Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 181: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Fantasy Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 166

August 1959

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Strange Tales #70

Cover by Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule

"A Giant Walks the Earth!" 

(a: Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule) ★1/2

(r: Uncanny Tales #7)

"Earth in Chains!" (a: Paul Reinman) ★

"Ghost Ship!" (a: Carl Burgos) ★

"Escape to Tomorrow!" (a: Paul Reinman) ★

"When Walks the Sphinx!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

(r: Journey into Mystery #14)

Biochemist Wilbur Fiske never gets the promotions he deserves and he just knows it's because he's a runt, much shorter than any of the other scientists in his lab. Well, Wilbur is gonna show them a thing or two! The half-pint just happens to be working on a growth serum in his lab at home. That night, he has the breakthrough he's been waiting for and, without even testing the goop on a rat or a chicken or his mother-in-law, Wilbur downs the whole beaker.

The formula works immediately. In fact, it works too well--Wilbur keeps on growing and growing until he's as tall as a skyscraper. Itching to be rich, he grabs hold of the nearest bank and rips it from its foundation. But our hero finally grows so tall that he's running out of oxygen. Just before he hits the pavement, the serum begins to wear off and he becomes his old, small self again. That's okay, though, Wilbur muses after he's done ninety days in the pokey for major street and building damage: mankind should be happy with what its given and not look for easy answers in drugs and potions. 

Wilbur smiles and returns to his latest invention: a liquid that can make rocks into gold. Well, that last bit is of my own making. The real story ends with the maudlin "man should not mess with Mother Nature" message.  "A Giant Walks the Earth!" would probably be just as dull at double the length but perfectly illustrates why Kirby was later given 10+ pages to tell his giant monster stories.

Stop me if you've heard the plot of "Earth in Chains!" before. Aliens invade Earth and level a major city to create their new home and we have no defense against them!  Our salvation arrives in the form of "the smallest of creatures"--basic germs! That's right, the aliens can't handle the bacteria we all take for granted. What an original concept!

A coast guard boat stumbles across a "Ghost Ship!" floating in US waters. Turns out it's a stinkin' commie sub and, once the officers board it, they discover it's been abandoned. Dan finds a ship's log with lots of "commie writing" in it and, luck of the draw, he aced Communist Language in high school. He translates the startling story for his comrades: the sub was sneaking around in US waters, looking for any of our latest technology, when it came across an alien spaceship. Wanting to know more about the ship, they did what any stinkin' Bolshevik would do: they put the pedal to the metal and tried to ram it.

Just before making contact, the hatch to the spaceship opened and out popped a bevy of BEMs. The journal entry ends with a startled captain screaming in fear. The good guys continue their search of the Russkie ship and find a map of outer space left there by the BEMs for some reason. Surmising the aliens had nothing but good intentions, our coast guard officers head back to port. "Ghost Ship!" is another of those Atlas strips (written by Stan?) where the action keeps coming fast so that no questions will be asked. Like how did the Red ship captain write down all the details if he's constantly in the midst of the chaos? Did he wait until there was a break in the action and then run to his desk and put quill to paper? How could our heroes come to the conclusion that these aliens were only "lost while on a journey" and not actually casing our world for invasion? I have more questions but I'm out of space. I will say that I like the Burgos art; looks like the kind of penciling he pumped out for the 1940s titles.

Bank robber Joe Palmer forces Professor Whitehead to let him use his time machine and "Escape to Tomorrow!" Joe obviously didn't study economics in high school or he'd know that, with the rate of inflation being what it is, the dollar won't buy what it used to when he gets to 2010. Worse, as he soon discovers, paper money is obsolete. Stuck fifty years in the future with no way back, his haul is worthless, so Joe has to get a hard labor job. "Well," the dope sighs, "at least I've learned a mighty good lesson and now I'll be a decent human being!" You have to laugh at the fact that the newspaper headlines scream the news about Whitehead's time machine and yet the government hasn't swooped down on the egghead and hauled his tinker toy away.

When the first wave of an invasion from space arrives in Egypt, the Sphinx rises from its base to defend its people. There's really not much to the script, I'll grant you, but Ditko's art is dazzling and that saves the day (and the issue as well). At first glance, a strip containing a giant walking sphinx seems like a slam-dunk for Kirby, but the mystic elements push the tale into Ditko territory.-Peter

Strange Worlds #5

Cover by Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule

"We Are the 3 Who Vanished!" (a: Don Heck) ★★1/2

" I Couldn't Stop the Runaway Comet!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

"I Am... Gorilla!" (a: Paul Reinman) ★★1/2

"Don't Send Me... Out There!!!" (a: Carl Burgos) ★

"They Call Me... Space Pirate" (a: Joe Sinnott) ★★

The final issue of Strange Worlds begins in very familiar territory with the time machine fantasy, "We Are the 3 Who Vanished!" The police break down the door to Roger Hastings's lab after receiving reports of suspicious activity, but when they enter they can find no Roger. What the police inspector finds is Roger's lab journal, which tells the story of just what's been going on in the lab the last few days.

Roger Hastings forces two of his scientist buddies to help him finish his time machine. With work completed, Roger states that man will finally be able to travel back in time, while his two colleagues roll their eyes and make whistling noises. Roger sets the way-back machine to the 17th century (that's about as specific as Roger gets) and flips the switch. That's where the journal ends and the police are baffled. Did the three eggheads travel through time or did they vaporize themselves with the dangerous machinery they were working with? No one will ever know.

Aha, that's where Inspector Clouseau is wrong. If he had only turned the page of his copy of Strange Worlds #5, he'd have seen bonus coverage revealing the fate of the travelers in a very clever epilogue. I've had about enough of time machine yarns as they usually end up telling the same story over and over, but "We Are 3..." gives us another angle on the dangers of science. 

The most popular man in the world of 2060 is scientist Victor Sage, a man of the people. Just before he's a shoo-in for president of the new world, it's discovered that a destructive comet is heading for Earth in a matter of weeks. Sage calms his constituents and reminds them he's got the biggest brain in the galaxy. He'll figure it out. But Sage's rocket missiles are destroyed by the comet's intense heat before they can even get near. He tells the people of the world to ready themselves for annihilation.

With little help from science, the world begins praying as one and, miraculously, the comet is turned away as if "a giant unseen hand had brushed it aside." Promising himself not to ever become lost in his own ego again, Victor Sage looks to the sky and thanks... whatever... for the helping hand. I don't mind a little religion peppering my sci-fi/fantasy funny books now and then as long as the story being told is a good one; "I Couldn't Stop the Runaway Comet!" introduces an interesting character in Victor Sage, almost a superhero-type, and then knocks him off his pedestal a little at a time. More great experimental work by Ditko.

Bongo, the carnival gorilla, looks out at the world through his bars and wonders where his next banana will come from while his audience remarks about how dumb he looks. The crowds have grown considerably since the atomic testing facility opened up right next door (wink, wink) and the carnival owner has a lot on his mind lately. That's how Bongo's cage door is accidentally left open. Bongo goes on a bit of a tour of the area and wanders into one of the test areas, exposed to high radiation.

Suddenly, Bongo is the most intelligent gorilla in the world, but what to do with that extra brain power? After briefly considering sticking up a few local banks, our simian hero decides he's going to help mankind fulfill its potential to become a more peaceful and loving species. Why, maybe Bongo can even talk the Atlas scientists out of building any more time machines. But, just as he's about to call the President, the radiation wears off and Bongo becomes... Bongo again. Back to his cage he goes, once again on the receiving end of endless banana jokes.

I enjoyed "I Am... Gorilla!" a lot. It's very simple, very quick, and doesn't go overboard in the preaching department. It does have some very clunky exposition in the first few panels but effectively points out the pros and cons of having an atomic testing ground within walking distance of a populated area. Did you know that exposure to high radiation can cause mutation in a matter of seconds? I didn't. I was hoping we'd see a few panels of carnival attendees with three eyes or stretchable limbs.

"Don't Send Me... Out There!!!" is the hilarious tale of a spaceship pilot who's lost his nerve. The dope spends the first three pages pinballing between family members, trying to elicit sympathy to no effect, all while detailing the dangers of flying in space. When the final panel arrives and we discover the pilot is actually a robot (He's got a metal cranium! So that's why he's running around the house with his helmet on!), the laughs dry up and the eyes roll. This guy running around the house like a madman, shrieking about meteor showers while wearing what looks like a motorcycle helmet, reminded me of Ethel Merman's scene in Airplane! Comedy gold.

The 24th and final story to appear in Strange Worlds, "They Call Me... Space Pirate" is the humorous tale of Sandor, rapscallion and pirate, who leads his merry men on a scourge of the galaxy. Seeing what looks to be a very attractive and vulnerable planet in their view screen, the boys set down and immediately discover they've made a mistake. The world (which looks a lot like Earth) is populated by mutants who can control objects with their minds. Before long, Sandor and Co. are behind bars and bitching about prison food. Some nice Sinnott work and a few giggles. Looking back over our notes and ratings for Strange Worlds, it's easy to see why the title is virtually forgotten these days. Not one of the stories garnered over a 2.5 rating and most fell in the 1.5-2.0 range.-Peter

World of Fantasy #19

Cover by Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule

"The Gargoyle from the Fifth Galaxy!" (a: Don Heck) ★1/2

(r: Vault of Evil #15)

"Deluge!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★1/2

(r: Dead of Night #7)

"The Iron Hulk!" (a: Joe Sinnott) ★1/2

"The Brain Destroyer!" (a: Carl Burgos) ★1/2

"I Was Stranded in Space" (a: Joe Sinnott) ★1/2

When an alien rocket ship approaches the Earth, no one knows quite what to do, and when "The Gargoyle from the Fifth Galaxy!" emerges, spouting fire from his mouth and talking in gibberish, soldiers open fire. The creature turns around, gets back into his ship, and takes off, leaving a book behind on the ground. After months of work the volume is translated and--surprise!--the gargoyle came to Earth to share all the wonders of his advanced civilization with us. As usual, we chased him off and now hope he'll return some day.

What was the point of rehashing the same stories over and over? They could have just reprinted the first one ad nauseum. Would anyone have noticed? This time we don't even see much of the alien, who looks nothing like the version on the cover that Kirby drew. Inside the comic, he's green and much slimmer.

A scientist named Jason Trump is convinced that magnetism is the force that holds the universe together. After being fired from his job, he builds a big machine to control magnetism and aims it at the moon, thinking it will cause the moon to develop an atmosphere that can sustain life. His plan works, but an unintended consequence is that Earth is covered by a "Deluge!" of rain that threatens humanity. Army Major Tek figures out that the cause is in the vicinity of Jason's lab, so he journeys there and destroys the machine. The sun comes out and all is well again. All except Jason, whose corpse is found next to the machine.

Good lord, whoever wrote this (Stan the Man?) sure liked to pile word upon word! There are so many words in this five-page story that there's hardly room for Ditko to do much with the art. What puzzled me was that Major Tek managed to grab a crowbar and smash the machine with little effort, yet Jason Trump died trying to switch off the machine without wrecking it. At what point in a worldwide flood do you just give up and whack the thing?

In the year 3000, young Tim Jones's dad takes him to the store to buy Tim his very own robot. Dad is sure that the machine will be nothing more than "The Iron Hulk!," but Roby quickly becomes Tim's best pal. Tim is sure that Roby has feelings, but when Dad says they have to move to a small apartment in the city and sells Roby to the junk man for twenty-five bucks, Tim runs off to save his pal. On the way, his foot gets caught in a railroad track and it's Roby to the rescue! The heroic robot is damaged but Dad's mind changes when he observes a tear in Roby's eye. He has Roby repaired and robot and boy live happily ever after.

What nonsense! Joe Sinnott gets a gold star for holding his nose and turning in four nice pages of artwork to illustrate this heap of refuse. Even a kid reading this comic in 1959 would think this was dopey.

Did a meteorite just crash land in Central Park? Renowned astrophysicist Philip Latimer is summoned to examine the object, so he brings his wife and son along for the ride. The object seems to have been made by an intelligent creature and it starts to emit electronic waves that hypnotize the scientists in the area. Phil's wife and son run for it and New Yorkers panic. Soon, people across the world are convinced that the object must be "The Brain Destroyer!" Young Bobby won't give up on Phil and runs into the park, causing the machine to short circuit, since it didn't know what to do when it encountered a child's brain waves.

At least the machine wasn't sent to Earth to spread peace and love! This is not a great story, but I prefer a menacing machine from an unknown planet to the alien in the first story who just wanted to make the world a better place.

While being brought back to Earth to serve his time in jail, escaped convict Joe Burke manages to jump in a small space cruiser and get away. He crash lands on an unknown planet, where he laments the lack of civilization. He uses his wits to survive but complains that "I Was Stranded in Space." Joe combats loneliness in the years that follow by making pets of small, alien animals. Eventually he discovers other people and a civilization, and Joe decides that he's done his time and now will spend the rest of his life making up for his crimes. He does not know that the people knew all along that he was there and let him serve out his sentence alone.

Joe Sinnott deserves a medal for giving it the old college try twice in one issue. The story isn't any better than the others, but at least it looks good. And so ends the run of World of Fantasy, a comic that never distinguished itself from the other mags on the spinner rack. I doubt anyone noticed when it stopped coming out.-Jack

Next Week...
Jack and Peter Are Trapped
By the Secret of the Mystery
of the Things on Easter Island!!!