Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 93: Atlas/ Marvel Horror

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 78

February 1955 Part I

by Peter Enfantino

Astonishing 37

Cover by Sol Brodsky

“Master of the Genie” (a: Ross Andru) ★★1/2

“And Then… Mars!” (a: Bill Everett) ★★★

“Poor Pierre!” (a: Mort Lawrence) ★★

“Don’t Touch!” (a: Manny Stallman) ★★★

“The Devil-Man!” (a: Dick Ayers & Ernie Bache) ★★★★

Professor Potter has spent his entire life searching for Aladdin’s Lamp, certain that the mythical treasure actually exists and can change his life and that of his wife, Nora. A clue in one of his books convinces him that the Lamp is buried in a tomb in Naispur. Potter quits his job, grabs his wife, and flies to the site where, sure enough, he finds his holy grail. He rubs the lamp and a genie pops out, explaining that Potter can ask for anything he wishes but that the genie cannot “defy the laws of nature” and that no wish can be changed. Potter agrees gleefully and wishes that he and his wife were back at their hotel room in one minute.

A tornado picks the couple up and deposits them through their hotel window about a minute later. After several days in a coma, the pair wake up, with Nora begging her husband to stop while they’re ahead. Ignoring her, Potter wishes for ten thousand dollars and, very soon after, receives a telegram informing him that his brother is dead and the insurance company will pay Potter ten grand. You get the picture. More “The Monkey’s Paw” than “Arabian Nights,” “Master of the Genie” is a fairly entertaining, if a bit predictable, tale with a very nasty climax. Poor Potter is anything but a villain, only wanting to make life a bit better for Nora, but his greed is paid for in spades.

Bill Everett is the star of “And Then… Mars!,” the tale of an eccentric billionaire who hires fifty of the world’s greatest brains to build a rocket ship that can fly to Mars. Ship built, the scientists and rich goofball blast off and, a few panels later, arrive on Mars. The billionaire sighs and admits that it’s good to be home. He was sent to our planet to abduct all of Earth’s big brains so that we would never land on Mars! Goofy fun, with Everett’s Martian moneyman possessing an ear-to-ear smile to behold.

“Poor Pierre!,” about a circus performer who may or may not have been murdered under strange circumstances, has no story to speak of but sports some eye-catching visuals by Mort Lawrence. His crowd scenes of circus employees and customers are nightmarish. The intro to the four-page “Don’t Touch!” promises a fascinating mystery about a red dome that seems to be perched atop a rock in the sea. The dome cracks and it is revealed that inside are 100 men and women in suspended animation for the past 200 years. The idea is that war threatens to end mankind so these 100 “finest-minded” individuals will be able to help whoever has survived the big war to reestablish mankind. But, it turns out, the only thing left on Earth is the ants that invade the time capsule and, inadvertently, kill its residents. Manny Stallman’s graphics are uber-creepy and we get the feeling that something extraordinary is in store for us but, alas, the finale is fumbled. Still, a decent science fiction tale and easy on the eyes.

Dr. Parrish has become tired of the beastly jungle drums and inquires of his colleagues just what the hell is up. He’s told that the tribes are welcoming the arrival of “The Devil-Man!” to their region. When Parrish pushes, the men explain that the devil-man is, in actuality, a white man named Bob Tenney, who sits in the “Mumbo-Hut” and is possessed by an evil spirit. 

Parrish remembers Tenney as a man he went to medical school with and takes a hike into the jungle to investigate. Sure enough, he finds ol’ Tenney sitting, staring into space in his Mumbo-Hut, a large, gruesome goiter hanging from his neck. Convinced it’s this goiter that’s afflicting him and not Satan, Parrish hires two thugs to kidnap Tenney and bring him to the operating room. There, Parrish cuts into the goiter, only to discover it contains a strange gas which leaks out of the incision. Believing Tenney to be healed, Parrish heads out onto the porch to get some air, only to be verbally assaulted by a group of natives, who call him the new “devil-man.” Parrish grips his throat and feels the growth there. 

Despite some downright ugly artwork (Parrish’s head seems to shrink and expand from panel to panel like some LSD trip), “The Devil-Man” is a truly unsettling piece of fiction, similar in tone and subject to Blatty’s The Exorcist. What is the true origin of the “goiter?” Is it some strange jungle disease or is it Pazuzu circa 1954? Fortunately, the story ends without answering those questions so that our comic-warped brains can fill in the blanks: Like cancerous tentacles, he felt a frightful reaching from the thing hanging from his neck, to his mind… and then his eyes became blank and haunted and he moved blindly down the path toward… the Mumbo Hut. Now that’s an image worthy of Lovecraft, no? Very rarely will I give four stars to a story based solely on script but “The Devil-Man” is one of those rarities simply because it’s so damn disturbing. The final pre-code issue of Astonishing just happens to be the title’s best issue ever!

Journey into Mystery 22

Cover by Joe Maneely

“Mission on Earth” (a: Art Peddy) ★

“Haunted House” (a: Larry Woromay) ★

“The Man Who Watched” (a: John Forte) ★1/2

“The Blaster” (a: Seymour Moskowitz) ★

“The Human Germ” (a: Mort Lawrence) ★★1/2

As can be ascertained from the cover, things were starting to change down at the Atlas bullpen. I assume Stan had at least one eye on what was going on down the road with Kefauver and his cronies and could see the writing on the wall. This was serious business, so maybe Stan decided to put his best foot forward, toss the moldy corpses and multi-fanged vampires and werewolves and opt for a tamer, more kid-friendly atmosphere. Hence, the bland covers we’d be subjected to from here on out. You’d be forgiven for mistaking that lop-sided haunted house on the cover for any number of similar covers to come down the road on Tales of Suspense and Tales to Astonish.

Art Peddy’s bland artwork is almost as lifeless as the script for the opener, “Mission on Earth.” A science fiction writer is forced to teach a group of aliens (here to blaze the trail for the inevitable invasion) how to interweave themselves into the human race. Predictably, the aliens discover love and compassion and go out in the world to make peace rather than war. 

Joe accepts a bet from his buddies to spend a night in a “Haunted House.” There are a few creepy noises but no ghosts or ghouls. The next morning, the two friends come to collect Joe from the house but they can’t find him. Joe can’t figure out why his chums are ignoring him until he realizes he’s become a ghost. It’s not made clear how Joe died and became a spirit but let’s not dwell on that or on the art by Larry Woromay, which is just as “safe” as Art Peddy’s.

Karmit has been embezzling funds from his war contracts and his partner has ordered an audit. If the government catches wind of Karmit’s criminal deeds, he’ll be shot as a traitor so his partner must be dispatched as quick as possible. Karmit comes up with the perfect plan but, as with so many of these genius dummies, the plot goes awry and Karmit gets his comeuppance. “The Man Who Watched” was John Forte’s 38th and final contribution to the Atlas pre-codes. Forte would contribute a further 124 art jobs to the post code titles all the way up to May 1960, then jump ship and work for ACG and DC.

Weapons hoarder Ingram Frazer is showing off his prized collection to a colleague when they happen upon a strange firearm in one of the glass cases, under which is a card that reads “Martian Blaster.” Ingram’s friend has a good laugh and compliments him on his sense of humor but Ingram finds none of this funny. He takes the weapon out of the case, points it at his Chesterfield, and pulls the trigger. No more sofa! Well, of course, with this firepower, Ingram could rule the world! He immediately finds the world’s most brilliant physicist and hires him to produce 1,000 of the devices. He then hires a squad of goons and prepares to send an ultimatum to the United Nations. Meanwhile, 40 bazillion light-years away, two Martians are sharing a chuckle as they watch Ingram and nine other hand-picked warmongers setting a course for the apocalypse. “The Blaster” contains yet more really bad doodles and a predictable finish. 

Scientists George Collier and Harold Brant are both coming close to the breakthrough in cellular shrinkage they’ve been experimenting in for years. George announces one day to Harold that he’s done it! He’s about to publish his findings in the Atlas Journal of Shrinkage (Cellular or Otherwise) and Harold will be left in the dust. That’s just not going to happen, decides Harold, so he does what any other egghead would do. Rather than, say, chopping down George with an axe or shooting him with a laser beam, Harold fires up his almost-ready equipment and shrinks himself down to molecule size (a size that will last only twelve hours). Once George enters the lab again, Harold will enter his bloodstream for a fantastic voyage through the man’s pores, plant a poison inside him, get back out, and revert back to his original shape and size. Only problem is, once Harold hops a ride in his partner’s genes, George doesn’t feel right and visits his doctor, who shoots George full of antibiotics. The medicine attacks and kills Harold. 

An imaginative romp, “The Human Germ” was just the ticket after the previous dismal quartet. Sure, it’s packed full of head-scratchers (for instance, will Harold’s body still regain its original size and come busting out of George?) but at least there’s a ladle full of fun to go with the quart of dumb. Mort Lawrence must have heard my pleas for competent visuals and come to my rescue. Lawrence, overall, would fall firmly into my second tier of Atlas artists (along with DiPreta, Stallman, etc.) but this issue, compared to the other four delineators, he’s Eisner, Frazetta, and Everett combined.

Journey into Unknown Worlds 33

Cover by Carl Burgos

“The Man in the Box!” (a: Bill Benulis & Jack Abel) ★★

(r: Vault of Evil #1)

“Bomb Blast” (a: Manny Stallman) ★★

“The Pen Pal” (a: Lou Cameron) ★★

“Those Who Listen” (a: Howie Post) ★1/2

“Half-Human” (a: Bob Forgione) ★★1/2

Every night at the stroke of midnight, a very small man climbs out of his tiny green box in the curio shop and heads out into the world to do good deeds. Once he’s done his good deed for that night, he crawls back into his little box and sleeps the day away. One night, a burglar breaks into the shop and steals “The Man in the Box!” Whimsical fantasy with a dark climax.

A nuclear sub goes dark in the middle of a “Bomb Blast” and the ship is damaged, sinking to the bottom of the sea. Suddenly the hatch door begins turning and, to their amazement, the crew are looking out into Atlantis. An intriguing fantasy-thriller is woefully short and capped off by an extremely silly reveal (it turns out that the blast sent the sub 5000 years into the past!), ruining what might have been a superior yarn.

Carl Springer begins receiving letters through his wall from a Plutonian resident. The two strike up a friendship and the letters keep coming. Then one day, Carl feels woozy. He calls in a doctor who tells him his white blood cell count is high but that it’s not much to worry about. Carl receives one more letter after the doctor’s visit; the alien explains that he is taking over Carl’s body and will initiate the coming invasion of Earth. Transformation complete, the alien smiles just as he’s led to the electric chair, where “Killer” Springer is due to be executed.

“The Pen Pal” is Lou Cameron’s only contribution to the Atlas horror titles, after having quite the career drawing horror comics for Ace (The Hand of Fate, Web of Mystery, The Beyond), Story (Mysterious Adventures), and ACG (Adventures Into the Unknown). Once the Code arrived, Cameron stuck around and pencilled six more stories for Atlas, before heading to DC in 1958. After leaving comics, Lou became a successful novelist, writing several well-received crime novels and creating the extremely popular western paperback series, Longarm (as by Tabor Evans).

Aram, the protagonist of “Those Who Listen,” travels from town to town, urging the listeners to quit their jobs and leave town. In every town, Aram is treated with the same derision and, sometimes, violence. Finally, he gives up, boards his starship, and explains to his commander that the people of Earth won’t listen and when the sun explodes, they’ll die of ignorance. Not only is the plot of “Those Who Listen” shaky (Aram never explains to his audience why he wants them to change their lives) but the art is atrocious. Some characters are unformed and sketchy as though the colors were laid down on uninked pencils.

Beloved eye doctor William Lea has always been there for his patients, working long hours and traveling long distances at the behest of a phone call. One night, while making a house call, Lea is bitten by a werewolf and, very soon, begins to transform into one himself. This werewolf is a little bit different than the norm; he stays furry all the time. At first, fangs and fur won’t stop Dr. Lea from seeing to his patients (all of which, luckily, are blind), but eventually the doc has to face facts. He’s starting to lose his human half. So, there’s only one thing left to do: the doc whips up a serum that transforms him into a seeing eye dog!

“Half-Human” is one goofy read, from Lea’s “fangs be damned” proclamation to the side-splitting exclamation from one of Lea’s patients (“Say, doc, do you keep dogs in here? I get the same smell as I do at the kennels where our dogs are kept!”) to the uproarious climax where we are introduced to the new “Doc!”

In Two Weeks...
The death of the
Atlas pre-code!