Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 147: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Horror Comics!

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 132

January 1957 Part I

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Adventure Into Mystery #5

Cover by Bill Everett

"The People Who Weren't" (a: Bill Everett) ★★★

(r: Weird Wonder Tales #9)

"Change Your Face, Sir?" (a: Joe Orlando) ★★1/2

"The Death Sentence" (a: George Roussos) ★★

"Foster Was Afraid!" (a: Werner Roth) ★

"The Unseen!" (a: Sol Brodsky) ★★

(r: Vault of Evil #2)

"No Place to Hide!" (a: John Forte) ★★

(r: Vault of Evil #18)

Explorer Evan Moore comes across a beautiful desert village, lorded over by the gracious King Hanim. The King offers kindness, food, and drink (as well as his gorgeous daughter, Princess Nara), but it's the huge chest of gems that catches the adventurer's eye. With the help of Nara's handmaiden, Inez, Moore grabs the jewels and the two head off for a life of luxury and love. Unfortunately, the guards give chase and the pair are forced to split, promising to meet up outside the city. Once in the clear, Moore turns to discover the paradise was a mirage. His gems turn to sand and he mourns the life he might have made with the gorgeous mirage, Inez. Not too far away, Inez thinks exactly the same thing about mirage Evan!

We don't get very many stories illustrated by the great Bill Everett anymore, so I'll grab hold of anything and be happy, but I thought pulpmeister Carl Wessler did a really good job capping what might have been just another "explorer turns thief and gets his in the end" fantasy; I didn't see the final panel twist coming. "The People Who Weren't" might just be one of the most generic titles in the post-code Atlas era. 

In a "small Central European nation," its dictator rules with an iron fist and no conscience, but the rebels are gaining confidence and power. When he orders the five men leading the opposition to be rounded up and executed, Professor Norov uses his incredible machine to change their faces and they lead the army that marches on the palace. The dictator orders Norov to change his face and that of his aide or else the inventor's family will be put to death. With no other option, Norov performs the operation but, as we discover from the final panel, the doc has a bit of a funny bone, even while staring down death. Some decent art and that unexpected finale make "Change Your Face, Sir?" an enjoyable yarn, one that tones down the preach and accents the science fiction.

Seth Beech is on trial for his life, accused of murdering kindly old Dr. Malkin while guiding him through the mountains and caves of Kentucky. If convicted, Beech will receive "The Death Sentence." But Beech argues on the stand that he didn't kill the professor--the egghead slipped and fell in a cavern after the pair had made an incredible discovery: a Martian communicator! The jury finds Beech guilty, laughing at his story, and the condemned man is taken out of the courtroom. That's when the spaceships land!

Mopey Bill Foster walks through the streets of his city, convinced there's no such thing as happiness. He stops in at a tavern and strikes up a conversation with a kindly "fat man" and confides everything: he's just not a happy guy and, when it comes down to it, is anyone? Is there a place where one can go to find a bit of sunshine? The stranger insists there is such a place and it's called Arcady; if Mopey Bill would follow him, he'll take him there. Foster agrees and is led to a cave; in that cave is a metal room, and in that metal room is a group of people looking just as miserable as Bill.

"This must be the place!," exclaims Bill. Without really knowing why, Bill suddenly gets cold feet, believing the fat man was lying, and flees the cave. He heads back to the tavern where (surprise, surprise, surprise!) the bartender tells him there was no fat man. Bill exits the bar, realizing he'll have to look for happiness deep down in the recesses of his soul. For it's only there that man can find... the truth! Just about as sappy as a Cowsills tune, "Foster Was Afraid!" is a patchwork of several Atlas fantasy tropes: the aliens, the kindly scientist, the kindly hick, and, especially, the bathetic message fade-out. We're never told why Foster is feeling depressed, but I sure wanted to reach into the panel and, rather than offer my hand in support, slap the guy a few times and tell him to snap out of it. Of course, the man's deep melancholia may come from the fact that he's drawn so lazily by Werner Roth.

In the three-pager, "The Unseen!," Mason has a hard time convincing his townsfolk he witnessed the crash of a UFO in the woods. After a search party turns up nothing, the villagers mock Mason and send him on his way. Sitting at home, he tries to ponder what it all means as his dog (who's been possessed by the invisible alien) smiles and gives a wink to the audience. 

Eager to please the woman he loves, simple-minded thief Ernst steals the King's crown and informs Berta he has to make tracks as he's got "No Place to Hide!"--the royal guardsman saw his face. They agree to meet up at a later date and Ernst flees, taking refuge in the home of an old man who informs his guest that he has three bottles sitting on his fireplace. A drink from bottle #1 will send Ernst 100 years into the future; #2 will send him back into the past; and #3 will give him eternal life. Ernst tries to buy the "future" bottle from his host but the man is unwilling, so the ungracious thief grabs a bottle and takes a swig. Unfortunately, it sends him into the past! Calamity ensues. There are a couple more twists to "No Place to Hide!" but the story gets way too complicated by the climax. The panel where the old man explains he just happens to have these magical bottles sitting up on his shelf is hilarious and almost makes wading through the rest worth it.-Peter

Astonishing #57

Cover by Bill Everett & Carl Burgos

"Inside the Furnace!" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★

(r: Crypt of Shadows #17)

"The Black Boxes!" (a: Dick Ayers) ★

"The Unknown Ones!" (a: Al Williamson & Roy Krenkel) ★★1/2

"They Lurk in the Cave!" (a: Werner Roth) ★1/2

(r: Crypt of Shadows #17)

"He Can't Lose!" (a: Vic Carrabotta) ★

"The Strange Power of Mr. Dunn!" (a: John Romita) ★1/2

(r: Tomb of Darkness #14)

Astonishing #57 opens with two complete and utter disasters. The first, "Inside the Furnace!," stars an old miser who socks away fifty grand in a black bag beneath his basement floor and, while counting his money one day, discovers a doorway to another time and place. There he finds a young man holding a bag containing fifty grand and decides to steal the satchel. Even as he races from the scene of the crime, he scratches his head and tries to remember where he's seen the victim before (hmmm... fifty thousand in a black bag...). The police are on to him, so he has to burn the money in a furnace and then race back to his present-day basement, where he discovers his own dough is now reduced to ashes. "I knew I recognized that guy! He was me in the past!" Though Robert Sale's splash is nicely reminiscent of the pre-code days, the rest is a scratchy mess.

Which is exactly the state in which we find "The Black Boxes!," about Dr. Entrick, a scientist who's trying to invent a rocket that can bring down enemy ICBMs but just can't get the tech right. Suddenly, little black boxes appear in the sky all over the world, objects that destroy flying weapons from any country. Without means to destroy the rest of the world, the Russkies have to settle for (BORING!) peace with their adversaries. Our final panel has kindly Dr. Emrick pondering what those magical boxes could be and realizing he'll probably never know. I guess a mystical conclusion is better than a dopey explanation, but the rest of this preachy is somnambulant and horribly rendered. 

After his gal unceremoniously dumps him, Space Captain Ken Hastings is royally pissed and volunteers to lead a group of ships to conquer Mars (Earth has become too crowded). There he finds that the War Planet is actually filled with humble, loving souls who resemble Earthlings. Hastings falls in love with the Princess of Mars but her Pop refuses to allow the two to marry, so Princess Muhna renounces her claim to the whole princess thing and accompanies Ken back to Earth. "The Unknown Ones!" is cheesy but charming, and if you have to run a Buck Rogers rip-off, then Al Williamson is your man. You can try but you can't resist.

His name is Jim Dana, but he doesn't fool me. This miserable, whiny excuse for a male acts and talks just like Mopey Bill Foster, carrying on how he's the world's biggest failure and kicking rocks into the water. Then, while fishing, Mopey Jim witnesses a tall, half-nekkid man entering a cave and follows. Turns out the big guy is a Galactic League cop sent to Earth to capture the "Outlaws of Sirius II," who are about to conquer our planet. With Mopey Jim's help, the bandits are defeated and the Earth is saved! See, Mopey Jim, you're not a complete failure. Sure, you got no job, no girl, the mortgage is due, your dad just drank himself to death, the Yankees lost the World Series...

In the not-too-distant future, wars will no longer exist... but there will be... the International Games! Yep, it's not Rollerball but something much more boring. The East and West each send an athlete to compete in various sports; whoever wins the competition becomes the BMOC. But, of course, the stinkin' commies cheat and send a robot! "He Can't Lose!," but with this ultra-preachy script and stiff, amateurish art, we sure can! Last up this time out is "The Strange Power of Mr. Dunn!," a routine science fiction yarn about the titular scientist who hits rock bottom and is taken in by a carnival owner. When the carny is held up, Mr. Dunn drinks a potion and grows to twenty feet, nabbing the criminals and saving the carnival in the process. Mr. Dunn stays on as an attraction until he can figure out an antidote for his freakish growth. Meh plot and weak Romita. An issue to be skipped.-Peter

Journey Into Mystery #42

Cover by Bill Everett

"Farley's Other Face!" (a: John Forte) ★★

"Life Sentence!" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★

"The Curse of Ojiir!" (a: Pete Morisi) ★1/2

"Humans... Keep Out!" (a: George Roussos & John Giunta) ★

"The Savages" (a: Angelo Torres) ★★★

"The Disappearing Man!" (a: Gray Morrow) ★★1/2

Ted Farley is a creep! He cons pretty Gladys Murray into falling in love with him and he convinces an old recluse named Barney Rupert into thinking he can trust the young couple. What Ted really wants is the thousand bucks Rupert keeps tucked under the cushion of his easy chair and, once Ted discovers the money's location, he grabs it and runs off, leaving Barney and Gladys disappointed.

A week later, a private eye tracks Ted to his furnished room and Ted does what any self-respecting crook in a Carl Wessler yarn would do--he pays a shady plastic surgeon to create "Farley's Other Face!" Once the bandages come off, Ted looks a bit stockier and no one recognizes him. This becomes a problem after he sees a personal ad suggesting that Rupert may have left him money in his will. Ted visits the detective agency and confirms that he's owed $47K, but the detective won't accept that he is who he says he is. Ted offers the surgeon ten grand to back him up, but the man says no dice. Even Gladys doesn't recognize him any longer! Poor Ted's bad deeds mean he can't cash in.

John Forte's art usually falls on the "pretty good" end of the scale for me, and this story is no exception. The biggest problem is that Ted doesn't look all that different post facial surgery, so everyone's insistence that he can't be Ted is hard to accept.

Leo Sampson has served twenty years of a "Life Sentence!" for a robbery that was his fourth offense. A man named Murdoch visits him in prison and offers to sell him two pills in exchange for details of where he hid the $10K he stole. The pills will take Leo back twenty years, making him young again and resetting his life to a day before he went to the slammer. Leo tells Murdoch where the money is hidden, swallows the pills, and finds himself back on the night of the robbery. He commits it again and discovers that you can't change the past.

The ending is no surprise, and neither is the mediocre quality of Sale's art. I know Peter thinks he drew horror comics well, but he doesn't seem to have the same skill with crime stories.

Two men steal the legendary Luxor Diamond from the forehead of a statute called the Ojiir Idol in a Hindu temple and suddenly find that everything is spinning. Replacing the diamond cures their disorientation, but when they exit the temple, the pair discover that they've suffered "The Curse of Ojiir!" and suddenly turned into old men. Pete Morisi does a decent job with this throwaway three-pager, but when things started spinning and changing colors, I wished Steve Ditko were at the drawing board. He really knew how to draw a spaced-out environment!

Men are living on the moon under a giant glass dome that keeps oxygen inside. The creatures outside the dome have a motto: "Humans...Keep Out!" They show their displeasure with the dome dwellers by throwing boulders at the top that create big holes that require patches. Those inside the dome plan to leave the moon, but Lewis insists on knowing why those outside the dome have such a bad attitude toward those inside the dome. Bender explains that the creatures outside the dome are humans who were trained to live without oxygen so they could colonize the moon.

This story demonstrates the sad fact that Jack Oleck could write stories just as meandering and meaningless as Carl Wessler. Add scratchy, ugly drawings by George Roussos and John Giunta and the result is a tale better left in the dustbin of history.

How did modern man evolve so quickly from "The Savages" of prehistoric times? Well, see, there were these people in a spaceship from another planet and their spaceship crashed on Earth amidst the dinosaurs and woolly mammoths...yep, it's "In Search of Ancient Astronauts" time here at Atlas once again. Thank goodness Angelo Torres was selected to draw this story because his panels are gorgeous. So nice, in fact, that they make the story much more interesting than it has any right to be.

When fight promoter Fritz Luder discovers a fighter named Lon Novi who packs a wallop and can disappear and reappear at will, he thinks he's found a gold mine. Fritz uses his wife Edna's charms to seduce Lon into becoming a fighter and Lon explains that his disappearing trick comes from the fact that he's from the planet Venus. In the end, Lon refuses to throw a fight and flies off to Venus with Edna, after she falls in love with him and they get married. Poor Fritz is left alone without cash, a fighter, or a woman.

I must admit that I was not expecting this issue to conclude with eight pages by Angelo Torres and Gray Morrow! Morrow's art is excellent but not quite as strong as that of Torres. The story has the usual overly complicated Wesslerian plot, but I'd be happy to see more early work from Gray Morrow.-Jack

Journey Into Unknown Worlds #53

Cover by Bill Everett

"Lost... One World" (a: Bob Powell) ★★

(r: Worlds Unknown #4)

"The Invisible Thieves!" (a: Reed Crandall) ★★

"The Victim!" (a: John Forte) ★1/2

"A Voice from Nowhere!" (a: Ed Winiarski) 1/2

"When We Awake!" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★

"When the Eggs Hatch!" (a: Tony DiPreta) ★1/2

(r: Creatures on the Loose #25)

A young man named James Blaine is shocked to find himself in a place that looks like the future! He rushes to his home, only to find the neighborhood run down and falling apart. Instead of his Mom, a cranky old woman answers the door and says she's been renting the dump for a decade. Shaken, James returns to the room where he first found himself in the future and finds notes about someone building a time machine and looking for a human guinea pig. He starts smashing things and a woman arrives with the police. To no reader's surprise, it turns out that Blaine was staying there as an old man a day ago and used his time machine to make himself young again, which isn't the worst result.

Bob Powell's attractive art is the only good thing about this mess of a story, which riffs for the umpteenth time on the time machine theme. At this point in our Atlas journey, I think we've seen just about every variation.

While trying to create a new insecticide, Dr. Howard Downer accidentally creates a spray that makes his two fellow scientists disappear! It wears off after a few hours. Crooks read about the stuff in the paper and steal it, leading Downer and the cops to dread the exploits of "The Invisible Thieves!" The hoods rob a bank and disappear, but their escape plans are foiled by cops who also use the invisible spray and join them on their flight.

Reed Crandall had it pretty easy with this one since there are several panels where people are invisible and he didn't have to draw them! His art continues to be solid, but the story is lightweight.

Policemen witness Luke Mundy shoving another man off a bridge into swift current and are certain the man could not have survived. They interrogate Luke and learn that "The Victim!" was Morton Ruggles, who Luke proudly admits has been helping him test various inventions. Morton had to swim two miles back to shore when Luke's flying submarine was a flop, the jet-powered racing car crashed and Morton broke his leg, and don't even ask about the missile. When Morton was pushed off the bridge, he was testing a new parachute. The cops find Morton's body in the river and bring him to the station house, where everyone sees that he's just a robot.

Was anyone surprised that Morton was a robot? I wasn't. The disastrous tests of Luke's experiments are funny but his confident demeanor at the police station guaranteed the denouement.

After a cataclysm destroys all but one colony on a planet, there are only thirty people left, and twenty-nine of them don't like it when Martin takes more than his share of food. His punishment is that he is banished to the switchboard, where he must place telephone calls to every number in a stack of phone directories in the off chance someone will answer. After a woman's voice answers a call to a colony 200 miles away, Martin sets out on foot to meet her. He arrives to discover that what he heard was a recorded message on an answering machine!

I'm not sure if I've given a story a half star before, but I awarded that dubious distinction to "A Voice from Nowhere!," which is confusing, pointless, and badly drawn. It's not clear exactly what Martin did to rile up the other colonists at the start (I think it had to do with food) or why telephone lines would still work after a cataclysm. Worst of all is the punishment of having to sit and dial numbers all day. Oh, and Martin manages to walk 200 miles alone in a suit and dress shoes. Ed Winiarski phoned this one in, which was appropriate.

In 2156, scientists decide to send a nuclear-powered spaceship, traveling at the speed of light and carrying astronauts in suspended animation, to travel to the next solar system in search of life. After a thousand years, the sleepers awake and arrive at a planet populated by humans who have found peace and tranquility. The astronauts take note, get back on the ship, and return to suspended animation for the journey home. Another thousand years later, they land on Earth, only to be jailed by humans who have evolved into angry little bald men who treat them like savages. They escape prison and hop back onto the ship for another thousand-year trip to the planet with the nice people.

It just gets worse and worse! At least "When We Awake!" looks better than the story that preceded it, though Sale is hardly on the level of Crandall.

Bob Fry is out fishing one day when a sudden storm comes up and he seeks shelter in a cave. He finds a glass jar with notes inside that were written a few years ago by Dr. Amos Milton, a scientist who disappeared while collecting samples from a meteor. Milton found a large egg and, when it hatched, out came a big green creature that looked kind of like a T Rex. Milton assumed the creatures were aliens bent on conquering Earth! As Fry reads the notes, he sees a nest of huge eggs, and one is hatching! He runs out of the cave, determined to alert the authorities and set off a great Easter egg hunt!

What a dumb ending! People are going to return to the cave to destroy the alien creatures and eggs and Bob thinks of it as an Easter egg hunt? Good thing they didn't waste good art on this story. "When the Eggs Hatch!" concludes a disappointing issue, where three poor stories illustrated by three decent artists gave way to three examples of dreck.-Jack

Next Week...
Kane and Anderson
Continue to Deliver!

Batman in the 1960s Issue 57: May/June 1969

  

The Caped Crusader in the 1960s
by Jack Seabrook
& Peter Enfantino

Novick

Detective Comics #387

"The Cry of Night is--'Sudden Death!'"

Story by Mike Friedrich

Art by Bob Brown & Joe Giella

"The Case of the Chemical Syndicate"

Story by Bill Finger

Art by Bob Kane

(Reprinted from Detective Comics #27, May 1939)

A noted atomic chemist has been murdered and his son found at the scene of the crime. Commissioner Gordon is convinced that the egghead's son, Mel Lambert, is the killer. The fact that Lambert can't keep from quoting Donovan lyrics and wears clothes any hippie in good standing would walk a mile from helps the Commish form his opinion. As far as he's concerned, young Lambert will fry in the electric chair while Gordo tees off at Gotham Resort. 

Luckily, cooler heads arrive in the form of Gotham's Guardian, Batman, and the Boy Wonder. The Dark Knight hears Gordon out, turns to Lambert for his side, then does some quick CSI work on the murder weapon. According to his keen eye and the World's Greatest Detective Brain™, Lambert is no more the killer than Gordon himself. The psychedelic scapegoat says "Sayonara, suckers!" and grabs a hunk of the highway while Bats and Robin head back to the Batcave.

There, Robin chastises his mentor for letting the rude, anarchistic beatnik loose and swears he's "our man" (this despite clear evidence that Dick Grayson can talk just as funny sometimes as Lambert). The boys head out to interview the dead man's colleagues. First up is Professor Crane, who doubles down on the theory that the younger Lambert is the killer and offers, as evidence, an argument the two Lamberts had in the lab just a few days before. Lambert Jr. was concerned that his old man's new invention would be used as a weapon by the warmongers running the U.S. military. Now, Crane demands protection. Bats promises around-the-clock surveillance and the Duo head out.

    

As they leave the building, shots ring out and they race back into Crane's lab, only to find the Egghead leaking blood from multiple gunshot wounds. A figure races for the window (one who looks a heck of a lot like a certain hippy suspect) and manages to get away. Meanwhile, across town, Professor Paul Rogers knocks at the door of his colleague, Professor Stryker, and is granted admittance. Once in, he is conked on the head by a mysterious hippie-looking figure in the shadows! When Rogers comes to, he's greeted by a gun barrel aimed right at his head and held by a mysterious, long-haired freak with a mask hiding half his face. Professor Stryker emerges from the shadows just as the Dynamic Duo burst through the weak front door.

Robin heads for "Lambert," berating him and his generation's music, lack of moral values, and ignorance of personal hygiene, while knocking him out. Batman pulls aside the mask to reveal... a complete stranger with really long hair and hippie clothes! Just then, Rogers hears an ominous sound behind him and turns to find Stryker holding the gun on him. Batman takes advantage of Stryker's ignorance of sneaky superheroes and delivers a left-handed karate chop to the villain's gun hand. Once apprehended, Stryker admits to having Lambert and Crane murdered by his employee, Paul Kantner, in order to claim all the credit for the team's super top-secret new invention. The next day, Robin realizes he can't judge a book by its cover and Mel Lambert muses that maybe Batman isn't such a drag after all. But doesn't he work for the man. A trip!

Right off the bat, I gotta say me and Detective Comics #387 go way back. I think I still have the original (now coverless) copy my seven-year-old self bought at Rexall's in Santa Clara, CA. I loved this funny book and must have read it fifty times that year. Now? Well, it's quite dated in a Mike Friedrich dialogue sort of way, yet it still races along at an entertaining clip and the graphics (if you squint just the right way) aren't all that bad, either. The idea was to update the very first Batman mystery (which appeared in Detective Comics #27 and appears as a backup in this issue) for the hep young cats of 1969. Only problem is, 98% of the target audience didn't wear love beads or smoke reefer. 

The plot doesn't make much sense, nor does bothering to dress the killer as a double for Lambert. To what end? If the guy does his job right, there are no witnesses. That half-mask is for us, the Blunderin' Boy Wonder, and the Commish, who inexplicably takes his leave of absence fairly early. It's a whodunnit with a whole lot of red herrings. Still, I'll take "The Cry of Night is--Sudden Death!" over most of the other late '60s 'tec strips. As for the (edited) reprinting of the original strip, I found it to be charming in a primitive way. Of course, I have to wonder if, even at this early date, Bob Kane actually drew this or had the kid who mowed his lawn whip it up.-Peter

Jack-That cover brings back memories, doesn't it? I saw the GCD comment that the backup story was redrawn, but when I compared the original to this version they looked the same to me, except for some lettering right at the start. It was a thrill for any young comics fan to be able to read the first Batman story, since reprints weren't widely available in 1969. As for the first story, I knew we were in trouble when Batman made reference to Janis Joplin. The art looks phoned in.

Novick

Batman #211

"Batman's Big Blow-Off!

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Irv Novick & Joe Giella

A new, weekly Gotham City newspaper called It's Your Bag publishes a shocking story that claims the secret of identity of Batman is one of four people, including Bruce Wayne! The paper promises to identify which one is the Caped Crusader in next week's issue. In order to protect the other three innocent bystanders from becoming underworld targets, Bruce tells Dick Grayson that he'll announce his secret identity before the week is up. It might even be for the best since he won't have to hide anymore.

Two nights later, Batman pulls his mask off on TV to reveal himself to be the reclusive Howard Hayes, richest man in the world! Underworld figures agree to leave Batman alone till they can figure out how to handle the new situation, while Hayes jealously watches the adulation Batman receives. The world's richest man decides to eliminate Batman and take over his role, happily anticipating being the idol of everyone. Hayes spends a few days brushing up on his martial arts before being flown in his private jet to Gotham City, where he sets up a meeting at the airport with Batman.

Elon Musk in 1969

Hayes ambushes the Dark Knight and, after a fight, knocks him unconscious and loads him on the jet. Hayes parachutes out, dressed as Batman, and leaves the real Batman on the jet, which will run out of fuel in an hour and crash in the ocean. Fortunately, Robin and Alfred are following in the Bat-Copter and rescue Batman at the last minute. Batman returns to Gotham City and exposes Hayes as a fraud, leaving everyone to believe that his real secret identity remains unknown.

"Batman's Big Blow-Off!" is yet another story that revolves around the possibility of revealing Batman's secret identity. His decision to tell everyone that he's the richest man on Earth makes little sense and the decision by Hayes to kill Batman just so people will like him makes less. It seems like criminals are not having much trouble walloping Batman of late. Hayes trains with a martial arts master (a large, bald, Asian man who spouts the usual Frank Robbins Asian dialogue--"Aiee! Master Hayes--you too fast!") for a few days and is suddenly able to defeat Batman in a fight. I think the Caped Crusader may have been laying off the gym time and perhaps starting to resemble the flabby TV Batman.-Jack

Peter-Another Bat-Adventure that makes no sense whatsoever, the script for "Batman's Big Blow-Off!" is nothing short of stupid. How is it in character for Batman to debate (with Dick) the merits of the public knowing his alter ego ("After all, Dick, I don't get the accolades that Batman gets!")? I've never read such drivel. How is it in character for Batman to put someone else's life in danger by masquerading as Howard Hughes Hayes without even checking with the fellow billionaire first? I've never read such nonsense. Why does the editor of It's Your Bag look like he just stepped off the cover of Sgt. Pepper? I've never seen such faux-hippie silliness. Why would an otherwise-respectable reclusive billionaire (who craves privacy) decide to chuck it all and defeat the Batman because he's not getting enough attention? I've never... never mind, it's Frank Robbins.

Novick

The Brave and the Bold #83

"Punish Not My Evil Son"

Story by Bob Haney

Art by Neal Adams

Someone is stealing oil from the Zenith Oil Corp. and its board chairman, Bruce Wayne, promises to find out what's going on. That night, as Batman, he and Robin visit the refinery. Batman follows a suspicious character through a secret hatchway and is caught in an on-rushing torrent of oil that dumps him in the tank of a large vessel in the harbor. A crook brains Batman with a wrench and he falls into the water, where he is rescued by Robin in the Bat-Copter.

Back at Wayne Manor, a bratty teen named Lance Bruner is driving Alfred crazy. Bruce and Dick return to read a letter that says Lance was the son of Bruce Wayne's father's closest friend and, since Lance's father recently died in an accident, Lance is now Bruce's ward. In the days that follow, Batman continues to investigate the missing oil while Lance demonstrates that he's a creep by stealing cash from the house funds, painting graffiti on a policeman's motorcycle, and getting into a fender bender with one of Bruce's sports cars. Dick covers for Lance by pretending that he's responsible for the misdeeds. At a meeting of the Teen Titans, Robin tells the others about Lance and they all agree to "swing with him...like any regular teenagers" in hopes that this will help straighten him out.

They take the troubled teen to "a flipped-out, rock-and-rolling little den called 'The Glass Onion,'" but he doesn't dig the scene and proclaims it's "strictly from cubesville, baby!" Later that evening, Bruce receives a note saying that Lance has been kidnapped and demanding $50,000 for his return. Bruce promptly delivers a valise with $50K and Lance is back in no time. The next day, Kid Flash sees Lance heading into a bank and, that evening, Bruce confronts him about the $25K deposit he made. Lance claims it's a legacy from his father, but Bruce demands proof, while the Teen Titans argue about whether Lance can be trusted. A man from the state correctional department arrives to tell Bruce that Lance has a history of juvenile delinquency, but Lance blames his late father and begs Bruce to help him go straight.

Bruce agrees to give the lad a chance, while the Titans, listening through an air duct in the basement, argue about whether he deserves one. Lance seems to clean up his act and Batman returns to investigating the missing oil with help from the Teen Titans. While Batman and Robin are off fighting crime, Lance discovers the secret entrance to the Batcave and vows to make Bruce and Dick pay for humiliating him. The next day, the young criminal visits the private yacht of Grantland Stark, having correctly identified him as the man behind the missing oil. Lance demands $100K for the secret identities of the Dynamic Duo and gives him information that lets him capture the Bat-Submarine when it begins poking around the spot where the oil is being stored.

With help from the Teen Titans, Batman rounds up Stark and his goons, but not before Stark shoots Robin point blank. Batman holds the dying young hero and pulls off his mask to reveal that he's Lance, who took Robin's place to help out and try to make up for his misdeeds. Lance dies in Batman's arms and a bust of the young man is erected in his memory outside Wayne Manor.

A mighty quick turnaround for Lance, right? "Punish Not My Evil Son" is pretentious but, once again, the art by Neal Adams makes it more bearable than it should be. The Teen Titans don't play much of a role in the story, other than hanging out in the basement of Wayne Manor, taking Lance to a disco, and helping out in the final battle with crooks who shouldn't require so many super-heroes to be defeated. One question--why does an issue drawn by Neal Adams have a cover by Irv Novick?-Jack

Peter-I mentioned it last time out but I'll bring it up again: I haven't a clue who any of these Super-Tykes are! Wonder Doll!? Fersure! Bob Haney once again winks at his audience and lets them know he's a hep cat, reading White Album lyrics while relaxing with a glass of Boones Strawberry Hill and the latest Lawrence Welk on the tube. Haney's ding-dong-daddy-o dialogue is a stomach-churner ("Strictly from Cubesville, baby! And, frankly, I dig chicks with more zing too!"), but his script, for the most part, is a page-turner. That finale is a cop-out clunker though.

Novick

Detective Comics #388

"Public Luna-tic Number One!"
Story by John Broome

Art by Bob Brown & Joe Giella

"Surprise! This'll Kill You!"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson

A wave of crimes committed during the full moon signals the arrival of a new criminal, a villain the press has dubbed Public Luna-Tic Number One! But is there such a criminal? Batman and Robin suspect that their Number One Lunatic Rogue, the Joker, is behind this series of heists. As they are patrolling Gotham one night, they notice a light on in the Gotham Planetarium and investigate. Guess who's hauling away the building's expensive equipment? None other than the Clown Prince of Crime himself, the Joker. After stopping to congratulate each other for seeing through the "new menace" facade, the boys engage in some fisticuffs with the Joker's henchmen. Unfortunately, the Menace of Mirth makes his getaway and the Duo are left with empty hands.

The next day, Bruce Wayne (who seems to have time to be at every public ceremony in Gotham despite his long hours of crime fighting) is at the lab of Dr. Doomer (no, not the guy from Latveria) for a super-secret demonstration of the egghead's new invention. This is an important day for Doomer since the military brass are present and the previous 325 demonstrations all failed. "But this one, I just got a real good feeling about!," exclaims the mad scientist. Obviously, Wayne Enterprises is funding the loon's research, thus the presence of the millionaire playboy.

Doomer places his mysterious black box in front of his small audience and instructs them to (literally) fasten their seat belts. The professor mouths some arcane nonsense about Cthulhu Fhtagn and flips the switch. The four seated men are thrilled and amazed by... a lack of anything special. Nothing happens. Zip. Nada. The men in suits rise from their seats, grumble about wasted time, and head for Gotham Golf Resort, where the Commish awaits them at the first hole. The ever-patient Bruce Wayne approaches the small gizmo on the table and discovers a wire attached inside its chassis. Doomer suddenly shouts out, "This ain't my box!" as Bruce pulls the wire (obviously not worried about, y'know, booby traps and stuff), launching a never-ending stream of the Joker's laugh. "I'd recognize that laugh anywhere!," exclaims the World's Greatest Detective™! 

The next night, at Gotham Central Station, the Joker and his men use Doomer's machine to make the occupants of the building float. The security guards are as helpless as children; when they fire their weapons, the recoil sends them further upwards. Miles away, the Dynamic Duo receive the call and head for the station, where they once again engage in a life-threatening battle with the Joker's thugs, but this time gravity is working against them. The Joker is too clever for our heroes and the Duo are overpowered and knocked unconscious. 

When they awaken, they are understandably amazed to find themselves standing in the Sea of Tranquility on the moon. The hovering face of the Joker informs them that they have been transported and will become the moon's first fatalities. Further, the archenemy of justice reveals that the entire series of lunar-themed crimes were done to set the Joker up as the first villain on the moon. Of course, Batman sees right through the charade and instructs the Boy Wonder to follow him, no matter what. They head into the oncoming Dark Side of the Moon and enter the Joker's sound stage. They were never on the moon! A particularly peeved Batman and Robin wipe the faux lunar landscape with the bad guys, slap the cuffs on, and drop their burden off at police headquarters where, doubtless, the scoundrels will spend the night before being released in the morning for good behavior. The Dynamic Duo deliver the filched anti-gravity device back to Dr. Doomer and deliver some sage advice to the professor: "Give it a test run next time before inviting the brass for tea!"

I would proclaim "Public Luna-tic Number One!" just about the most inane adventure we've read on this journey, but then I suddenly remember a multitude of talking gorillas and inter-dimensional aliens and think better of the label. But, seriously, why would the Joker bother committing these crimes under the cloak of anonymity? And what's the grand design of stealing this incredible invention? Was the gizmo to play a part in a series of candy shop robberies, with the proprietors floating to the ceiling and therefore unable to stop the pilfering of their cash register? Why go to all the trouble of creating a sound stage that resembles the surface of the moon when you could just put a bullet into the brain of your number one adversary while he lies comatose on the station floor? It's the kind of camp, dopey plot the TV Joker would roll out. Maybe that's the point.

Bored, Barbara Gordon heads for the address given in a want ad searching for "a friendly red-haired girl to  share apartment rent-free..." When she gets there, the owner of the apartment answers the door dressed as Batgirl. What are the chances? Darlene Davison explains that she's an airline stewardess and has won a major award from her company. She's expected to attend a prestigious costume ball that evening but it coincides with her great granddad's birthday party. The old man is a priority, so she needs a doppelgänger to fill in at the ball. Momentarily forgetting that a stunt double could not possibly pass for the real thing when that double knows nothing about the real McCoy other than a name, Babs happily agrees.

Davison explains that an escort is on his way to pick up Batgirl and then heads out the door. Moments later, Batman comes knocking and, after realizing he's the most obvious date for Batgirl, Babs opens the door and is surprised when the faux hero pulls a gun and takes a shot at her. While tussling with "Batman," Babs susses out that Darlene is into some bad business, so she plays dead and then follows the costumed villain to the ball. There, she's amazed to find dupes of the Flash, Superman, and Green Lantern huddled together with the Bogus Bats. Eavesdropping, Babs overhears the quartet explain that Darlene is smuggling gems from foreign countries for an underworld organization. Obviously, the stewardess was setting Babs up to take a bullet. Our favorite heroine heads into battle with the four fiends but is quickly overcome and reaches for her utility bag, only to realize she's got Darlene's purse! To be continued!

Frank Robbins's script for "Surprise! This'll Kill You!" is, as usual, straight-up bonkers, and makes no sense. Let's forget the villainy aspect of Darlene's plot to fool her employees for one moment; how could Babs ever pull the wool over anyone's eyes at the ball if she knows nothing about Darlene? Can you imagine the Flash sidling up and whispering in Babs's ear, "How about another roll in the hay like last night, Darlene?!" As usual though, the words take a back seat to the art, which doesn't disappoint. The Kane/Anderson Batgirl could almost be labeled GGA if not for that little symbol on the cover. Check out the cheese tease when Darlene doffs her outfit and gives the eight-year-old target audience something to think about.-Peter

Jack-Detective #388 went on sale at the end of April 1969 and Apollo 11 landed on the moon less than three months later, so kids across America were primed for this story. Too bad John Broome's return as writer after some time off is a dud. At least Bob Brown draws the Joker better than Sheldon Moldoff ever did. This issue's letters column features missives from Tony Isabella and Don McGregor, who would soon show up as writers for Marvel. The Batgirl story is silly, sure, but who cares when you have the Kane/Anderson art to ogle? By the way, the cover price goes up to 15 cents with this issue, which includes the usual half-page explanation about inflation.

Novick & Giordano(?)

Batman #212

"Baffling Deaths of the Crime-Czar!"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Bob Brown & Joe Giella

Why aren't Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson at a dinner honoring Dr. Jennings, an eminent research surgeon? It's because they're masquerading as waiters at a welcome home dinner being held for underworld kingpin, L'il Studs, and they are concerned that one of his colleagues wants to rub him out. Their suspicions are correct, since a crook named Quirk hired three assassins--the Silencer, the Dart, and Big Jolt--to wipe out Studs. Thinking all is well, Bruce leaves Dick in charge for a while and heads to the hospital, where he happens to see two orderlies entering a room they shouldn't.

One quick costume change later, Batman bursts in and interrupts the men, who are trying to steal radioactive isotopes! In what's becoming a worrisome pattern, they knock Batman out cold and lay him down on a table, where they plan to fry him with radiation from an x-ray scanner. Meanwhile, at the crooks' banquet, Dick interrupts Big Jolt as he booby-traps a cake. Dick knocks out Big Jolt but lets the cake be wheeled in, unaware that when it is cut it will send 20,000 volts up the arm of L'il Studs. Just as Batman escapes his predicament, L'il Studs cuts the cake and appears to get fried. At the same moment, the Silencer shoots him with a bullet and the Dart shoots him with guess what.

Batman's battle with the men in the radiology department caused the power at both dinners to go out for a short while, and Dr. Jennings explains that L'il Studs, his patient, died of natural causes! It seems that Jennings implanted a remote-controlled pacemaker to regulate his heartbeat, and when the power went out, it failed, and he had a massive heart attack. That means that he wasn't killed by a bullet, a dart, or 20,000 volts! When Quirk hears the news, he tells the three assassins that he won't pay them. Instead of getting mad, the trio decide to rub out Batman for ruining their plans. Batman quickly deduces that Quirk must have been behind the attempted hit and heads for the crook's home, unaware that the trio of hitmen have rigged a deadly trap. 

The Silencer, the Dart, and Big Jolt await the arrival of the Batmobile and Batman is shocked by an electrical current, but he and Robin manage to escape death by any of the three deadly weapons. They beat up the trio of assassins and prevent Quirk from being electrocuted--Batman wants him to stand trial for attempted murder.

"Baffling Deaths of the Crime-Czar!" is a bit confusing, a bit silly, and a bit fun. Novick is hardly in his serious artist mode here, especially in the way he draws Big Jolt, who resembles Jimmy Durante. I didn't understand how knocking out the power at the hospital also knocked out the power at the crooks' banquet, and it seems coincidental that Dr. Jennings and his patient would both be honored at dinners at the same time in different places. Still, the sheer nuttiness of Robbins's script and the jumping back and forth between locations made the story fun to read.-Jack

Peter-A few unintended bits of hilarity this time out to go with the usual inanity. Famous last words delivered by dish-drying Dick: "Don't worry, Batman, go to your other appointment. I'm on watch and nothing gets by me!" I'm sure we've heard those words before, just before the guano hits the fan. Even funnier: Dick not remembering that electrocution is Big Jolt's M.O. despite a "D'Oh!" moniker. Having these super-secret underworld assassins answer to their favorite weapon is genius. It's also a lot less stress for the scripter.

Next Week...
Surely, 1957 Must Have Been a
Better Year Than 1956?

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 146: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction and Horror Comics!

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 131

December 1956 Part IV

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Uncanny Tales #50

Cover by Bill Everett

"Look Behind You!" (a: Joe Orlando) ★★1/2

"Inside the Room of Shadows" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★

"A Man Destroyed!" (a: Angelo Torres) ★★★

"The Escape of Johnny York" (a: Herb Familton) ★

"Valley of No Return!" (a: Bob Powell) ★

"It Happened to Henry" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★

Brilliant scientist Louis Stark has invented a television screen that allows him to drop in on important events and people of the past. Unlike the usual brilliant scientist, Louis doesn't use his new toy as a tool to rob banks or rule third world countries; Louis just wants to make the world a more peaceful place to live.

To that end, the egghead drops in on well-known 18th-Century dictator, Vincent di Varni, just before he reaches power. With the aid of his gizmo, Louis is able to sway di Varni from making the decisions he made that set him down a wrong path in life. Unfortunately, Louis discovers that di Varni is his ancestor and slowly, but surely, the changes he's made affect the man's lineage. In a panic, the professor attempts to manipulate the machine in order to erase his changes but fate intervenes. "Look Behind You!" is not a bad little science fiction tale; sure, it's very predictable, but it's a nice change of pace to see someone with a big brain who doesn't want to use his assets to rule mankind.

Penny-pinching miser Mr. Bascombe just can't seem to get happy; he's miserable about everything, convinced the world is out to cheat him. The maid spends too much money on butter; the butler stole his cigars; Dish Network raised their rates 35.6%. The list goes on and on. Then one day, while on a walk, Bascombe is compelled to enter a dark doorway. "Inside the Room of Shadows," he is greeted by an old, bearded man who claims that Bascombe's true happiness is attainable if he simply enters a doorway within the house. The old codger quickly talks himself out of it, for fear the stranger is trying to take advantage of him. Convinced he has been hypnotized by his thieving butler (!), Bascombe races home to fire the man, only to learn he gave the dedicated servant the axe the night before. Atlas strips where cold-hearted bastards have a complete 180-degree turn within two panels never cease to cause eye-rolling in this funny book veteran.

In the year 2056, crime has essentially been eliminated, thanks to the "Criminal Selector" machine, which predicts a crime is about to be committed and gives law enforcement the right to arrest the guilty parties before the act takes place. But mob boss Victor Sharkey discovers a way to manipulate the gizmo to his advantage. In the end, we discover that the entire drama is a television show being telecast in 1956. A worried housewife asks her husband if he thinks such a "mechanization age" will come to be and her husband laughs and assures her machines will never become that widespread, all while the couple are surrounded by a plethora of modern electric kitchen devices. 

Yep, the concept of a government-supported initiative to arrest criminals before they break the law sounds verrrrry familiar. PK Dick's "Minority Report" had popped up in Fantastic Universe at the beginning of 1956, which certainly gave Carl Wessler more than enough time to "borrow" some elements from the SF short story. But thievery aside, "A Man Destroyed!" is a decent read with some great Torres work. I swear at times I would not be able to tell Angelo's pencils from those of Al Williamson.

Carl Wessler returns with his script for the nonsensical "The Escape of Johnny York," in which the titular POW drinks some herbal tea provided by a cellmate and escapes prison to visit his dying wife. Predictably, the tea not only transports Johnny to his wife's bedside, but also magically cures her ills. Maudlin hogwash. In the three-page "Valley of No Return!," Burt almost shoots a white eagle but is convinced to leave the bird alone by fellow hunter, Greg. Later, when they become lost, the eagle leads them out of the lost valley safe and sound. The last-panel reveal is immensely predictable.

Perhaps the worst was saved for last. Henry is a bully and his latest target is fellow accountant, Porter. After a particularly vicious prank, Porter tells Henry the world would be better off without him. Sure enough, from then on no one sees or hears Henry. What's going on? Who knows? The last panel of "It Happened to Henry" literally reveals that the writer had no idea either. So let's just ignore this one.-Peter

World of Mystery #4

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Things in the Window" (a: Werner Roth) ★★

"The Forbidden Land" (a: Paul Reinman) ★1/2

"Let the Creature Beware!" (a" Bob Powell) ★★

"The Dreadful Dream" (a: Manny Stallman) ★

"The Man with Yellow Eyes" (a: Dick Ayers) ★★

"What Happened in the Basement?" (a: Mac L. Pakula) ★1/2

Cal buys a deserted house on the edge of town, a well-tended home that has a bad reputation and a hint of... evil! This would normally send Cal running the other way because everyone in the Atlas Universe knows... Cal is a coward! He knows it, has become used to the sensation, almost revels in it. When the real estate salesman lets Cal know that a woman who lived in the house vanished off the face of the earth, the knees of our timid hero shake a bit because, you know... Cal is a coward!

Seeing the new residence as something of a challenge, Cal moves in and, in a cowardly fashion, continuously looks out the front window to make sure no one will bother him. Then, later that night, Cal notices that one of the windows has been blacked out. Cal shivers! Cal quakes! But soon he feels he can't take the mystery anymore and climbs through the darkened sill to find himself in another dimension. There, in the distance, is a beautiful woman held captive by weird shapes. Can Cal dispose of his cowardice and save the woman from a fate worse than death? This being the 1956 Atlas Universe, you can bet on it. About as harmless as a Saturday morning cartoon, "The Things in the Window" just shambles and stumbles to its inevitable, happy ending, saved only by some tasty art by Werner Roth. The other-dimensional voyage is very Ditko-esque and a few panels of cowardly Cal look like Roth was assisted by Johnny Craig. The speed bump is the reminder, in every other panel, that Cal has a problem being brave.

A trio of reporters from World View Magazine arrive in Peru to sniff out the legend of "The Forbidden Land." The three men push their way through, ignoring Incan pleas, and find themselves inside the ancient temple, ready to witness rites never seen by white men. Unfortunately for the three stooges, they soon find out that they are to be the human sacrifices at the ritual. They manage to escape and return to New York but, once their pictures are developed, they discover the secret Incan ritual will remain secret. Back in the early 1950s, at least one of the men would have gunned down a score of Incans and the trio would have been skinned alive.

In the heavy-handed preachy, "Let the Creature Beware!," Judd Kerr stirs up hate in small towns, pointing out residents who may be a bit "different" than their neighbors and dropping hints these "creatures" might be from another world. Once the town is in a stir, Kerr asks for donations so that he can pursue the situation in a "legal" way by hiring a lawyer. Cash in hand, Kerr races out of town. Then he gets to Abbyville and turns the town's attention to an odd old man who lives on the edge of town. Too late, Judd discovers this is the last stop on his hate tour. Some good Bob Powell work can't transform "Creature" into anything other than a mild distraction with a very unsubtle message. Powell seems to hint in his last panel that Kerr might be Hitler.

Frank Beech is involved in a terrible, serious, life-threatening, and really scary train wreck. He dies but then wakes up and relives everything he'd seen in his dream--the damn toys left on the staircase by his rotten little brat, his wife's attempts to make him breakfast despite the fact that she has no cooking skills to speak of, and the innocuous dialogue he engages in with people at the train station. Sure enough, his train crashes and he awakens to the same thing over again. When his wife hands him his mushy pancakes and tells him to hurry up, he'll be late for work, he informs her he's taking the day off. No, I mean it, that's really the end of "The Dreadful Dream"! I had roughly the same feeling as Frank since this plot has been on a loop since 1948.

"The Man with Yellow Eyes" is G.I. Lee Forrest, who fights with the American Tank Corps in Africa. "Yellow Eyes," as he's affectionately known to his comrades, fights with a bestiality akin to a jungle cat. A fellow G.I. saves the life of "Yellow Eyes" and the two men become friends, with the giant brute claiming that no matter how, no matter where, he'll return the favor. "Yellow Eyes" confides in his new friend that he was an orphan, found in a zoo near the wild cat cages, and Africa seems like home to him. A few months later, Forrest is given a discharge, but he stays in Africa and his savior loses track. 

Once the war ends, our narrator also decides to stay in Africa and attempt a search for "Yellow Eyes." One day, while out in the jungle, a lion leaps but is stopped (mid-air!) from chowing down on our hero by a mysterious whistle. The lion runs off with a man and we come to learn exactly where "Yellow Eyes" has made his home. Right off the bat, I gotta admit that a Tarzan rip-off with Dick Ayers art would usually get a one-star rating from me sight unseen, but "Yellow Eyes" has a real kooky atmosphere that must be experienced to be believed. A couple chuckles translate to a couple stars any day!

John Winters is a would-be inventor who actually doesn't work on anything in his basement. He simply goes down there to see if his family cares enough about him to head down the stairs now and then to check up on him despite his warnings to never ever ever bother him. Confused yet? Keep up. John gets zapped by lightning in his basement and is transported into the future, where he's tried and convicted as a spy. The judge listens to John's fantastic story and then tells the convicted man that his only hope is that his family will come to his rescue. Magically, John is zapped back into the present, where wife Ethel and forty-something, useless, sycophantic son, Melvin, grill him as to where he went. After he tells his utterly ludicrous tale, his wife reminds him that she couldn't check up on him because she was making him his birthday cake like any loving wife would. Holy crap, what connived rubbish this be! So, the answer to the question, "What Happened in the Basement?" is a very resounding, "Nothing!"-Peter

World of Suspense #5

Cover by Carl Burgos

"While Simon Slept...!" (a: Bill Everett) ★★1/2

"By the Dark of the Moon" (a: John Giunta) ★1/2

"Menace Below!" (a: John Romita) ★★

"The Men in Glass!" (a: Don Heck) ★★1/2

"The Lead-Lined Box!" (a: Chuck Miller) ★★

"The Brain Trap!" (a: George Roussos) ★

Simon Miller is an inventor who shows up at the police station with a wild story. He claims to have invented a matter duplicator in his basement. He mistakenly left the machine on and dozed off on the floor under its ray. "While Simon Slept...!" an exact duplicate of him was created, and he met his mirror image upstairs! Simon brings a policeman home to show him the man, but the duplicate claims to be Simon's twin brother. The cop chases the duplicate into the cellar and, when the machine is switched on, a duplicate policeman is created. Now the cop believes Simon's story!

It's not often that I wish an Atlas story were longer, but this one, nicely drawn by Bill Everett, would have benefited from more pages. The story is interesting but ends abruptly. Is there a way to get rid of the duplicates, or would that be murder? Are they good or evil? More pages drawn by Everett would be welcome.

A strange creature haunts the outskirts of Grenhorst! Local farmers believe that it's one of the town's residents who doesn't realize that "By the Dark of the Moon," he changes into the green-skinned descendant of space creatures who landed nearby 200 years ago. Over time, they took on human characteristics that only disappeared under the full moon. One of the townsfolk, Luther Krohler, decides to take revenge on Charles Reuse, a town father, for marrying the woman Luther loved. Luther creates fake movies that show the green-skinned creatures landing and eventually demonstrates that Freda Reuse was one of them. But just as the townspeople are about to grab Charles, the full moon rises, and it's revealed that the real descendent of the creatures is Luther. The next day, he apologizes to everyone for his behavior.

I do not want to read more pages of this story! It's too complicated and not worth the effort it takes to unravel. The art, by John Giunta, reminds me of the type of art I used to see in children's books or issues of Classics Illustrated.

Two men from a foreign country (Russia?) are given a tour of a U.S. Naval station, but they are not allowed to inspect the dock. Karlin, one of the foreigners, deduces that there must be some important secret under the water by the dock, so he waits for a dark, calm night, dons scuba gear, and dives down to inspect. He sees a large metal ball that has studs all around it and he swims toward it. Unfortunately for Karlin, he has discovered a new anti-frogman device that will explode at the slightest touch!

I've always liked John Romita's art, and he does a nice job with what are essentially four pages of people talking to each other. Fortunately, there are some underwater panels that allow him to draw some shadowy scenes. The story ends on a note of suspense, with Karlin about to whack the ball with a wrench and a Naval officer explaining what will happen if he connects, unaware that there's about to be a big boom right off the dock.

Joe is a recent immigrant to the U.S. who is working as a waiter at a banquet where the president is going to speak. Suddenly the lights go out! When they come back on, an alien named Zarki and several of his cohorts have appeared in the room. Zarki announces that they have been sent to colonize Earth and resistance is futile! The aliens have glass helmets around their heads and Zarki demands that the people in the room cooperate and give him information. Everyone refuses but Joe, who volunteers to cooperate, drawing jeers from the patriots around him. Joe asks if he can display his skills as an opera singer and, when Zarki agrees, Joe breaks into a loud version of "The Star-Spangled Banner." The Americans in the room are horrified until Joe hits a high note that shatters the aliens' glass helmets! Now everyone realizes that the immigrant waiter saved the day.

"The Men in Glass" is corny as heck, but artist Don Heck knocks it out of the park and his dynamic depictions not only make it bearable but also prefigure the work he would do in a few years on The Avengers and other Marvel comics of the '60s.

Professor Hugo Steiner believes that babies are born with the memories of mankind's collective history already implanted on their brains and he plans to prove it with his new Memory Visualizer! His assistant Hans brings him a newborn in "The Lead-Lined Box!" and Hugo zaps the box with a ray from his gizmo, but what he sees as the newborn's memories show that its immediate ancestors were mute slaves, dependent on others and thrown scraps and bones for food. Hugo is so upset by what he sees that he destroys the machine, unaware that his kindly assistant couldn't bear to put a human baby in the box, so he put a puppy dog in there instead!

I like Chuck Miller's art on this three-pager, and I did not see the twist ending coming in advance, so it was worth a read. I had a feeling that there was something going on with the newborn in the box, but the uncredited writer did a decent job of  suggesting that it was a human baby until we were told otherwise.

Harry Hoyt is a chemist who accidentally invents a cure for baldness and decides that he needs a partner to develop his new product into one that he can sell worldwide. His wife warns him that his partner might take advantage of Harry's good nature. Harry puts an ad in the paper and Earle Bolton responds. Earle is impressed by the invention and signs on as partner, but Harry suddenly finds himself able to read Earle's thoughts and discovers that Earle plans to kill him and take all the money for himself. Harry avoids Earle's clumsy attempt to brain him with a wooden stool, calls the police, and burns his formula.

An unexpectedly enjoyable issue of World of Suspense ends with a dud in "The Brain Trap!;" George Roussos's illustrations are as pedestrian as the script. Both Peter and I are working on a time machine to return to 1956 and question Harry about his miracle cure for baldness.-Jack

Next Week...
With-it, Hip, New Writer Mike Friedrich
Decides That What the World Needs Now Is a Hip, With-It
Reboot of the Very First Batman Adventure For the
Dark Knight's 30th Anniversary. Do the Boys Agree?