Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 118: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Horror Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 103

April 1956 Part III

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Strange Tales #45

Cover by Bill Everett

"Land of Vanishing Men" (a: Joe Sinnott) ★★1/2

"The Night People" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel) ★★

"The Eyes of Mr. Moody!" (a: Jack Keller) ★1/2

"The Strange Exchange!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★

"The Man Who Went Back!" (a: Bernie Krigstein) ★★★1/2

"Sorry, Wrong Planet" (a: Bernard Baily) ★1/2

Ted Benson and his two amigos, Joe and Larry, decide to chuck it all and search for uranium. They sell off all their worldly goods, pool their resources, and buy passage to Africa, where they camp out in the Sahara with their Geiger counters. But uranium isn't just jumping out of the sand at them and the trio become discouraged.

It's only a matter of time before the boys start hallucinating. As young boys, the friends always played knights of the realm and, naturally, the mirages took on a Camelot-esque theme. But is it a mirage? "Land of Vanishing Men" is not a bad little fantasy, digging deep into what men really want out of life, but due to its brevity some of its aspects are somewhat ridiculous. The way a character can surmise just what is going on in a peculiar situation tends to skip some of the steps of logic. 

Teenage Felix Hunter has lied and exaggerated all his life, so no one will listen to his stories anymore. One night, Felix stumbles into an invasion by "The Night People" from another planet. Who will believe his warnings? Silly alien yarn does have a decent twist ending. Hypnotist Orville Moody puts himself under a trance in order to gain confidence. From there it's only a few steps from obscurity to president of International Metals and Alloy, thanks to "The Eyes of Mr. Moody!" Then Orville comes out of his self-induced hypnosis to discover it was all a dream. 

In the silly "The Strange Exchange," Anders at the State Department is told he's headed on a "special assignment," but discovers too late he's swapping places with the ambassador on Mars. Much better is Bernie Krigstein's "The Man Who Went Back," about a professor who uses his powers of ESP to delve into man's past. Attempting to discover the exact moment when animal became man, Professor Mason turns the pages of history in his mind and finally reaches that precise moment, but it's all too much for him. His colleagues discover him soon after, exclaiming "The light! It seemed to light the world...!" Krigstein's staccato delivery is jolting and exciting at the same time; like thumbing through a flip book.

Bringing us back to Earth, quality-wise, is "Sorry, Wrong Planet," a meandering little fantasy (how do you meander in just four pages?) about a man who inadvertently wards off an invasion from another planet. Bernard Bailey's pencils look like unfinished sketches that were accidentally sent in for coloring.-Peter

Strange Tales of the Unusual #3

Cover by Sol Brodsky

"The Man with the Little Black Box" ★★1/2

(a: Ross Andru & Mike Esposito)

"The Invaders!" (a: Al Williamson) ★

"The Sea is Angry!" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★ 

"The Magic City" (a: Bill Benulis) ★1/2

"Someone is Watching" (a: Doug Wildey) ★★

"Lost in Another World!" (a: Dick Ayers) ★

A stranger comes to the town of Leasburg on the eve of a deadly twister. The last disaster cost Clem Kadiddlehopper his barn and forty cattle. What could this even more powerful storm leave in its wake? The sheriff pleads with his fellow townsfolk to pay the stranger his five hundred dollar fee and avoid the catastrophe, but the men refuse.

When the sheriff watches a demonstration of the power of the black box the stranger carries, he agrees to the fee without consulting his neighbors. "The Man with the Little Black Box" stands in the middle of the gathering storm, opens his box, and the winds disappear. It's magic. But the town refuses to pay and the stranger disappears. No rain falls for fourteen days. As the crops dry up and Clem's chickens refuse to lay eggs, the townsfolk approach the stranger to make it all right. They pay his fee and the rains come.

And that's it. No gruesome retribution for the refusal to pay. This is life during CCA. There are morals in this one somewhere, something about belief in your fellow man even when he's talking crazy, and make sure you make good on your debts, I suppose, but it's hidden behind a yarn about a guy who charges a fee to his fellow man to ward off disasters. The man with the box would have sat through a potentially life-threatening storm because he was denied a fee. Now there's something to think about. Despite a weak script, Andru and Esposito come through with some high-standard graphics.

Much to his dismay, Professor Keith is relieved of his duties at the observatory and replaced by Professor Wohler, who "knows more about the universe than any other man on Earth." Resigned to a lower standing, Keith nevertheless has a look in the telescope lens and spies an approaching alien ship. He alerts Wohler, who dismisses his astonished colleague with an "Ain't no big deal."

Perturbed, Keith asks to leave work early and hops a train to D.C., where he pleads his case to "top military authority," General Starner. The general takes the warning seriously and, because there are no other local telescopes, he charters a plane back to the observatory. When questioned about the outer space threat, Professor Mohler explains that the ship is traveling at 100 miles per minute and, at that rate, will not reach Earth for 100,000,000 years. "Somebody else's problem!" exclaims the General and the observatory goes quiet once again.

Mohler laughs and admits to Keith that the man was right about the danger and that the ship is actually scheduled to land very soon. But... (are you listening, CCA?)... Mohler reached out to his fellow Martians and explained what cool cats the Earthlings are, so there will be a party instead of an invasion! Talk about the air being let out of the balloon. How could a tale entitled "The Invaders!" end with such a Wonderful World of Disney climax? What a waste of Williamson's talent.

Captain Jonas Drake faces a crisis of confidence, but thankfully a really good crew member (who looks uncannily like the captain himself!) comes to his aid and restores Drake's faith in his powers over the sea. "The Sea is Angry!" is predictable and not very attractive. In "The Magic City," an arrogant movie producer tries to take advantage of a Native American tribe and their hidden city. The joke's on the Hollywood crew, since the fabled city exists only in hallucinations brought on by drinking the water. 

Ben and Jane come home one night to find a brand new color TV in their living room. How it got there and who gifted it are mysteries they can't seem to solve. The darned thing isn't even plugged in and has beautiful color. What's the story? Turns out Martians placed it there (and one on Venus and one on...) to study life on other planets. "Someone is Watching" is built around a fun idea (while you're watching the idiot box, someone's watching you!), but it seems a little short-sighted of these Martians to put a camera aimed at a couch rather than, I don't know, the outside world. "Wow, check this out! The Smiths are watching TV again! The data we pull from these studies is amazing!"

History professor Jonathan Moore has grown soured at the history he teaches. He just can't get into the myths and legends anymore. This guy needs a pick me upper. When he's suspended and another teacher replaces him in his lectures, Moore bitterly leaves the campus, only to be sucked into some kind of time tunnel that transports him back to ancient Greece. Suddenly he has become famed warrior Theseus in the midst of battle, slaying the deadly Minotaur and rescuing a beautiful princess, Ariadne. His time evidently up, the time/space continuum vortex scoops him up and lands him in the dean's office. He's introduced to the newest teacher on campus... you guessed it, the beautiful princess!

"Lost in Another World!" is so consistently lame it's hard to grab one particularly goofy panel to highlight, but I guess it would have to be when Jonathan's boss calls him on the carpet, explaining that the students "detect bitterness in (Moore's) appraisal of ancient legends!" Man, tough crowd that class. No wait, how about when Jonathan is reunited with Ariadne (and she looks like she can bench double what he can), who then explains what's going on in a really clunky way? I LOLed quite a bit at Dick Ayers's idea of a gorgeous princess.-Peter

Uncanny Tales #42

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Telepathic Typewriter" (a: Mort Drucker) ★★1/2

(r: Vault of Evil #13)

"Mistaken Identity!" (a: Bob Forgione) ★★1/2

"Which Road to Take!" (a: Bill Benulis) ★★

(r: Tomb of Darkness #10)

"The Little Men" (a: Sol Brodsky) ★

(r: Monsters on the Prowl #30)

"The Mystery of Mercury" (a: Bernard Baily) ★1/2

"They Wait Below" (a: Bernie Krigstein) ★★1/2

(r: Haunt of Horror #3)

Determined to write, Paul Lawson buys a used typewriter for five bucks and soon discovers that whatever he types reveals the truth about its subject. The typewriter also types out a warning that its magic will be destroyed if it is used for greedy purposes. Paul learns of a treasure chest in a cave on a volcanic island and travels to retrieve it, but an earthquake destroys both typewriter and island before he can secure the treasure.

I have to hand it to Mort Drucker! He gives his all, even in an unimaginative short story like this one. No wonder he's a comic book legend.

Wally Howe leads a dull life. His wife, Edna, feels sorry for him and sees a book that gives her a solution. She tells Wally that he needs to get away, so he heads to the airport and arrives just as a Martian spaceship lands. The aliens insist that Wally is Aurelius Wismar and kidnap him, taking him to Mars to meet Kaazh, the mighty dictator. Kaazh offers piles of Martian gold coins in exchange for Wismar's secret weapon, but Wally insists they have the wrong man.

Just then, the real Wismar, who is a double for Wally, appears. It turns out the Martians went to Earth by mistake when they were supposed to go to Mercury! Wismar points his weapon at Kaazh, who signs a peace agreement. Wismar returns Wally to Earth. Back at home, Wally  tells Edna of his adventure, unaware that she hypnotized him, using the book she bought: How to Hypnotize. So why does Wally find a Martian gold coin in his pocket?

"Mistaken Identity!" is a fun little story, well drawn by Bob Forgione, who depicts suitably goofy Martians. I liked the first twist, about Edna hypnotizing Wally, but the second twist, about the gold coin, was unnecessary. How many Atlas stories end with this twist?

Driving through the rain one night, a man pulls over for a nap, then heads off down the road and comes to a crossroads. Wondering "Which Road To Take," he heads toward Fentown, where he pulls up at a small house and is welcomed by Maria, a pretty blonde. Sorcerers emerge and tie the man up with magic rope; Maria cuts him loose and they drive off together. Suddenly, the man awakens and realizes it was all a dream. He drives on, comes to the crossroads, and heads for Fentown in hopes that his dream girl awaits.

Bill Benulis's art is just so-so on this one and the story is a mashup of incidents we've seen before.

Two men photograph "The Little Men" running across country hills and report to the F.B.I. Their attempt to track the men down leads to an old-timer who whittles statutes that look just like the diminutive chaps. Though he insists his cabin is full of the wooden figures, it's empty! It turns out local leprechauns are collecting the wooden statues to display in their sculpture gallery.

Terrible stuff! Sol Brodsky's art is as bad as the script.

Prof. Simms is hired as technical advisor on a new Hollywood epic called "The Mystery of Mercury." Taken by plane to the shooting location, he complains about inaccuracies in the script; on location, he whines endlessly about how there is no life on the little planet. Eventually, the shooting is canceled due to the professor's complaints, but he is shocked to learn that the filming location was on another planet!

Not for a second did I doubt that they were on another planet, so the twist ending came as no surprise. What befuddled me was the fact that they never identified just which planet they were on while filming! Was it Mercury? The moon? Mars? Who knows? It would have made sense to have it be Mercury, so that the professor could be taken down a peg, but the uncredited scriptwriter must have thought that an unnecessary detail.

Matt Ronson, a lonely lighthouse keeper, dozes off without lighting the beacon. A storm arises and he awakens to find a beautiful woman knocking at the door. She seduces him and he neglects his duty as a storm rages and a ship comes perilously close to the rocks. Matt realizes that the woman is a siren and struggles to get upstairs to light the beacon, but her sisters hold him back. He drops his lantern and a fire starts; the bright flames save the ship, but the lighthouse is destroyed in the blaze. Footprints in the sand prove that the sirens were real.

Bernie Krigstein was putting an awful lot of effort into his four-page Atlas tales! "They Wait Below" is notable more for its art than its writing; the multi-panel pages are impressive.-Jack

World of Suspense #1

Cover by Joe Maneely

"A Stranger Among Us" (a: Bill Everett) ★★

(r: Vault of Evil #16)

"The Two-Faced Man" (a: Joe Maneely) ★1/2

(r: Fear #24)

"Bright New World!" (a: Al Hartley) ★★

"The Alchemist's Apprentice" (a: Syd Shores) ★

"What Happened in the Cave?" (a: Mort Drucker) ★★

"The Mechanical Man!" (a: Chuck Miller) ★1/2

When a meteorite strikes near a government lab, two clerical workers are trapped inside. They spy a shadowy figure behind a large piece of broken glass and trade stories of catastrophes they've seen. The stranger tells of the time he was exploring an unknown civilization and had to dodge giant cars and climb the stems of giant flowers. The clerical workers laugh it off. When they are rescued, it turns out that the third man was a microscopic visitor who had been riding the meteorite and the glass was a mirror that magnified images 10,000 times.

The GCD suggests that John Forte and Bill Everett may have been involved in drawing "A Stranger Among Us." I can see evidence of both artists. Page one, panel two, looks like Forte's figures, while many of the faces on subsequent pages look like Everett's work. There's little substance to the story.

Joel Pike works backstage at a production of Cyrano de Bergerac and he's insanely jealous of John Sheridan, the star, who gets to play love scenes with sexy Bella Dawne. Joel sneaks into Sheridan's dressing room and knocks him out, then puts on the makeup and takes his place. When he plays a scene with Bella he confesses his love for her, only to have her reply that she secretly loves Joel! Joel tries to remove the makeup but discovers that it is stuck on his face for good. He runs off in shame.

"The Two-Faced Man" could've been a decent story, but the Comics Code prevented it. In my version, Joel kills Sheridan and is then caught when he takes off the makeup. Maneely's art isn't bad, but the story is such a dud that it's hard to make much out of it.

Airline pilot Captain Winters tells a strange story on the witness stand. Two weeks ago, he and co-pilot Mac Jones took off for England with a plane full of passengers. There was turbulence on the route and they landed on Uranus, where green-skinned aliens welcomed them! Mac liked it so much that he decided to stay on the "Bright New World!" Winters flew the plane back and returned to Earth, where he was accused of something and rushed into the speediest trial in history. No one believes his story until a group of aliens from Uranus burst into the courtroom, complaining about prices on Earth and demanding to be taken home!

That "surprise" ending seemed awfully familiar. Perhaps someone could remind me which prior Atlas story had a similar finale.

In days of yore, Hugo, "The Alchemist's Apprentice," was the laughing stock of the village. He thinks that learning the secrets of alchemy will gain him some respect, but he mixes chemicals that cause a large explosion that sends him skyward. He is catapulted all the way to the moon, where the little green men treat him as a man of importance. Centuries later, astronomers seem to see a man on the moon!

I think the correct term for the art style used here by Syd Shores is "bigfoot." The story is supposed to be funny but it's really just another four pages and five minutes I won't get back.

Roman emperor Octavius Caesar orders his trusted friend, Marc Claudius, to secure proof of the talents of a magician named Mysticus. The wizard leads Claudius into a cave and then into the twentieth century, where Marc is amazed by planes, trains, and automobiles. Marc returns to Ancient Rome with a modern tank and takes over, putting Octavius in prison.

Once again, Mort Drucker's art is wasted on a pointless story.

A brilliant scientist named Mark Jordan builds "The Mechanical Man!" His robot is great at calculations, but other scientists insist that he go further and endow the creature with human feelings. Mark puts his mind to it and endows the robot with feelings before collapsing from exhaustion. When he recovers, he finds that the mechanical man has taken his place. But wait--it was only a dream!

The GCD credits Chuck Miller, but some of the faces sure look like Don Heck's work to me. The story is a drag.-Jack

Next Week...
The Joker's Last Laugh?