Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 104: Atlas/ Marvel Horror & Science Fiction Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 89

October 1955 Part II

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Mystic #40

Cover by Sol Brodsky

"The One Who Was Nowhere!" (a: Bill Everett) ★★

"The Impossible Man" (a: Manny Stallman)  ★★

"The Dreadful Decision!" (a: Paul Reinman)  ★★1/2

"A Million Years" (a: Vic Carrabotta)  ★

"The Homeless Ones!" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel) ★★1/2

With the help of a mysterious female voice, Ken Clark is able to escape a prison camp and make it back to the States in one piece. The voice haunts him every minute of every day and he hopes she'll come to him again. Ken almost gets hit by a train when he's approaching a railroad crossing and the voice again comes to his rescue.

Bedazzled, Ken visits his old friend, Professor Thomas Barrett, who is lecturing at the University auditorium. While entering the building, Ken gets a strong vision in his head of a pretty woman about to be run down in the street. His brain waves

call out a warning to her. Later, while Ken is chatting with Professor Barrett, a pretty young woman comes into the room and is introduced as Barrett's niece, Myra. When Myra speaks, Ken recognizes her voice immediately and the young lady explains to the men that she had almost been run over by a car but escaped thanks to a faceless voice. Once the eerie situation is explained, Myra and Ken realize they were made for each other and embrace.

Poor Bill Everett had to go from the triumphs of the pre-code to the doldrums of post-. The art is literally the only thing to recommend the oddly-titled "The One Who Was Nowhere," but it's some really good Everett. Though Myra only makes a cameo, she's one of the most beautiful comic book females I've ever seen. No, I'm not joking. 

Kenneth Shaw can't wait to get done with his boring job every day so he can hop in his dream convertible and drive home. Trouble is, only Kenneth can see the car! The local traffic cop, Officer O'Grady, pulls "The Impossible Man" over for a ticket, warning our hero that he won't be made a fool of by a dope who drives around in nothing! 

Kenneth explains that, ever since he was a child, he wanted a beautiful red convertible and he's sure that anyone who wishes hard enough has their dream come true. O'Grady admits that when he was a kid, he wanted to be a cop with a red, shiny motorcycle, gives Kenneth one more stern warning, and gets back on his invisible hog. A cute little fantasy with a nice little smile-inducing climax.

In the year 3628, scientists on Earth make a cold-blooded decision to abandon a space station in outer space that houses two thousand people. The decision is debated but the act is followed through. Almost immediately, Earth begins moving away from the sun. One big brain theorizes that this disaster is keyed in to the merciless destruction of the satellite but another disagrees and believes it is nothing more than coincidence. We discover the latter is correct when our focus shifts to a faraway planet and two scientists who debate the merits of abandoning their satellite (Earth) after monitoring her for millions of years.

Though the science is a bit suspect (our final look at the two Earth professors shows them bundled up in parkas when they should be long dead), the fiction is admittedly engaging. "The Dreadful Decision!" describes the inhuman discarding of two thousand lives in as subtle of a way as possible in order to forego the axe of the CCA, but it's still a chilling scene.

"A Million Years" is another dumb rip-off of Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder," wherein a scientist and his dopey assistant aim their time machine for prehistoric times and accidentally bring back the first uranium ore. This, of course, puts a halt to all A-Bomb testing, since the world's supply of the precious metal suddenly disappears. Anti-war stories are a-okay with me as long as they display a little logic along with the propaganda. Here, writer Paul S. Newman must have forgotten that, if Professor Cross and his aide, Lennie Small, had hijacked the only ore on the planet, scientists in 1955 would not be experimenting with the stuff when it disappears! Oh, these stories make my head hurt. 

Young Basil suffers from a malady modern science cannot cure but the local gypsies, friends of Basil, bring him a "bird of spring" to keep with him in his room. Immediately, the boy recovers and his father, a very important man, has to admit these filthy gypsies might be good for something. "The Homeless Ones!" comes across as a Hallmark Movie of the Week at times; it's sappy, preachy, and sugary. But its message is a good one and the Forgione/Abel art is very good as well. If I didn't know better, I'd say young Steve Ditko might have gotten a bit of influence from these guys.-Peter

Spellbound #24

Cover by Joe Maneely & Carl Burgos (?)

"The Frightened Man" (a: Paul Reinman) ★★

"Thelma!" (a: John Romita) ★★1/2

"Eye Over the City" (a: Bill Benulis) ★★★

"Where Did Danny Go?" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel) ★★

"The Long Night" (a: John Tartaglione) ★★1/2

At the beginning of the 17th Century, Stefan pays an artist to paint a portrait of him that, the artist insists, will enable Stefan to stay young forever. The artist explains that the portrait will grow old while Stefan stays young. Hmmmmm....Stefan jumps at the chance and takes the painting back to his place, hanging it on a wall in an upstairs room. He locks the room and orders the servants not to enter. 

Five decades pass, Stefan is 70, and the portrait grows ugly and grey while its subject remains a strapping lad in his twenties. Stefan meets a beautiful woman named Theresa and invites her and her family over to see his mansion, with an eye to proposing at a later date. The house is a hit but when the group come to the "door which shall not be opened," Theresa's father insists on seeing the inside of this forbidden room. When Stefan refuses, the man insists that Theresa will not marry him until the entire estate is investigated.

In a panic, Stefan revisits the artist who painted his portrait and begs him to paint a younger version over the old, decrepit man. The painter complies and finishes just as Stefan is opening the forbidden door and letting his future in-laws have a look. The painting is a hit until Stefan turns and they get a look at his wrinkled visage. Hmmmmm....

Once again, the bullpen relies on the youth of their audience while ripping off classics. This time, obviously, a pinch of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is thrown into the ink of "The Frightened Man." I can overlook the plagiarism by pulpster Carl Wessler, as thievery was commonplace in 1950s horror comics. What makes me laugh is 1/ the father's insistence that he see this room, one which Stefan has told him has nothing interesting within, and 2/ Stefan's terror at having the portrait gazed upon without thinking maybe he could move the thing out of the room before they show up the second time.

Leslie's doll, "Thelma," can talk to her. No, really, she can. When Leslie's mother gets sick and the little girl has no one to talk to her, Thelma is a regular chatterbox... box scores on the Yankee games, vegan recipes, how to land a non-JD boyfriend, the works. But when Leslie tries to get the rag doll to talk in front of her mom, the toy clams up. The doll explains to Leslie that it only talks to kids who are lonely and, in fact, once Leslie's mom is well, Thelma hits the road and finds another lonely kid. 

I found this disposable little yarn to be quite charming and void of the usual maudlin sentimentality. Leslie arrives at the conclusion that she no longer needs Thelma now that her mummy is all better. Of course, mom will miss her alcoholic lunches and the mailman's "delivery," but she had the brat in the first place, right?

Police officer Jack Rogers has an "Eye Over the City" with his elaborate monitoring system; there's a camera on every corner and Rogers keeps his attention on the screens 24/7. But the grind is getting too much for him and he tells his C.O. that after this next assignment he'll be resigning.

The chief's not happy, but he agrees with Rogers' wishes once the younger cop gets a camera up on Maple and 10th, a corner frequented by a "big bookie." Rogers installs the cameras and then hurries back to headquarters, where a strange scene plays out on his screen: a vision of the future, complete with flying cars and spectacular architecture. While mesmerized by the science-fictional vision, Jack overhears two pedestrians drop his name and sees a newspaper with a decades-older picture of him on the front page, a headline declaring him a hero. The screen crackles out, and suddenly Maple Street and 10th are back in 1955. Rogers notifies the patrol car and they bust the bookie. When the chief comes around with Jack's resignation papers, tomorrow's savior politely declines.

An intriguing and beautifully-drawn science fiction yarn reminiscent of Philip K. Dick's "The Minority Report" (which wouldn't be published until the following year), "Eye Over the City" predicts the coming of CCTV in a very odd way. Though I assume the year is 1955, the set-up looks like the future. Could this be an alternate present? In any event, the plot is clever and (again) Benulis dazzles.

Tina, the world's tiniest woman, dumps her beau, Joe, for new little guy on the block, Danny, but the romance is short-lived when Heaven calls Cupid (Danny) back from Earth. "Where Did Danny Go?" is a complicated and goofy little romance/fantasy; I had to read it a couple times to figure out exactly what was going on.

In the finale, "The Long Night," the world is on the brink of war when suddenly, everything goes dark. There is no electricity. The sun refuses to rise (anywhere around the world, evidently). Earth's super powers must learn to cooperate with each other in order to survive. When a "Peace Council" is assembled, the electricity comes on and the sun rises. Not a bad anti-war yarn; obviously not written by Stan, since the Russkies don't look for any way possible to break the peace treaty and kill the American dogs. At one point, a European ship comes into an American harbor (ostensibly New York), and the captain tells of journeying across "the dark sea." I think this was the most eerie aspect of the tale, considering what it would take to steer a ship across thousands of miles of nothing but pitch. Overall, one of the better Atlas comics published post-code so far.-Peter

Strange Stories of Suspense #5

Cover by Joe Maneely

"The Little Black Box!" (a: Dick Ayers & Ernie Bache) ★

"The Prisoner!" (a: Art Peddy) ★

"Uncle Ed and the Men from Space" (a: John Forte) ★1/2

"Magic Words!" (a: Russ Heath) ★★

"Man of Mystery" (a: Syd Shores) ★★★

Strange Stories of Suspense, the 19th title in the Atlas horror/science fiction group, began its publication life as Rugged Action, a variety title featuring adventure and war strips. It's odd that Goodman should add new SF/horror titles to his catalogue when the genre was dying out thanks to indifference and the CCA. SSoS would last twelve issues before succumbing to the Atlas implosion of late 1957.

After a lifetime of greed and stabbing his business partners in the back, Cavendish is always looking over his shoulder for the payback. One day, a nicely-wrapped package arrives at his door and Cavendish is at a loss for words as to who would be nice enough to send him a present. Then, of course, his past flashes through his mind and he expects the worst. After several panels of angst, Cavendish finally opens the parcel and discovers "The Little Black Box!" When he lifts the lid, he's relieved to find... cookies from his mother! Suddenly, the evil seeps from his body and he orders his butler to send a $1,000 check to the town charity fund. Just like that? Sheesh, this new era certainly eliminates most of the juicier outcomes. Pre-code, one of Cavendish's partners would have killed himself and then risen from the grave to dole out some real justice. Cavendish gets off pretty easily for all the pain he's been responsible for.

A genie is "The Prisoner!" within Aladdin's lamp, buried deep under the desert sands. When he hears digging above him, he rejoices and, once the lamp is rubbed, the genie is free. His new master immediately wishes for "weapons more powerful than the United States so that we communists can rule the world!" Having heard enough, the genie heads back into the bottle. Back to the red-baiting we enjoyed so much in the pre-code era (here I thought that Stan might have had to sign a peace treaty with the stinkin' commies when the CCA lowered the boom), here hilariously so. The man who finds the lamp claims to be an archeologist but, obviously, dictator looks more impressive on a business card. Incidentally, the art on this and the first story are awful.

Little Jimmy loves to hear Uncle Ed tell all about his hunting excursions, trapping lions, chasing bears, and pert near any other wildlife invented. Uncle Ed promises he'll take Jimmy on one of the hunts some day and sure enough, when Jimmy turns 18, the trek is a go. A couple of Uncle Ed's buddies go as well and they're quick to explain to Jimmy that Ed's their best pal but he's also full of blueberry muffins. The guy's never caught a cold, let alone a giraffe.

Suddenly, a flying saucer lands nearby and aliens resembling "living vegetables" (Ed's description but, to me, they look more like walking bowel movements) exit the craft and approach the cabin. The aliens order the men to come out peacefully or they will blast them with their death-rays. When the four walk outside, the creatures level more threats but Ed, sensing a bluff, decks one of them with a killer left. The aliens admit they're actually cowards and run for their ship, never to return. One of Ed's friends sighs and tells Ed he just saved Earth with his greatest bluff! With another barely literate script and amateurish artwork, "Uncle Ed and the Men from Space" is instantly forgettable. How about that startling alien design? Though Uncle Ed's boasts are pretty outlandish, we never do find out how much (if anything) of what he's telling his nephew is true and his two friends are just the kind of guys you want to hang out with. 

Poor Lenny keeps striking out with the dames. He can't get up the nerve to ask any of them for a date; he's convinced they're turned off by his looks (think, oh I don't know, Jerry Lewis). A gypsy sells Lenny a magic potion she guarantees will get Lenny all the tail he desires. All he has to do is rub a little on his cheek and... voila! Sure enough, the next day, the dames are all over the dope and Lenny has the night life he always dreamed of. Then the potion runs out. What now? "Magic Words" isn't great but compared to the first three stories in this issue, it's Hemingway. I wasn't surprised by the twist at the climax, but at least the (uncredited) writer attempted something new. The Heath art is uncharacteristically tame, but then the artist has nothing to work with but talking heads.

"Gimmick" Garson has invented a little mechanical "Man of Mystery" who robs diamond stores and brings the booty back to him. The little metal man attempts to turn himself into the police time and again but is foiled by his creator. Finally, a very smart beat cop figures out that "Gimmick" is behind the thefts and shuts down his life of crime. A charming little fantasy with some eye-catching Syd Shores graphics. I'd compare this to the 1960s DC superhero scripts we're surveying every other week: goofy criminals (the egghead behind the little metal man sure doesn't look like a "Gimmick" Garson), science fictional elements, and happy endings. I was beginning to wonder if this new title was going to be the dumping ground for sub-par material. It still could be, but at least "Man of Mystery" breaks up the monotony. -Peter

Strange Tales #39

Cover by Carl Burgos

"Karnoff's Plan!" (a: Bill Everett) ★★★

"Blind Spot!" (a: Sid Greene) ★1/2

"The Secret of the Ship" (a: Kurt Schaffenberger) ★1/2

"The Man Mountain!" (a: Norman Maurer) ★

"Five Who Volunteered" (a: Joe Sinnott) ★★1/2

Each night, a different city building crashes to the ground. What is the cause? It's all the work of Prof. Karnoff, a poor but brilliant scientist whose landlady bugs him for the overdue rent money, unaware of "Karnoff's Plan!" to rule the world. Two years ago, he was shunned by others in the scientific community when he proposed harnessing the secrets of science and using them to gain power. He has since discovered that an application of atomic energy to metal makes it as soft as modeling clay.

Karnoff made a small statue of himself and realized that, when he touched it, he felt the touch on his body. He then began to make models of buildings and smash them, certain that his ability to wreak havoc would lead to domination. He returns home after destroying another building to discover that his landlady has sold all of his possessions to the junkman because the professor had not paid his rent. Realizing that the small statue of himself creates imminent danger for him, Karnoff rushes off into the night and is never seen again. Presumably, the junkman crushed the statue and the same fate befell the professor.

The twist ending is usually what makes or breaks these short tales, and this is a good one. The GCD speculates that Bill Everett may have written this story as well as drawn it; whatever the case, the writer must have thought up the finale and worked backwards from there to set it up. Everett's drawings of the professor are a hoot and make the story entertaining.

If the large bald head of an alien from another planet doesn't make Earth people look at him askance, then the series of unsightly bumps on one side of his pate certainly do. The alien wanders through a city, disappointed in the "Blind Spot!" in human perceptions that prevent them from seeing beyond outward appearances to the beauty inside. About to return to his home planet, where he will report that the people of Earth are not ready to explore outer space, he sees a beautiful blonde crossing the street in front of an onrushing car and races to save her. She is grateful and praises him for his true beauty. Dazzled, he changes his mind about humans and returns to his planet, planning to report that humans can explore space after all. On Earth, the blind girl picks up the cane that she dropped and wishes that she could have seen her rescuer.

It was pretty clear that the woman was blind, so the ending was no big surprise. Sid Greene draws a lovely young woman, though it's hard to believe that beautiful girls used to walk the city streets wearing dresses and gloves.

Young Peter likes to sail his model ships to while away the time, but it causes him to be late for his paper route. His father is a sea captain who is laid up in bed for the time being, so Peter's earnings are important to the family's survival. One day, he sends his ship, the Wanderer, off on an imaginary voyage to the Aru islands to trade with the natives for pearls. He's late to work once too often and gets fired, but his ship mysteriously returns with black pearls worth $5000. The family is saved!

Peter helpfully pointed out that "The Secret of the Ship" is Kurt Schaffenberger's first work for the Atlas horror titles; I associate his art with DC comics like Lois Lane and Shazam!, so it's interesting to see him draw something different years earlier. The art is certainly smooth, but the story is a dud.

In days of old, not all giants were bad. Take, for instance, "The Man Mountain!" He helped peasants who had problems. In fact, when an old woman who had adopted 57 orphaned children lost her home in a flood, he built her a new one out of one of his enormous shoes. And that's how the old woman who lived in a shoe came to be. Norman Mauer's art is nothing special, but I'm not sure Neal Adams could have made this four-pager worth reading. Next issue: the true story of what happened to Little Bo Peep's sheep.

This week on the popular TV program, The Joke's On You, "Five Who Volunteered" to fly to Venus will get a surprise when they discover that the spaceship doesn't fly. The host is taken aback when he finds himself on the second planet from the sun, surrounded by five green Venusians who had been visiting Earth in disguise.

Did anyone who read this story have any doubt about what was going on? It read like a knockoff of any number of EC stories where obnoxious TV hosts get their comeuppance. Fortunately, Joe Sinnott does a terrific job with the art, and the Venusians in the last panel look like prototypes for the ugly characters on "Eye of the Beholder" from The Twilight Zone.-Jack

Uncanny Tales #36

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Nameless One!" (a: Bob Powell) ★1/2

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

"The Model!" (a: Paul Reinman) ★

"The Sorcerers!" (a: Jack Katz & Christopher Rule) ★1/2

"Escape!" (a: Vic Carrabotta) ★

Serving a life sentence and anxious to escape prison, Nick Nolan slips away from a road gang and makes his way to the house of a professor who has invented a machine that allows a person to travel anywhere on Earth by radio. The transporter is built into a vest, so Nick puts it on and turns the dial to Africa just as the prison guards arrive.

In Africa, Nick finds himself confronted by hungry lions, so he moves the dial to England and finds himself in a python's cage at a zoo. On to Paris, where Nick falls off the top of the Eiffel Tower, then to Niagara, where he's about to go over the falls in a boat. Nick's final destination is his old prison cell, the safest place of all. Who is "The Nameless One," the professor who invented the machine? Just call him Fate.

I'm always happy to see a new story drawn by Bob Powell, but this one only has a few panels that are above average. The story is predictable and the twist ending falls flat.

Crowds pack the tent at the carnival to see Jim Hall exhibit Marvelo the Wonder Bird, the largest parrot in captivity and the smartest bird in the world. What no one knows is that "The Parrot!" is really Tiny Samson, a midget in a bird suit. Jim's landlady, Mrs. Jones, asks him who's been smoking cigars in his room, but he gives her the brush-off. Tiny worries that Jim will run off with all of the profits, so he calls the cops anonymously to report Jim for carrying stolen goods. After Hall has been taken to the police station, Mrs. Jones feels sorry for Marvelo and turns the bird loose, tossing him out of the window. Unfortunately, Tiny can't fly, and ends up in jail for fraud with a broken arm.

I think this is the first time I've given three and a half stars to an Atlas story. Had it been pre-code, Tiny would have been smashed on the pavement and the story would've rated four stars, but the last panel, showing him in jail, knocked off half a star for me. Everett's art is as good as I've seen and the carnival setting is always welcome. This story could fit comfortably in a pulp mag, illos and all. By the way, compare Tiny's face and expression to that of the landlady in "Karnoff's Plan," above. They look quite similar.

Photographer Ed Wood (!) is having trouble selling his pictures, so he hires a new model, a woman with haunting eyes who says she helped another needy artist once and it resulted in his best work. The model is a hit and her face is everywhere, but when Ed follows her against her instructions, she disappears. An art critic finally points out that the same gal was the model for the Mona Lisa.

For the umpteenth time, I saw the ending a mile away. For four pages, "The Model!" seemed long and tedious. Reinman seems incapable (in this story, at least) of drawing a woman with a magnetic look on her face. That really hurts a story like this one, which depends on the looks of the lady.

King Harlow needs a new sorcerer and promises his beautiful daughter Roseanne and a pile of gold to either Golvany or Edwin, "The Sorcerers" who compete for the honor. Though Golvany conjures up various wonders, Edwin wins out by summoning up thunder and lightning and making off to a faraway kingdom with Roseanne and the gold.

What the Heck?

Christopher Rule is a new name to me, but he seems to have drawn plenty of comics for Marvel starting in the late forties, including plenty of romance titles. I admit I was somewhat befuddled by the conclusion to this story--I think Edwin snuck out with Roseanne under cover of lightning. I guess he was the better sorcerer after all.

Alan Garr is a scientist who lives in a future where everyone is underground and war rages constantly. He invents a belt that will transport him to the past, where he hopes to "Escape!" from his work on weapons of war. He lands on the surface on a sunny day, only to discover that he's being inducted into the Army right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor!

This one is too dull even to be predictable. Most interesting to me are some of the panels that look like Don Heck gave Vic Carrabotta a helping hand. Believe me, it was much needed.-Jack

Next Week...
Bat-Baby...
Could This Be the
Bottom of the Barrel?