Featuring special guest host, John Scoleri! |
The EC Reign Month by Month 1950-1956
9: April 1951
Feldstein |
"Space-Warp!" ★1/2
Story and Art by Al Feldstein
"The Dimension Translator" ★★
Story and Art by Harvey Kurtzman
". . . And Then There Were Two!" ★★
Story by Al Feldstein
Art by Jack Kamen
"Rescued!" ★★1/2
Story and Art by Wally Wood
As he prepares to become the first man to experience space-warping, Frank Carter explains to fiance Martha and best friend Hank how the cosmic experiment will take place. The brains behind the space trip, Professor Hartlow theorizes that the universe can be folded and so a rocket ship can actually take a short cut by entering a "Space-Warp." Martha frets that the mission sounds dangerous but Frank insists that in two years he'll be back to marry the gorgeous gal. The trip goes exactly as planned: the spacemen reach their destination within one year and then turn right around to come back to Earth. When they land, the boys discover that the landscape has changed and a group of armed men approach the ship to take them to their leader. When Frank drops Hartlow's name, he's brought before the professor, now over thirty years older. The scientist explains (with nary a whoops!) that maybe his calculations weren't all that fabulous and, when crossing into a space-warp, you lose relative time. Utterly predictable and text-heavy, "Space-Warp" is a real slag, redeemed only by its sleazy finale. After Frank is lectured on how the light years aged everyone on Earth but he stayed in his twenties, the emphasis shifts from a time/space paradox to how saggy Martha's breasts might be now that she's "an old woman of fifty-four!" All's well that ends well when Frank finds out that Martha has been dead for two years but she and Hank had a babe daughter before she kicked off. Frank marries the girl who might have been his daughter and Hank becomes his father-in-law. Who says time warps are just too much of a hassle?
"I can't live without Martha . . . Say, are you married?" |
The other three stories this issue are just as predictable as "Space-Warp." Harvey Kurtzman continues his homage to the nerd with "The Dimension Translator," wherein William Weeblefetzer invents a gizmo that can transform two-dimensional pictures into three-dimensional reality. He gets revenge on his intolerant boss but, when the nutty inventor strives to create the perfect woman, the whatzit backfires on him and he's trapped forever in a photo. Kurtzman's previous nerd-fests, "Henry and His . . . Goon-Child" (from WF #15) and "The Time Machine and the Schmoe" (from WF #16), were much more entertaining and imaginative. I've got no complaint with Kurtzman's art, though, as it's perfect for the subject matter.
". . . And Then There Were Two" chronicles the discovery of two robots on a remote atoll. When the super-intelligent robots are brought back to civilization, they're asked their opinion of the Cold War and they offer a solution. This throws the rest of the world into a tizzy and a nuclear war wipes out all of mankind. The robots take over, build their number up, and then watch as the same problems overcome their new world. The ironic climax is the only thing that saves this talky time-waster.
". . . And Then There Were Two!" |
The final story of the issue is "Rescued" by the phenomenal talents of one Wally Wood. A space expedition, searching for inhabitable planets after the Earth becomes too populated, goes missing and a rescue team is dispatched. When the crew discover the planet and touch down, they're attacked by gruesome monsters and defend themselves with their blasters. The creatures dead, the crew turn their attentions to finding their comrades and are soon investigating the first rocket ship. Inside they find a quick-spreading fungus, which has destroyed all the machinery on board. Once they get back to their own ship, they find, to their horror, that the mold has destroyed their communication device and ignition system. They are marooned! Soon, the mold begins to attack the men themselves and they are reduced to gibbering monsters. When a third ship arrives (ostensibly, to rescue them), the men rush out to greet their saviors and are shot down by blasters. Wood's gooey, drippy, rotting-flesh art is amazing and, truly, the highlight of this issue, but we all know where the story is going the minute those monsters are gunned down. By the way, this issue hits the "renumbering" button, continuing from last issue's #17 to #6. Why EC chose to re-number this series but not, say, Tales from the Crypt, is anyone's guess. I would assume this played havoc with collectors in later years, having two versions of issues #13-17 to hunt down. -Peter
"Rescued" |
Some more technical gobbledygook from "Space-Warp" |
John: Good lord, does "Space Warp" use a lot of words for such a predictable tale! On the bright side, at least they didn't make his new bride out to be his own kid. I think I would have enjoyed ". . . And Then There Were Two" more if it had started where the story ended. Not horrible, but nothing to get excited about either. Wally Wood's "Rescued" saves the day (or issue, in this case). The art is fantastic, with some of the finest mold-monsters one could hope to find on a far-away planet. And while yes, it's pretty clear where the story is going, it's still a fun ride getting there.
"Rescued" |
Craig |
"A Strange Undertaking . . ." ★★★
Story by Al Feldstein
Art by Graham Ingels
"So They Finally Pinned You Down!" ★★
Story by Al Feldstein
Art by Wally Wood
"A Grave Gag!" ★
Story by Al Feldstein
Art by Jack Kamen
"Cheese, That's Horrible!" ★1/2
Story by Al Feldstein
Art by Jack Davis
Ezra Deepley, the town undertaker, is happy to hear of the death of dentist John Bridgeman, who once pulled one of Ezra's teeth without anesthetic. In "A Strange Undertaking . . . ," Deepley violates Bridgeman's corpse before putting him in his coffin. Next comes Mayor Dunhill, who forced Ezra to move to the outskirts of town and profited off of his land. Deepley does something terrible to Dunhill's corpse as well before putting it to rest. Horace Streetwell, the banker, refused to loan money to Ezra, so when he dies he also gets special treatment. Worst of all is Dr. Fowler, who amputated Ezra's leg when he was too drunk to operate properly--Ezra really takes out his anger on the doctor's corpse. One night, out in the mausoleum where the four coffins are being stored till the spring thaw, Dr. Fowler saws his way out of his coffin. You see, Ezra had replaced his hands with a saw and a butcher knife. He frees the other three corpses and they take their revenge on Ezra.
Ingels takes off for the stratosphere! |
In Feldstein and Wood's "So They Finally Pinned You Down!" a man meets a beautiful girl and then is convinced that she drugged and robbed him, so he searches for her and murders a series of women whom he thinks are the girl. In the end, it turns out he's a vampire who lost his memory and he gets the stake. The plot makes little sense but when Wally Wood sets out to draw pretty girls I really can't complain.
Jack Kamen's art is as wooden as ever in the tired "A Grave Gag!!" in which a practical joker who likes to trick people at funerals ends up buried alive. No surprises here except that Kamen draws a great Old Witch.
"So They Finally Pinned You Down!" |
Peter: A weak issue with one strong exception. "So They Finally Pinned You Down" is saddled with an awful script, one that posits more questions than answers, but Wally Wood's art is extraordinary so I'd have to give this one a cautionary thumbs-up. Not so with "A Grave Gag!" and "Cheese, That's Horrible!," both of which vie for Worst Story of the Year honors. Doubtless I'll hear "Pshaw"s from my esteemed fellow crypt-kickers, but I'm here to tell you all that "A Strange Undertaking . . ." is a seminal horror story in the history of EC Comics. While its plot of a man who seeks revenge on those who sinned against him is old hat, this one is a bit different. First, the delivery is deliberately wonky. We're introduced to the miserly, greedy Ezra Deepley (get it, an undertaker named Deepley? Har har!) and we dislike him immediately. Then we're filled in on a few facts about his past; how the men of the town sought to drag Ezra down simply because of his profession. Maybe this guy isn't so bad after all; in fact, let's sympathize with him.
"Cheese, That's Horrible!" |
Kamen's take on the Old Witch |
John: I found myself laughing out loud as we found out how each victim of influenza in "A Strange Undertaking . . ." had done our old boy Ezra wrong in one way or another (whipping out his wooden leg was the high point). And while the return of the desecrated corpses was a pleasant surprise, I was extremely disappointed with the cop-out ending; not letting the reader in on Ezra's exact fate at the hands (or saws, as the case may be) of the vengeful dead. "So They Finally Pinned You Down!" definitely wasn't predictable, but it turns out predictable can be preferable to completely out of left field. And as if to make up for that, you can't get much more predictable than the boy-who-cried-wolf tale, "A Grave Gag!" While it's fair to say that "Cheese, That's Horrible!" is in fact horrible, the standout panel reproduced above is a welcome reminder of just how gruesome these comics can get.
Feldstein |
"Spawn of Venus" ★★
Story and Art by Al Feldstein
"Man and Superman!" ★★
Story and Art by Harvey Kurtzman
"Sinking of the Titanic!" ★ 1/2
Story by Al Feldstein and M.C. Gaines
Art by Wally Wood
"Divide and Conquer" ★★★
Story by Al Feldstein
Art by Jack Kamen
An ace team of five “brilliant” scientists are cutting their way through the galaxy on a rocket bound for Venus, that teasingly elusive second planet of our solar system. The big question on everyone’s minds is, “Is Venus hot or cold?” The answer: both! As they hurtle through the planet’s stratosphere, the Poindexters marvel at the glacial icescapes that occupy one side of the planet and the gaseous molten pits that riddle the other. But right between the two is the planet’s Baby Bear region, a not-too-hot, not-too-cold intermediary that the scientists dub “the twilight zone,” heading Rod Serling off well before the pass.
Dying, but helpful ("Spawn of Venus") |
Less like classic EC material and more like a stray bit of insanity loosed from one of the company’s zanier pre-code competitors, “Spawn of Venus” earns brownie points for not being good, necessarily, but for offering the kind of ludicrous thrills that were (normally) beneath the talents of the Lafayette Street bullpen. This is the juvenile stuff of Golden Age science fiction: astronauts suited up like dome-headed robots, a hostile planet where literally everything is trying to eat them, a country in panic over the inexorable approach of a titanic monster. It’s the Saturday matinee glee of the story that allows us to turn a blind eye towards the less logically-pleasing oversights.
"Man and Superman" |
Wally Wood gets stuck with a premise that surely had overstayed its welcome even by 1951. Chances are highly likely that any given reader could suss out the narrative from the “ominous” title alone: “Sinking of the Titanic.” If you guessed that our hero was going to attempt to save the doomed vessel through the means of a science fictional McGuffin, step on up and claim your prize. The SF trope is a time machine, natch, and our equally doomed hero realizes a moment too late that the dark stranger who saved his life as a boy on the original ship was himself from the future. I’m sure none of us saw that coming.
A thrilling artistic respite from "Sinking of the Titanic" |
Zow-wie! ("Divide and Conquer") |
Jack Kamen's saucy splash |
You don't say? ("Spawn of Venus") |
John: Beware of the Blob! "Spawn of Venus" had me thinking how much cooler The Blob would have been had we also gotten to see the trip to Venus. It's almost as if the filmmakers had read this story and thought, if we replace the Venus trip with a meteorite, we can shoot this thing on a budget! I particularly love the use of crazy looking monsters that remind me of the dime-store rubber treasures we used to get out of Hong Kong as kids. As for "Sinking of the Titanic!," is there anyone out there who doesn't see where this (or any time travel story) is going at the first reference to 'The Stranger'? Jack Kamen's art in "Divide and Conquer" is a real treat. It's a fun, if silly, story. My favorite line is Gloria's, before she slips off to call her secret lover: "I have a headache. The excitement, you know." Reading some of these stories, I do know.
Kurtzman |
"Massacred!" ★★★
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by John Severin and Will Elder
"Devils in Baggy Pants!" ★★
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Wally Wood
"Colt Single Action Army Revolver" ★★ 1/2
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Jack Davis
"Pirate Gold!" ★★★ 1/2
Story and Art by Harvey Kurtzman
"Devils in Baggy Pants" |
While "Massacred" is a powerful tale that ends with a nasty twist, I found "Devils in Baggy Pants" to be a chore to get through. It might be its history lesson tone or maybe its predictable climax (where the mouse becomes the lion and vice versa); whatever the reason, "Baggy Pants" is one of the weakest EC war stories we've seen so far. The art is not among Wally Wood's best, almost resembling Jack Davis's work at times, certainly not as nice as the last couple of Wood offerings we've been privileged to read.
"Massacred" |
"Colt Single Action Army Revolver" is a fascinating experiment that finds powerful bookends but not much in its midsection. We follow the travel of a single gun (and its six bullets) from a greedy gold miner through a series of owners until, in the end, the gun finds itself back in the hands of the miner, now dying in the blazing sun of the desert. The man utilizes the lone remaining bullet to put himself out of his misery. Once the gun exited the hand of the miner at a poker table, I found my interest waning due to the uninteresting characters. At least the story ends on a high note (although the sadist in me thinks maybe a nastier conclusion might have been the miner pulling the trigger and discovering the chambers were empty) and it's got some dynamite art by Jack Davis. The plot has been used countless time through the years, most notably by ABC in a 1974 Movie of the Week, The Gun, directed by John Badham.
"Colt Single Action Revolver" |
The best is saved for last. At the turn of the 18th century, the "crew" of a small boat pulls a man from the sea, only to discover he's a pirate who has been tossed from his ship and has a slight case of amnesia. As his memory begins to come back to him, piece by piece, the man remembers the name "Thomas Tew" and a chest of "Pirate Gold." He tosses the two men overboard and sails the ship to Galveston, where he's sure he can add more pieces to the puzzle. There, he bumps into a man who set sail with him and fills in more blanks: the amnesiac is Captain Sawkins; he and a handful of men stole a chest of gold from Jean LaFitte; along with first mate Tom Tew, the men buried the chest in a swamp in Barataria; and, once the chest was safely hidden, the men staged a mutiny and tossed the Captain overboard. Convinced he'll find the mutinous lot and convince them to lead him to the bounty, Sawkins heads into the swamp and, sure enough, discovers the lot en route. He savagely murders them and wades into the water to retrieve the chest when the final memory comes to him a bit too late: they'd placed the chest in a plot of quicksand!
"Pirate Gold" |
"Colt" |
"Colt" |
Jack: Anyone who thinks comics for adults started in the '80s with Frank Miller needs to go back and read "Massacred!" It doesn't get more adult than this and the art by John Severin and Will Elder is fantastic. I thought that the art in the other three stories was equally great, though the stories themselves did not live up to the opener. Jack Davis's work seemed more like the Jack Davis we all know and love than it did in "Cheese, That's Horrible!" and, while I appreciate Kurtzman's work in the pirate story, I enjoy his style more when it's leavened with humor.
John: You said it, Jack! "Massacred!" is certainly a powerful tale, and so much different tonally than most of the silly antics I've come to expect from EC stories. I will say this—it's much easier for me to appreciate Kurtzman's non-humor work when he's not illustrating it. While I wasn't as impressed with the story, I do love Jack Davis's art in "Colt Single Action Army Revolver." As I've said before, the types of stories I expect to find in TFT are not normally my cup of tea, so it was a pleasant surprise to enjoy one so much this time out.
A very short history lesson...
Back in the early 1970s, there were four seminal factors in the resurrection of EC Comics (for me, at least):
-The Nostalgia Press hardcover, Horror Comics of the 1950s. Unfortunately, most if us wee lads of 12 or 13 couldn't afford the unearthly price of $19.95 on our one buck a week allowance and so had to discover the joys of this one years later.
-The Amicus-produced film, Tales from the Crypt, adapting some of the greatest horror stories from Tales and Vault. With care and detail and, most importantly, respect for the source, director Freddie Francis and writer Milton Subotsky created the best horror anthology film of all time, one that still packs more than a few wallops in its running time.
-The special EC Comics issue of The Monster Times. This was our first look into what made EC tick: the names of the creators, the thought process behind the creations, the witch-hunt, the legacy. The Monster Times was consistently the most entertaining of all the monster magazines in the 1970s and this issue (#10, May 1972) was the pinnacle.
-Most important for me was the short-lived East Coast Comix project. At a buck a pop, these funny books were five times the price of a Spider-Man comic book but, my God, what a game-changer. Reprinting an entire issue of a random EC comic, East Coast gave us our first experience of holding an EC Comic in our hands. The experiment only lasted a couple years and twelve issues but it successfully kicked off a renaissance that continues to this day. -Peter
Jack: I got Horror Comics of the 1950s for Christmas one year sometime in the mid-70s and it has stuck in my head ever since, even though I long ago gave the book away to a friend in one of my occasional purges. I'm looking forward to reading some of the wildest stories again as we go through the comics month by month.
The comics reprinted:
#1- The Crypt of Terror #1 (this was a representation of what EC's fourth horror title would have looked like. Originally to be titled The Crypt of Terror, this issue was eventually released as the final Tales from the Crypt, #46)
#2- Weird Science #15 (the second #15, from 1952)
#3- Shock SuspenStories #12
#4- The Haunt of Fear #12
#5- Weird Fantasy #13 (the second #13, from 1952)
#6- Crime SuspenStories #25
#7- The Vault of Horror #26
#8- Shock SuspenStories #6
#9- Two-Fisted Tales #24
#10- The Haunt of Fear #23
#11- Weird Science #12
#12- Shock SuspenStories #2
Next Week! The triumphant return of The Suicide Squad! |
The term "Twilight Zone" for the hypothetical narrow strip of a tidelocked planet between the hot and the cold sides probably goes back to the 1940s if not earlie, but a quick google search didn't turn up a certified example for me prior to 1950 (and even then it's not clear if the actual phrase was used on the 1950 radio show, though the concept was certainly there). The concept was almost always applied to Mercury (then thought to be tidelocked),
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/mercury
though I've read at least one early sf story where the concept and maybe the phrase was applied to Venus: Stanley Weinbaum's 1935 ASTOUNDING novelette "The Lotus Eaters." / Denny Lien
http://www.solarguard.com/tcranger.htm
"Men of the Darkside"
Program Synopsis
Submitted by:Rockhill Radio18 E. 50 St.NY, NY (c)1950
57 megamiles from Earth, the planet Mercury, smallest planet in theSolar System and closest to the Sun, revolves in its eighty-eight day orbitaround the Sun.
Little is known of Mercury and, as yet, no attempts have been made atsurface exploration. The planet does not revolve about its own axis and,therefore, its two hemispheres are indirect contrast. The side facing theSun is bathed in constant heat, with temperatures so high that many metalsremain in a constantly liquid state. The opposite face of Mercury is inconstant darkness, with never-ending sub-zero temperature. There is thepossibility of life, however, in a belt of eternal twilight between thetwo extreme zones.
Long-range rocket-cruisers, based on Venus, have scouted Mercury andtheir radar-scope photos have revealed the Twilight Zone to be inhabited.. . ."
That's really interesting! Thanks for taking the time to research it and let us know.
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