all they have ever known.

Stefan Schnabel as Sinai
The TV version of the story lacks some of the background that is provided in the short story, relying on dialogue and visuals to fill in the blanks. It follows the story closely, for the most part, with a few small changes made necessary by casting choices and censorship. The flashback structure that starts the story is eliminated and, instead, the TV show starts at the cafe in Rome where Frankie Fane, as the character has been renamed, meets Ainsley Crowder. Light music helps to establish a comedic tone when a waiter brings the wrong drink to Fane, who neither speaks nor understands Italian; this incident lulls the viewer into expecting a light tone throughout the episode.

Crowder clears up the misunderstanding between the waiter and Fane, who is happy to meet a fellow American. Ainsley compliments Frankie's gold cigarette lighter, which bears his initials; there is a close up of the item, which will be seen again later. Fane's personality quickly turns menacing when he overreacts to a benign comment made by Crowder; this suggests that the initial tone may not last.

Lidia Vana
The scene dissolves to a shot of Frankie driving through the countryside not in a Fiat, as in the short story, but in a big, American convertible that he somehow managed to rent. A shot of a small statute of the Virgin Mary mounted on a pedestal at the roadside suggests that the local residents are old-fashioned and religious, though their later behavior is far from holy. Another dissolve shows Fane arriving in the village square at Alda Nuova, where his sunglasses and convertible stand in stark contrast to the villagers, who include a man walking alongside a donkey cart and a woman in black emerging from a chapel.

David Fresco
Fane tosses a cigarette out of the car and it lands in the dirt. At first, this is an image of his disrespect for the old village, but when Paolo, depicted as a young man with dirt on his face, picks it up and eagerly begins to smoke it, it is apparent that even Frankie's trash has value in Alda Nuova. Paolo and the other young people quickly surround the car and all are filthy, but unlike the story, there are two young women in the group. Fane wants to leave the village immediately, remarking "'Ever hear of a hunch?'" but when Paolo asks if he is afraid, Frankie agrees to drive three young people to the ruins. This challenge to his manhood is not in the short story and causes him to abandon his sensible hunch and make a fatal choice. The camera pans past the chapel and across the village to show Frankie's car winding up the road toward the ruins.

Carlo Tricoli
After the commercial break, the shot fades in on Frankie at the ruins, his flashy suit and two-tone shoes contrasting with the rags worn by Paolo and the other young people, who arrive quickly. Paolo introduces Cesare, who is clearly disabled, and sends him off to watch Frankie's car; the young people speak to each other in Italian, which is not translated for the viewer, who shares Frankie's discomfort at the inability to understand them. The ruins are much smaller than what is described in the story. Paolo shows Frankie the tunnel and drops a rock in it to show that it seems bottomless. The short story's "comic gesture" by which Paolo describes how enemies were disposed of is expanded in the TV show into a pantomime battle by Paolo, who is observed by the others, their faces shown in ominous close up. In the space of a few minutes, the tone of the show has changed significantly from light to menacing.

Christy Cummins as Gina

Frankie is led to the edge of  the cliff and the young people grab the pack of cigarettes from his hand. He heads for his car but is stopped when they demand money; all of this takes place in a tight space. By his car, instead of stabbing Cesare, as he does in the short story, Frankie punches the young man and throws him to the ground, where he lies, knocked out and bleeding. Paolo takes the keys from the car's ignition and Frankie begins to throw money at the young people, their faces dark and the music foreboding. After he tosses them his cigarette lighter (recall the focus on this item in the show's opening scene) and his watch, the American visitor to Italy disappears behind the crowd as they attack him.

There is a fade out and then a fade in on a scene at Sinai's office, where he interviews Crowder, who agrees to join him to follow Fane's trail. There is a dissolve to the small, European car driven by Sinai, a contrast with Fane's big, American car; Sinai's vehicle approaches Alda Nuova along the same road that Fane's car did, again passing the statue of Mary. The scene dissolves to the village square, where much of the dialogue that follows is in Italian, untranslated for the viewer. The villagers pretend ignorance of Fane and the group of young people who were last seen attacking him enter the square in almost martial formation. The elders give the young people glances that warn them not to say anything about the missing man.

Raymond Cavaleri
as Giulio
Sinai notices that a crippled man in the square sports Fane's expensive pen in his shirt pocket; the man claims, in Italian, that it was a gift from his grandfather in Naples. Sinai and Crowder drive to the ruins with the same trio of young villagers in the back of their car who had accompanied Frankie earlier, and the scene dissolves again to the ruins, where Paolo begins his tourist speech. Crowder sees Fane's car, upside down and lying at the base of the mountain. Unlike in the short story, where Sinai appears fearful of the villagers, here he is resigned, telling Crowder that "'you cannot prosecute a whole village.'" Crowder closely examines the entrance to the tunnel before he and Sinai return to their car, where they have their last conversation as they sit by the ruins. Sinai ends with the same words that he uses in the story and the car drives off. The final shot shows Paolo lighting a cigarette with Frankie Fane's lighter, the initials "F.F." shown in close up.

"The Children of Alda Nuova" is an effective adaptation of a great short story, gradually pulling the viewer into a horrible situation. The show is atmospherically directed by Robert Florey (1900-1979), who creates a sense of menace and unfamiliarity on a limited budget. Born in Paris, France, he came to Hollywood in 1921, where he began as an assistant director and soon was promoted to director, making films from 1927 to 1951. Some of his best-known movies are The Cocoanuts (1927), Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), and The Beast With Five Fingers (1946). He switched to television in 1951 and worked in that medium until 1964, directing episodes of The Twilight Zone, Thriller, and The Outer Limits, as well as five episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "The Changing Heart."

Ray Giarrusso as Cesare

Jack Carson (1910-1963) stars as Frankie Fane. The actor was born in Canada and does not look Italian American; perhaps this is why the character's surname was changed from Filippo to Fane (though Carson's brief hesitation when he tells Crowder his name may suggest that the character comes up with it on the spur of the moment). Carson started his career in vaudeville and also worked in radio; his screen career lasted from 1937 until his death. He had a supporting role in Mildred Pierce (1945) and briefly had his own TV show, The Jack Carson Show, which aired in 1954 and 1955. He was also seen on The Twilight Zone and Thriller, but this was his only role on the Hitchcock show. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Paolo is played by Thano Rama, who had a short screen career from 1959 to 1964. He is effective as the young villager who is the de facto leader in this situation due to his knowledge of the English language, which he says he learned from members of the U.S. Army.

Christopher Dark (1920-1971) portrays Ainsley Crowder; born Alfred Francis DeLeo, he served in the Army in WWII and acted on the New York stage and on screen from 1950 to his death, usually on TV. He was also in one episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: "Forecast: Low Clouds and Coastal Fog." In "The Children of Alda Nuova," he is convincing as a young Ph.D. student.

Vincent Padula
Sinai is played by Stefan Schnabel (1912-1999), who was born in Berlin, Germany, and who came to the U.S. in 1937. An original member of Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre, Schnabel appeared on radio, stage, and screen, in a long career that lasted until 1992. He served in the Army in WWII and had a recurring role on the TV soap opera, The Guiding Light, from 1973 to 1981. This was his only appearance on the Hitchcock show, but he appeared in the Bus Stop episode, "I Kiss Your Shadow," which was based on a story by Robert Bloch.

In smaller roles:
  • Lidia Vana as the old woman outside the village church; this appears to be her only credit.
  • David Fresco (1909-1997) as the crippled man in the village square; he was on screen from 1946 to 1997 and he was blacklisted in 1956. Despite that, he appeared in twelve episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "The Day of the Bullet," as well as episodes of The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery.
  • Carlo Tricoli (1889-1966) as the man in the village square; born in Italy, he was on screen from 1949 to 1964.
  • Christy Cummins as Gina, the girl with long hair who rides in both cars; this was one of two TV roles she played in 1962. She was also a singer who recorded singles from 1961 to 1964.
  • Raymond Cavaleri (1947-2021) as Giulio, the small boy who rides in both cars; he was on TV from 1961 to 1970 and appeared in a couple of movies and one episode of Thriller. He was more successful as a talent agent.
  • Ray Giarrusso as Cesare, the young man who guards Frankie's car and ends up getting hit; he appeared in a few TV episodes between 1955 and 1962 and had an uncredited film role in 1955.
  • Vincent Padula (1898-1967) as the waiter at the cafe; born in Buenos Aires, he started appearing in films in Argentina in 1927 and seems to have moved to the U.S. around 1950; his film and TV credits extend to 1965.
Watch "The Children of Alda Nuova" online here. Season seven has not been released on U.S. DVD. Thanks to Tom Seabrook for providing a copy of the short story!

Sources:

"The Children of Alda Nuova." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 7, episode 35, NBC, 5 June 1962.

Christy Cummins Discography - USA - 45cat, www.45cat.com/artist/christy-cummins.

Edgar Awards Info & Database, edgarawards.com.

The FICTIONMAGS Index, www.philsp.com/homeville/fmi/0start.htm.

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

IBDB, www.ibdb.com.

IMDb, www.imdb.com.

RadioGold Index, radiogoldin.library.umkc.edu.

Stephensen-Payne, Phil. Galactic Central, www.philsp.com.

Wallsten, Robert. "The Children of Alda Nuova." To Be Read Before Midnight: 21 Stories from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Random House, New York, 1960, pp. 77–90.

Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, www.wikipedia.org.

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "The West Warlock Time Capsule" here!

In two weeks: "The Safe Place," starring Robert H. Harris!

Monday, February 17, 2025

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 131: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Horror Comics!

 


The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics
Part 116
August 1956 Part III
by Peter Enfantino
and Jack Seabrook


Strange Stories of Suspense #10
Cover by Sol Brodsky

"The Weeds" (a: Mort Meskin) 
"In the Shadows" (a: Reed Crandall) ★1/2
"Flee For Your Life!" (a: Paul Hodge) 
"The Secret of the Black Forest" (a: Angelo Torres) 
"The Crisis!" (a: Vic Carrabotta) 
"The Long Sleep!" (a: John Forte) 

A small scientific party finds itself stranded in the Sargasso Sea while searching for a particular brand of seaweed. They come upon an island populated by people dressed as pilgrims and soon discover that the seaweed surrounding the land has a magical quality to it. The atmospheric Mort Meskin art found in "The Weeds" reminds this reader of the fact that Atlas stories once contained an aura of mystery and danger. The band of intrepid travelers face an interesting realization at the story's close but we never worry that any bodily harm will come to them.

Brad Norton walks away from a small plane crash into the arms of the lovely but mysterious Arla. Before long, Brad pops the question and Arla says "Sure!" It's one night while they are dancing that Brad notices his wife doesn't cast a shadow. "Don't freak," the woman says, "but I'm from another dimension and I came here to look for the beauty my world lacks. You dig?" Brad does not and he shows Arla the door. Suddenly, he's back in the plane crash, remarking about what a miracle it is he's alive but, man, would he like a hot babe right now. "In the Shadows" is another in the seemingly unending stream of nonsensical fantasy tales that pulled themselves free from the Atlas lunchroom and splatted on the pages. It reads like vintage Wessler but I'm no expert. The Crandall art is not great but remember the old adage... "Even bad Crandall is ten times better than great Paul Hodge."

Speaking of which... Paul Hodge is responsible for the doodling that tells the story of Ian, a boy abandoned on Earth by his Martian father. Ian has a sibling on Earth somewhere and he spends decades trying to find him, only to discover he's a she! I know we've read something very much like this recently but my brain is like a pasta strainer. "Flee For Your Life!" is not only a great title but, in this case, it's good advice.

There's something odd going on in the small village of Grausberg, Germany. The oddest buildings are popping up in the center of town and no one knows who's been building them! Then Hans Schmidt finds an odd little frog-like creature in the forest and takes it home as a domesticated pet. Meanwhile, a thought strikes the town's burgomeister... this strange architecture must be the work of invisible aliens from outer space. What else could it be? Hans puts two and two together and decides his new pet is not safe at his home. The villagers drive the creature into the forest and tell it to never come back or else... The frog gets back in its spaceship and heads home to Jupiter. It's silly to call this silly because all these stories are silly so I'll accentuate the positive which is, as usual, the art. Angelo Torres's work on "The Secret of the Black Forest" is stunning, a visual feast, simple yet intricate.

Though "The Crisis!" is a three-pager (and we know how successful those are), it's a very clever little fantasy about troops fighting an alien force in a small tunnel. The final panels reveal that the war is being fought in a hospital patient's lungs! "The Long Sleep!" is a predictable yarn about a scientist who worries that the human race is sliding downward on the intellectual scale (wait until he gets to 2025!) and preserves his body in suspended animation for one thousand years in order to help out future generations with his brilliance. Guess what? When he wakes up, he's the dummy. Mankind has advanced past his knowledge threshold. Another lazy script and crude graphics sink this one from the get-go.-Peter


Strange Tales #49
Cover by Bill Everett

"Inside the Black Bag" (a: Mac L. Pakula) ★1/2
"The Girl Who Saved the World" (a: Joe Orlando) 
"Not Quite Human" (a: Christopher Rule?) ★1/2
"What Happened to Mr. Smith?" (a: Harry Lazarus) 
"The Animal" (a: Bob Brown) 
"The Man Who Cried" (a: John Forte) 

In the opener, gruff and heartless explorer Dennie Craig is abandoned by his jungle guides and left to fend for himself in the wild. A starving and dehydrated Dennie stumbles into a veritable paradise in the middle of the jungle, populated by incredible architecture and beautiful people and ruled by the village's elder, who can turn small stones into priceless gems with a wave of his stick. Dennie grabs fistfuls of the gems and heads out into the wild, unaware that the gems and the paradise were all illusions crafted by the old man. "Inside the Black Bag" has some nice work by Mac Pakula and a climax that's especially downbeat for this era.

Vickie Lund's only hobby is reading about Florence Nightingale and dreaming that, one day, she too could help her fellow man. One day, while reading on a bench just outside her university campus, Vickie is approached by aliens who have come to Earth to conquer and seem a little put out by Vickie's calm demeanor. When one of them blasts a nearby tree with his Beta Ray Gun, the BEMs are convinced that humans are unafraid and therefore unconquerable. They run to their ship and blast off, never to return. Vickie turns her attention back to her Braille edition of The Life of Florence Nightingale

"The Girl Who Saved the World" seemed hell-bent on becoming just the latest dopey alien invasion tale until its clever reveal (I assumed wrongly that Vickie was a Venusian in disguise). The Orlando art looks like it would fit better in a romance comic but that doesn't mean it's bad. Neither is the art for "Not Quite Human," which may or may not be the work of Christopher Rule (based on a comparison between this one and three of Rule's confirmed jobs, I'd say it's probably Rule). The story is another... story... altogether. Authorities bust into the mansion owned by an eccentric scientist, only to find the man dead, seemingly killed by the robot he built. But then one of the investigators finds the egghead's notes and gets the rest of the story.

Atlas's latest pilfering of A Christmas Carol (well, minus the holiday) is "What Happened to Mr. Smith," in which the titular tightwad sees his entire fortune and legacy disappear in a matter of moments but is redeemed in the end by a little boy who needs help with his balsa wood glider. Only redeeming feature of this tedious yarn is the panel where Mr. Smith witnesses all his belongings vanish, culminating in his visit to the skyscraper that bears his name. Now it's just a big hole in the ground! Worth the price of admission alone.

Like most of the three-pagers, "The Animal" is a waste of space. Fred Hobson is a miserable example of living flesh, mean to his wife, his kid, and especially the kid's mutt. Even when the mongrel saves Fred from a UFO abduction (the ships resemble baseballs), he has no gratitude. I'd be pissed too if I resembled a Kindergarten doodle. The finale, the respectably-illustrated "The Man Who Cried," follows the final space trip of a grizzled old captain. The final panel is supposed to be a shocker (he's actually sixteen years old and the "men" taking over his command are much younger) but it comes off pretty lame without any context.-Peter


Strange Tales of the Unusual #5
Cover by Bill Everett

"The Moving Stairs!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★1/2
"The Last Tomorrow" (a: Reed Crandall) 
"The Threat!" (a: Harry Lazarus) ★1/2
"The Parrot Speaks!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★1/2
"Mary's Robot!" (a: Howard O'Donnell) ★1/2
"One Mistake!" (a: Bob McCarthy) ★1/2

After three customers mysteriously disappear while riding the up escalator in a department store, the store detective, a 20-year veteran named Mallon, decides to investigate. He discovers that each member of the trio disappeared right before they would have received heartbreaking news. Unable to explain it, Mallon rides the escalator and disappears right before he would have been informed that it was time to retire.

"The Moving Stairs" sets up an intriguing mystery but delivers no solution. What it does deliver is four pages of Ditko's art, looking similar to what he'd do a few years later on Spider-Man.

"The Last Tomorrow" could come any day for Don after his doctor tells him that he has a rare, incurable disease. Don is walking through the woods, unhappy about his fate, when suddenly he is captured by aliens and taken aboard their spaceship, where they tell him that he will be used to mine a substance on a small asteroid. They need the substance to keep their civilization going, and the sun's powerful rays would kill them if they tried to mine it. Don is sent to the asteroid, where he and another human dig rocks day after day; both are in bulky space suits and helmets. Don suspects that the other miner is a woman, so he grabs a weapon from one of the aliens and demands that he and the woman be sent back to Earth. The aliens chuckle and admit that they had planned to free the humans all along. The woman is a knockout and the sun's rays cured Don's disease, so the new couple look forward to a happy life back on Earth.

The first two stories in this issue are a treat in the art department; this one is drawn by Reed Crandall, whose work is always competent and often much more than that. His aliens are cute little guys with orange skin who wear clear helmets that have antennae atop them. The story is slight and the ending is schmaltzy, but Crandall's work is usually worth a look.

Les Foster is a janitor who rents an attic room in a tenement building to a strange man named Yurka. Les sneaks upstairs one day and peers into Yurka's room, where he sees the man building a strange device using the power of his mind. Yurka is "The Threat!" He observes Les spying on him and uses his mind powers to pull him into the apartment. Yurka admits that he's an alien who is building a machine to go home before he ceases to exist. Yurka tries to kill the janitor, but Les fights back and manages to survive until Yurka and his machine vanish.

Harry Lazarus draws some good panels, but a couple of times the perspective seems off and Les seems like a miniature man. The story is pointless.

A bird breeder named Fry unexpectedly receives a pair of unusual parrots in a shipment of parakeets from Australia. Unable to find any other examples of the species, he christens them Fry Parrots and begins to breed them and sell their young all over the U.S. Noticing that his own parrot seems unusually bright, he is shocked when "The Parrot Speaks!" It can read human thoughts and solve scientific conundrums, so of course government agents come to take it. Fry and the bird make a run for it and the bird hides itself among his other parrots, all of which look alike, swearing never to speak again.

A silly story in which my favorite line hearkens back to earlier days; one of the government agents, for no reason I can glean, exclaims, "Come on, you Commies!" Ah, the 1950s. Happy Days!

Mary Weston is tired of her husband Emil not asserting himself, so she asks her brother Bryan to build a robot duplicate of her husband who will stand up for himself. Two weeks later, the robot shows up and she tells it what to do. In the morning, the robot Emil demands and gets a raise; the next Saturday, he plays a smashing game of golf. Her husband's self-confidence grows, so she tells her brother that she no longer needs his robot. Surprise! Bryan announces that he just finished building it!

It's the old "Banquo's Chair" twist all over again, where someone thinks a character arrived and is doing things when, in actuality, that character has not arrived yet. "Mary's Robot!" makes no sense, though, since we see the real Emil sitting in his chair when the robot Emil arrives, and Mary tells the robot to stay in the garage. Howard O'Donnell's art is adequate, but the three-page story has such a cliched ending that it's a letdown.

Carl Wessler wraps up the issue with another confusing story called "One Mistake!" A crook named Tom Redmond is sentenced to ten years in prison, so he jumps out of the courtroom window, makes his way to an R.A.F. base (this being England), and stows away on a plane to Africa. He is discovered mid-flight, so he grabs a parachute and leaps out of the plane. As he descends, he passes through "the dark veil of time" and finds himself in what appears to be Ancient Egypt, where he falls for and proposes to Wahima, the pretty daughter of a man he assumes is the pharaoh. Tom is suddenly pulled back to 1956, where he's once again a crook on the lam. He finds a scientist with a time machine who sends him 2000 years into the past, but the pharaoh says he has no daughter and Tom is jailed for ten years, unaware (stay with me) that Wahima was actually 100 years in the future, when people dressed like ancient Egyptians (?) and her father was just a rich man who looked like a pharaoh.

Bob McCarthy's art is pretty good, but Wessler's script takes such bizarre twists and turns and has an ending so out of left field that it just makes me shake my head and wonder what magic mushrooms old Carl was snacking on when he wrote these things.-Jack

Next Week...
Something Unique for 1966...
Batman Reprints!