Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 92: Atlas/ Marvel Horror

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 77

January 1955

by Peter Enfantino

Journey into Mystery 21

Cover by

“Too Human!” (a: Ross Andru) ★★1/2

(r: Journey Into Mystery #17)

“The Missing Men” (a: Bill Benulis & Jack Abel) ★1/2

“The Man With No Past” (a: Joe Maneely) ★★

(r: Giant-Size Man-Thing #4)

“The Hog!” (a: Joe Kubert) ★1/2

(r: Crypt of Shadows #18)

“The Hidden Vampire!” (a: Fred Kida) ★★1/2

(r: Giant-Size Dracula #5)

Two alien lifeforms, sent from another planet to scout Earth for an invasion, take human form and assimilate themselves into a friendly neighborhood. In time, the two aliens become “Too Human!,” decide that Earth life is for them and contact their “masters” to let them know this world is unconquerable. Try some other planet. 

In the ludicrous “The Missing Men,” the luxury liner “Queen of the Sea” arrives in the port of New York sans its crew and “thousands” of passengers. The FBI top investigator, Harry Dolan, is told by a big-brained scientist that the key to the mystery is the missing hour when the ship crossed the international date line and lost a day. Smelling money, Harry goes rogue. He murders the scientist, and sets sail from around the other side of the world to pick up that extra day. The idea is that the missing men will materialize aboard the ship and then Harry will ransom them for millions. “The Missing Men” is needlessly complicated (why not just fall back on the whole “alien abduction” plot line instead of giving us balloon after balloon of head-scratching expository?); the climax makes no sense whatsoever even after I read the explanation three times.

Alan Ohm is claustrophobic to the point that it’s affecting his life and job as an artist. His boss recommends a psychiatrist and Alan agrees to the doctor’s suggestion of hypnosis. In no time Alan is put under, and his doctor urges him to draw a picture of his earliest memory. Maddeningly, Alan can’t seem to draw anything past the date when he showed up at the art studio. But the shrink makes some headway since the drawings seem to reach back a little further each time. Finally, Alan hands over a drawing of himself in a coffin and, Eureka!, the psychiatrist has his answer: Alan has been reincarnated. That’s the climax, but no reasoning is given for the fact that Alan is reincarnated as an adult or why he looks the same in his past life. “The Man With No Past” makes little to no sense and takes much too long to get us nowhere.

Joe Kubert contributed to only three tales in the Atlas pre-code era. Catching a glimpse at rare early work by a man who would one day become an influential master is the only reason to wade through “The Hog!,” a truly wretched drama about a road hog who loves nothing more than forcing other drivers off the road. One day he meets his match in a bigger hog. The Joe Kubert we would grow to love on the DC war titles like Our Army at War is just about there, hiding in some of the panels he pumps out of talking heads and hot rods. 

An American reporter comes to Hungary searching for a vampire. He’s told one lives in the castle on the hill but, once he gets up there and into the massive structure, he finds no vampires. Suddenly the walls start closing in and the windows disappear. Too late, the reporter remembers hearing a myth that a vampire could disguise itself as anything… including a castle. A novel way to climax “The Hidden Vampire! “ which, for reasons apparent once you finish the last page, doesn’t actually feature a bloodsucker! An atmospheric and detailed splash gives way to standard “talking heads” art for the remainder of the tale.

Marvel Tales 130

Cover by

“Tornado” (a: Vic Carrabotta) ★

(r: Uncanny Tales #7)

“Willie! Or Won’t He?” (a: Paul Hodge) ★

“The Next World!” (a: John Forte) ★

“The Threat!” (a: Mort Lawrence) ★★

“The Giant Killer” (a: Sid Greene) ★★★

(r: Vault of Evil #9)

No one can explain it but Tony has a “Tornado” following him, doing everything he asks it to do. After a bit of fun, it occurs to Tony that he can become a rich man, so he does what every other similar character in the Atlas horror titles does and starts robbing banks with his twister in tow. But just as suddenly as Tony got this power, it turns on him. That’s because the aliens inside of the tornado become weary of following their human subject. “Tornado” is as dreary and safe as it sounds. Substitute another noun for “tornado” (dog, elephant, kazoo…), toss in a slightly different set of aliens, and you’ll get another story in a similar vein the following month.

The next two stories this issue are equally disposable. “Willie! Or Won’t He?” attempts to elicit guffaws with its “humorous” tale of a devilish little boy who gets everything he wants until his father puts his foot down. The story shifts in three different spots and none of it makes sense in the end. “The Next World!” is a preachy about a man who commits suicide and then finds that he must spend eternity walking through upside down worlds. The humor in both “Willie!” and “the Next World!” is forced and juvenile, and neither script has a whit of originality.

In “The Threat!,” the tiny Pacific island of Tobli buys up all the world’s “TNT bombs” in an effort to force world peace. It’s an odd little story, landing smack dab in the middle of a flurry of “dirty rotten Commie” tales, but not very engaging and more than a bit confusing with its climactic scientific expository. 

Speaking of the soulless Russkies, seems their H-Bomb tests have created four Red Chinese giants (the Chan brothers) and a slew of mutated insects. Anyone visiting the atomic grounds is eaten alive by giant crickets, and the only way to stop the insects from destroying all of the Soviet Union lies in the brains of the brilliant Chan brothers. But, as we know, the Russians have always been a “kill first, sort ‘em out later” nation and the Premier puts a price on the Chans’ gigantic noggins. Three of the giants are killed and the fourth is held up in a cave. That’s where brilliant Russian physicist Chenkov finds the big galoot and learns of the fate of the Motherland, just before troops file in and riddle the giant with bullets. Chenkov sighs and wonders if it’s not for the best that the USSR will soon be insect food. 

Though “The Giant Killer” does not live up to the creepiness of its cover image (a gorgeous Russ Heath chiller), Sid Greene contributes an efficient gloss over what might have become just another “Red Scare” page-waster. The gigantism theme is a fun one, considering this was a couple years before that fad overtook Hollywood (and a half decade before Jack Kirby would revolutionize giant monsters in the comics). The downbeat climax, which foretells the destruction of Russia — but curiously, not the entire world — by giant grasshoppers, would have been the perfect tonic for all those high-minded Senators determining which companies would receive the spotlight in the investigation. 

Mystery Tales 25

Cover by

“The Polka-Dot Man” (a: Dick Ayers & Ernie Bache) ★

(r: Beware #6)

“Mirror, Mirror on the Wall!” (a: Ed Winiarski) ★★

(r: Beware #6)

“Hate!” (a: Vince Colletta & Joe Maneely) ★★1/2

(r: Crypt of Shadows #13)

“The Time is Now” (a: Bob Brown) ★★

“Werewolf Beware” (a: Don Heck) ★1/2

(r: Dead of Night #4)

Through no fault of his own, Ben suddenly becomes “The Polka-Dot Man,” infecting everyone he talks to with the annoying full body circles. A Dr. Zarko contacts Ben and assures him he can help, but when Ben arrives at Zarko’s, he discovers the polka-dots are all part of a grand outer space invasion plan. Insipid and tame, the subtle message of “The Polka-Dot Man” is: “Here comes the code!” Eight years later, Bill Finger would introduce a Polka-Dot Man villain for Batman to tangle with in Detective Comics #300. 

“The Code is coming! The Code is coming!” is reiterated with “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall!,” about a thief who kills a pawn shop owner and then becomes the victim of a sinister painted-over mirror. While not as juvenile as “The Polka-Dot Man,” “Mirror…” uses as its hook another well-worn cliche. Certainly safe for underage readers. 

Dr. Jonas comes to Kant’s sanitarium, convinced his new method of rehabilitation is the wave of the psychiatric future. Jonas asks Kant to hand over three of his most extreme patients and Kant agrees. Jonas succeeds in “transferring” the patients’ “Hate!” for others onto himself but the experiment goes awry when the trio of nuts tosses Jonas from their fourth-story window.

The fascinating combo of Colletta and Maneely are responsible for several striking images, but the final panel twist is eye-rollingly bad. Doubtless, the patient known as “Mr. Gaines,” who’s suffering from “persecution mania” is a thinly-disguised parody of EC’s Bill Gaines, who had been crucified by the Senate the summer before. 

When the USSR declares war on the free world in 1965, a Martian decides to step in and fight for freedom and democracy. More anti-commie propaganda, “The Time Is Now” is blissfully brief and surprisingly prescient. The finale, “Werewolf Beware,” is the limp tale of lycanthrope Hugo Von Stahl who finds love in the form of beautiful Erika Ludvig. Alternately happy as a clam and suicidal, Hugo know Erika is the best thing that has ever happened to him but also knows that the full moon brings out the worst in him. After much deliberation, Hugo decides to kill himself (with a wooden stake!) rather than endanger the fair maiden. Soap opera nonsense, but at least “Werewolf Beware” didn’t end with the obligatory “It’s okay, Hugo, because I’m a vampiress!” This was Don Heck’s only contribution to the pre-code Atlas horror titles but the artist was well-represented post-code with at least 130 art jobs in Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense, and Strange Worlds, among others. 

Mystic 35

Cover by

“The Man Who Killed the Devil!” (a: Dick Ayers & Ernie Bache) ★1/2

“Friend or Foe” (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★★★

“The Itch!” (a: Al Hartley) ★1/2

“You Are Me!” (a: John Forte) ★

“What Happened in Midville” (a: Pete Tumlinson) ★★★1/2

Someone has left a stack of books on the stoop of thief and murderer, Paul Anderson. Curious, the sinful man brings the volumes inside his apartment and begins to read a book on how to kill the devil. Deciding he has nothing better to do, Paul follows the map to the door of Hades, walks down a few flights of stairs and confronts ol’ Scratch hisself. With one well-placed slingshotted stone, the devil is dead. Unfortunately, Paul didn’t read the entire book and missed the part that reads… “whoever kills the devil, replaces him on the throne…” “The Man Who Killed the Devil!” has a fairly standard plot coupled with utterly sub-standard art by Dick Ayers.

As a spaceship from Venus prepares to land on Earth, two factions have taken up arms against each other: those who believe the aliens have come in peace and those who believe they’re here to conquer. Which side will prove correct? Robert Q. Sale provides some entertaining BEMs and the final reveal of “Friend or Foe,” provided by the leader of the Venusians, is the right choice.

Tightwad mortician Mortimer Scroggs has “The Itch!” all over his body thanks to the powder thrown on him by a cheated customer. Since he’s too cheap to go to a physician, he visits an underworld doctor who promises to rid Mortimer of his itch. The doc’s solution is to graft another set of arms on Mortimer to help with the scratching. “The Itch!” has a sense of humor about it but the problem is, it’s not very funny.

After delivering a speech about parallel dimensions, Professor Perry exits the auditorium and runs smack dab into… himself! This proves his theory! But is his twin in Perry’s dimension or vice versa? “You Are Me!” adds absolutely nothing but headaches to the sub-genre of alternate realities. The climactic showdown between the Perrys is confusing, as is the outcome. 

In “What Happened in Midville.” postman Jason Beane only wants to help his customers with their money woes and health ailments so he gives each one of them a red box, tells them to speak their wish into the box, and then show up in town square the following Friday afternoon. Though the recipients are naturally skeptical, they arrive at the town square on Friday and pile their boxes on the common as instructed. Suddenly, ol’ Miss Abbie can hear and Horace can see without glasses and… everybody is happy.

Above the laughter and joyous tears rings the voice of Jason Beane. “There was one small detail I forgot to tell you… you have to take one of those boxes home!” Rather than exchange their shortcoming for that of a neighbor’s, the crowd storms the pile of boxes, trampling and killing several unfortunate souls. Jason Beane smiles and moves on to the next town.

Simply one of the most enjoyably perplexing tales ever presented in an Atlas title. We have no idea who Jason really is (though we do have our suspicions) or his goal for the town, but it’s something worse than that offered up by the guy with the horns. Many of the EC horror and science fiction tales were influenced by Ray Bradbury (and some of them Ray was reimbursed for!) but “What Happened in Midville” strikes me more in the vein of a Richard Matheson short story; our uncredited scripter takes the mundane elements of life (here, a mailman) we take for granted and applies a sinister sheen. 

Uncanny Tales 28

Cover by 

“The Martians!” (a: Bill Benulis & Jack Abel) ★★★

“The Vanishing Lady” (a: Joe Kubert) ★★1/2

“The Maze!” (a: Mort Lawrence) ★★1/2

“Wiped Out!” (a: Bill Walton) ★★

“The Lonely House!” (a: Dick Ayers) ★

Red planet Mars has launched its attack on Earth by sending the first set of warriors, transformed into human-like beings in order to mesh with Earthlings. But once “The Martians!” reach their destination, undercover agent EEEJJ decides he doesn’t want to slaughter innocents so his comrades pull a laser gun and zap him. Earth’s “atmosphere” helps EEEJJ to survive but he must get warning to the Earthlings that they are about to be conquered. 

The frazzled Martian breaks into a huge house, thinking it belongs to a wealthy, influential man, but he is quickly subdued and taken to a cell. En route, he tries to convince his captors of the impending danger but the men chalk it up to just one more loony at “Lakeview Home for the Feeble-Minded (!)” Yep, our savior has picked an asylum to break into. As he’s shouting warnings from his cell, the spaceships enter Earth’s atmosphere. “The Martians!” is a funny, witty success with yet another dazzling performance by Bill Benulis (with an assist from Jack Abel), offering proof that even while the Code approaches, Stan and the boys could produce intelligent sci-fi now and then.

Just as George Sims is mentally whining about how his life is one big boring slog, up pops a beautiful woman who identifies herself as Countess Corinne Duprez from France. As soon as introductions are made, a giant fellow bearing a sword approaches and explains that he’s here to take the Countess to the guillotine. As if to add a dot to George’s exclamation point, he is raked across the arm by the deadly steel. The big man disappears and George is left with the Countess in his arms.

She explains that she lived in 18th-Century France and that the big guy, Rene Nareau, is bound and determined to see her executed. George laughs it off and tells the Countess that he is madly in love with her and perhaps that is why she remained and Nareau vanished. George and Corinne are quickly married and the more the woman goes on about her fanciful life, the more George becomes convinced she’s telling the truth. He tells her that if Nareau reappears, he’ll take care of him. Sure enough, the villain rematerializes on the first anniversary of the Countess becoming a 20th-Century fox and George dispatches him quickly with some good old-fashioned lead. 

Unfortunately, Corrine disappears at the same time that Nareau’s body vaporizes. Heartbroken, George settles back to await a life without his true love until, five minutes later, the Countess’s look-alike ancestor knocks on his door and George realizes he’s going to be okay. A bit of a departure, “The Vanishing Lady” seems more like a gothic romance than anything else. The plot isn’t exactly visionary, but the narrative is like easy listening music; if you’re in the light and breezy mood, you’ll enjoy its romantic time travel aspects. “The Vanishing Lady” contains a much-better look at Joe Kubert’s growing strengths as an artist than “The Hog” (Journey Into Mystery #21).

In “The Maze!” two scientists watch closely as Martian ants make their way through a small maze. Whenever the eggheads avert their gaze, one of the ants disappears. Convinced that the insects have a way of making their bodies move through inanimate objects, the two men continue to watch intently, hoping they’ll learn the secret and escape the maze they’ve been placed in by giant gorilla-like Martians, who are hoping to learn the secret of passing through walls…

In a similar vein is “Wiped Out!,” wherein Wilbur and his boss, Mr. Jenkins, look out their office building to discover the city has disappeared. As their building begins to vanish, they hustle out the front door where they run smack dab into a giant finger. Turns out Wilbur and Mr. Jenkins are cartoon characters and their creator, Bill Walton, is erasing them, unhappy with the job he’d done. As Walton explains the event to us, we see a giant eraser begin to wipe him out as well. “Wiped Out!” contains a variation on a plot hook that had been done to death already by 1954 (especially by the good folk over at EC) and would be done even more subsequently. The idea of the artist breaking the fourth wall is very cute and though, overall, the result is disappointing (especially in the art department), that final panel of an artist erasing Bill Walton actually makes you stop for ten seconds and ponder.

Finally, and inexplicably, is the non-genre Gothic plantation-set “The Lonely House!” Agnes Thorne lives at the huge estate which belongs to her and her brother, Edward, taking care of him and generally wasting her life away. Edward insists that no one could love a homely maiden like Agnes and, with no suitor pounding at her door, she sees the logic in her brother’s words. Then along comes Charles Cortland, he of the broken down carriage, who sweeps Agnes off her feet and seems on the verge of proposing. 

Realizing his maid, cook, and chauffeur are all about to be whisked away by Cortland, Edward confides in Agnes’s beau that she’s mentally ill and needs round-the-clock maintenance. To Agnes’s horror, Cortland hops in his refurbished buggy and exits stage left, leaving Edward with an ear-to-ear grin. But, “two hours later…,” Cortland returns, explaining he only went to town to fetch a shrink and now he’s back to rescue Agnes from insanity. The buggy leaves Edward alone in the dust. Like “The Vanishing Lady,” “The Lonely House” seems better designed for Atlas Gothic Love Stories (had their been such a title in the mid-fifties, that is) but, unlike that earlier story, the saga of the Thorne Family contains not one iota of uncanny. I assumed that, after Cortland left, Agnes would go out to the woodpile, grab an axe, and give her brother forty whacks. Nope. It was also a possibility that Cortland was a Martian and the Thornes were Venusians (or vampire/werewolves) but that didn’t happen either. Instead, we got a low-budget Lifetime Channel knock-off of Gone With the Wind. Not my cup of tea.

In Two Weeks...
Bill Everett takes
us to Mars!