Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 121: Atlas/Marvel Horror & Science Fiction Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 106

May 1956 Part III

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Strange Tales #46

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Sands Are Running Out" (a: Joe Sinnott) ★★★

"The Man From Nowhere" (a: Joe Orlando) ★

"Repeat Performance" (a: John Severin) ★1/2

"The Wild, Wild Wind" (a: Dick Ayers) ★

"You Must Not Look" (a: Paul Reinman) ★

"The Greatest Experiment" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★★★

Mean old skinflint Hiram Holt acquires a magic hourglass that can transport him far into the future. He finds himself on his hometown street, obviously years in the future. When he inquires as to the date of a passerby, he is told, "Of course, it's '71." His land seems to be the centerpiece of a mining operation and when he stops another walker, he is told the block is rich with "Pennsolium," the mineral that makes rocket ships fly. Anyone owning a piece of this land is a billionaire.

With dollar signs in his eyes, Holt heads back to the 1950s and buys up his neighbors' lots at inflated prices. Almost bankrupt but knowing he'll be the world's richest man in fifteen years, Hiram can't help but travel back to the future to check his bank account. When he asks the teller for his account balance, the man tells him there is no account for Hiram Holt. Panicked, Holt explains he deposited the money six years before, in 1971. The teller laughs and explains that 1971 is one hundred years in the past! It's 2071!

What with werewolves, vampires, and ghouls forbidden, the overworked writing staff in the Atlas lunchroom had to devise new variations on innocuous plots, ergo the unending time travel yarns. "The Sands are Running Out" is actually one of the better post-code time travel tales, with some fabulously dark Sinnott work and a twist that is genuinely surprising.

Detective Joe Axel investigates the bizarre case of "The Man from Nowhere," a guy who seems to materialize out of nothingness during freak lightning storms and then vanish into thin air within seconds. The disappearing man causes no damage but Axel wants to nab him before he starts a panic. Then the detective heads home after a hard day's work and is greeted by his gorgeous blonde daughter, Judy, who explains that she met the man of her dreams during a freak lightning storm. 

Axel calmly tells Judy to invite the charming man over for dinner and then sets his trap. Unfortunately, the precocious and impatient Judy elopes to Mars with her mystery man, a Martian who explains that he's perfecting his "molecular displacement" and as soon as his research is done, he and Judy can settle down to a happy Earthly existence. Dopey script (wouldn't you run off with a Martian at a moment's notice?) and truly uninspired Orlando art sink this one faster than Kevin Costner's Horizon Part II.

Ted and Alice, history-loving tourists, visit the site of the Battle of Lexington and find themselves transported back to the "skirmish" itself. The sharp Severin art in "Repeat Performance" is wasted on a brainless script. No explanation why Ted and Alice (who are doubtless waiting for Bob and Carol) are sent back in time, not even picking up a relic from the past and wishing themselves back in the past. It just happens and then it's over. In the equally dreadful "The Wild, Wild Wind," a two-man crew are carried by a supernatural wind to a desolate atoll where they discover the descendants of the passengers of the S. S. Mauru, victims of a mutiny. Turns out the boat the pair are sailing on is, you guessed it... the Mauru. How did these people survive and thrive through the years without food or water? Who knows? 

Ada keeps warning her lazy husband, Charlie, about that box on her dresser: "You Must Not Look"! Charlie keeps at it and finally Ada confesses that it contains a letter addressed to her father from when she was a child. Being a little brat and pissed with Pop, Ada tore the letter to pieces and then hid it in the box. Her father asked Ada if the letter had arrived and she lied... over and over. Her dad told the little ragamuffin that the repercussions of what was in the letter meant nothing compared to the sorrow in his heart; how could his little girl lie to him? 

"Just tell the truth and your troubles are over!" he calmly told her but she continued to fib. Finally, in a fit of guilt, Ada tells Charlie to open the box and her hubby finds a perfectly fine, untorn envelope containing five thousand dollars. "Our problems are solved! Now I can get that liver transplant! Let's have a drink, Charlie!" she exclaims. And yet another selfish brat is rewarded for her insolence. This is some dreary stuff, four pages that feel like forty. The artist's signature can be found on the splash but this is truly the worst Paul Reinman story I've ever seen, scratchy and drab.

Three travelers awaken in their ship, deep in space, destination unknown. Turns out the trio are a crew of robots sent from Earth by greedy, selfish scientists looking to mine other planets. The ship has been programmed to land on a planet but there's a malfunction during touchdown and the rocket crashes, marooning the androids. 

Back on Earth, the trio of eggheads are confident "The Greatest Experiment" has been a success, so they power up another rocket and head for the uncharted planet. When they arrive, they are astonished to find that not only have their robots survived but they've built a huge city to live in. The trio of beaker-lovers exit their vehicle and are immediately set upon by hostile hands, who lovingly pop them back in their vessel and shoot them back to Earth. Later, we learn that the robots have come to love their new home and aren't happy to share it with gold-diggers. 

Easily the best story so far of 1956, "The Greatest Experiment" is the perfect combination of clever story, unique plot, and dazzling art. The story starts out very similar to Ridley Scott's Alien but then veers off into different territory. Ditko's detailing is sensational. In fact, I've strayed from the usual and presented more than one panel from this story. It's heartening to find a diamond among all the detritus we've been plowing through.-Peter

Uncanny Tales #43

Cover by Bill Everett

"And After Death..." (a: John Forte) ★★★

"The Hidden Answer" (a: Paul Reinman) ★★1/2

"The Building That Grew" (a: Ed Moore?) ★

"Don't Nobody Move" (a: Tony Mortellaro) ★★1/2

"Double Identity!" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★

"The Man Who Saw a Groplin" (a: Bob Powell) ★★1/2

After completing work on his insanely genius gizmo, the Mental Projection Machine, Professor Galway collapses, the victim of a massive heart attack. Moments from death, Galway calls his dog over and switches on the MenPro. Galway's genius is immediately transported into the brain of Rex. 

All the wonderful things he can now accomplish! Rex/Galway muses to himself that he'll get around to teleporting his brain into a more suitable subject someday but, for now, he'll enjoy the lazy life of a dog. The final panels find Rex lolling lazily at the feet of Professor Galway's assistant. "And After Death..." is a delightfully goofy SF yarn, with John Forte's depiction of a very alert and obedient Rex being the highlight. It's never made clear whether Galway's protracted "vacation" is voluntary or if (and I'll do my own scripting here) the gizmo ain't all it's cracked up to be and the consciousness of the teleported brain fades after a bit of time. By the climax (which can be construed as both a sad and a happy ending), it sure looks that way. 

You think that was silly? You ain't seen nothin' yet! Appearing on the "A Week to Find Out" show, Chester Chandler is asked the $500,000 question: "How many people have homes on the moon?" Chester is given one week to research and provide the right answer on TV to win the booty. Undeterred, Chester finds a scientist who wants to test his moon rocket and convinces the egghead that he's the perfect pilot (never mind space training or anything silly like that); in no time he blasts into space. One week later, he gives the answer: 63. The show runner calls him on it and Chester produces his evidence: all 63 moon men are in the audience. They made faster rockets at the time "The Hidden Answer" was written (by pulpmeister Carl Wessler); a round trip to the moon plus time to convince everyone there to fly back with you in under seven days! I can't get the plumber out in seven days! Oh, and this Paul Reinman can't be the same Paul Reinman who illustrated the awful "You Must Not Look" in Strange Tales #46. This is the Reinman who immediately captures my attention.

Back to reality I come crashing thanks to the abysmal "The Building That Grew," wherein the very tall Mammox Building somehow continues to add floors (from the ground up) on an hourly basis. We find out in the badly-realized climax that an alien race from either: a/the center of the Earth, or b/another planet, is striving to build their tallest skyscraper and it's butting up against the Mammox. I've explained too much already so I won't stick around to add that the Earth turns so a building connected from another planet to a building in New York wouldn't... yeah, you're right...

While working on a time travel machine (I mean, like, who isn't?), Professor Dukes discovers that when he flips the "On" switch, the entire neighborhood freezes. "Hmmm, peculiar that... but of what use is this?" questions the goofy scientist. Just for giggles, Dukes decides to monkey with his machine to see just how far-reaching the effects can be. He hits "On" once again and then turns on his TV. The entire population of Earth (except for Dukes himself) is frozen. 

At just that moment, a group of alien invasion scouts land on Earth and witness the strange display. Reasoning that the planet must have been overcome by some strange virus that might prove deadly even to the warriors of Planet-OU812, the enemy ship flies back into space. Minutes later, the population returns to normal and Professor Dukes vows not to waste any more time on a gizmo that has no value to mankind. "Don't Nobody Move" adds to the general whimsical farce theme of this issue.

Through an amazing coincidence, a failed nightclub juggler becomes a sensation on a faraway planet. The less said about "Double Identity!" the better. And I'm serious. In the finale, "The Man Who Saw a Groplin," ace reporter Floyd Hubbard scores a string of exclusives thanks to his invisible alien friends, the titular Groplins. No one believes Chester until he makes a TV appearance and gives the world proof. More whimsy and some great Bob Powell art. Maybe Uncanny Tales should have been retitled Charming Fantasy.-Peter

World of Fantasy #1

Cover by John Severin

"The Cry of the Sorcerers!" (a: Werner Roth) ★1/2

(r: Crypt of Shadows #21)

"The Secret of the Mountain Top!" (a: Bernard Baily) ★★

"What Went Wrong?" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel) ★★1/2

"The Useless Ones!" (a: Tony DiPreta) ★★

"When Will They Come?" (a: Bob Bean) ★1/2

"Let There Be Light" (a: Dick Ayers) ★★

A couple of backwoods folk are poling their boat through the Black Swamp when they hear "The Cry of the Sorcerers!" When they reach their village, they encounter a city feller named Perry who took a detour and got lost. He makes fun of the swamp folk and their belief that there's gold hidden in the sorcerer's cave before driving off the next day.

A few nights later, Perry returns with a map that shows where the cave is. He sells it to the swamp folk and drives off. That night, the swampers pole their boat to the cave, explore it, dig in the spot shown on the map, and find gold! Suddenly, a sorcerer appears out of the fog and warns them. They hear a cry from deep inside the cave and make a run for it. As they run, they see the city feller run past them in a sorcerer costume. They pole off in their boat and never see him again. But what was the source of the cry in the cave?

Werner Roth's usual mediocre effort doesn't help this confusing tale. I thought that the city feller was after the gold, but if that were the case, why would he go to all the trouble of cooking up a map, selling it to the swamp folk, dressing as a sorcerer, and waiting for them in the cave? None of it makes sense. If he knew where the gold was, why not just go dig it up?

The tallest mountain on Earth looms large over a small village, bathing it in shadow. A stranger arrives, vowing to climb to the peak, but the mayor tells him the story of the strange mountain, which suddenly erupted from the ground over 100 years ago. Climbers came from far and wide but none who scaled the mountain ever returned. The young climber ignores the warning, determined to learn "The Secret of the Mountain Top!" Battling snow and wind he reaches the peak and finds people dressed like Ancient Greeks; they explain that they used to live by the Earth's core. They wanted to learn surface ways so they ascended, camouflaged by the mountain. They have learned all they need to know from the various climbers and now are ready to head back down to the center of the Earth. The young man appears to stay with them, the mountain disappears, and sun shines again on the village.

So many of the post-code Atlas stories are like this one in that the writer sets up a relatively interesting premise and then ends it with a sappy conclusion. The secret turns out to be ludicrous and everyone lives happily ever after. Bernard Baily was a pro and gives the art a good try, but there's not much anyone could do with this bland story.

Martian invaders have planned every detail of the invasion of Earth and are certain of success. Their ship launches and, as it approaches touchdown in an Idaho field, the crew see a sign that reads "Detour." Assuming the Earthlings posted the sign to warn them, the Martian ship makes a turn and promptly crashes into the side of a mountain. On Mars, observers wonder "What Went Wrong?" On Earth, a construction worker is chastised for sticking the detour sign in the wrong place, not knowing that his error saved the planet.

Forgione and Abel draw Martians that resemble humanoid birds, with purple skin, beaks, and slits for pupils. Their misplaced confidence is funny, as is the sudden way their mission ends. Best of all is the construction foreman who blows pipe smoke in the face of the worker who unwittingly saved us all. This is a rare Atlas story where the humor works.

A scientist who hopes to contribute something great to mankind looks out his window and feels sorry for "The Useless Ones," an old couple next door who spend all their time working in the garden. Little does the scientist know that their efforts will save the planet! When a strange, extra-terrestrial plant blooms and the husband cuts off a flower to give to his wife, she complains that it stinks. He promptly heads outside with weed killer, destroys the plant before it can spread, and unknowingly saves mankind.

I like the subtlety of this story, where no one ever breaks character; the scientist looks down on the old couple while they methodically go about their business. No one but the evil, extra-terrestrial plant ever has an inkling of the importance of what happens. Tony DiPreta's art is nothing special but it matches the low key nature of the story.

A young man has recurring dreams of a pretty girl and always wakes up crying out "When Will They Come?" Found as a baby and raised in an orphanage, he is telepathic and knows that his girlfriend Janice isn't sure she loves him. The man takes a vacation at a lodge near where he was found as a baby and (surprise!) sees the girl from his dreams standing outside the window. It turns out that he was lost as a baby when his parents' alien spaceship landed on Earth but had to leave in a hurry. Now he's reunited with Tala, his betrothed. Janice will be fine without him.

Any reader who didn't know what was going on right at the start must go back and reread six Atlas comics as punishment. Bob Bean's art is competent but no more.

A dense smog has spread over the Earth and Dr. Ross is determined to do something about it! Meanwhile, a blond man walks around with a lantern asking strangers for a light, but no one helps him, since matches are going for three dollars each. Dr. Ross is convinced he has a solution to the smog problem and heads for the Academy of Science. At his home, his son Billy encounters the man with the lantern and demonstrates his Boy Scout skills by rubbing two sticks together to make fire. The man turns out to be Apollo! He hops in his chariot and takes off for the sun, where he says, "Let There Be Light." The smog dissipates and Dr. Ross is congratulated for making the sun come back, unaware that it was Billy's act of kindness that saved the day.

Part of the "fun" of reading these comics is in trying to guess the ending of each story as I read it. In this one, I thought the stranger would be Diogenes, looking for an honest man and finding only a child. But nope, he was Apollo! It's not a great twist but I give it credit for outsmarting me.-Jack

Next Week...
Batman Encounters the
Menace From the Dawn of Time!

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 113: Marvel/Atlas Horror and Science Fiction Comics!

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 98

February 1956 Part III

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Strange Tales #43

Cover by Russ Heath

"The Man Who Lived Twice!" (a: Tony DiPreta) ★

"I Saved Mankind!" (a: John Forte) ★1/2

"Behind the Mask!" (a: Bob Brown & Joe Giella (?)) ★

"The Mysterious Machine!" (a: Larry Woromay & Steve Kirkel) ★★

"The Unbelievable Man!" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel) ★

Hal Walters lies dying on the operating table, but when an odd twist of fate grants him a reprieve, he becomes "The Man Who Lived Twice!" Well, kinda. Time is suspended and Hal gets to live one year per second on the clock. But he only has five seconds till he dies. How does he know this? Don't ask me. But Hal uses his time wisely. He plants pear trees along Main Street, shuts down nuclear reactors that are about to go Defcon-4, talks John Lennon out of going to that gallery, etc. When his five years are up and Hal has made everything right in the world, he accepts his fate. The script for "The Man Who Lived Twice!" asks the reader to suspend disbelief several times over its five-page span, but so do most other Atlas post-code fantasy tales. It's the dreadful art that really sinks this strip. Hard to believe this is the same DiPreta I raved about during the pre-code era; gone are the odd angles and eerie character depictions, replaced by stiff cardboard cut-outs. 

Lester Harmon awakens one night during a violent storm and hears a strange sound emanating from the woods. He goes out to investigate and stumbles across a group of aliens dumping vats of liquid into the town's reservoir. Knowing that aliens + good intentions don't mix, Lester fires a warning shot and the aliens grab their barrels and hoof it back to their UFO. Lester calls the White House and explains that if there's one spaceship, there might be two. Without hesitation, the Air Force is scrambled and all the UFOs are sent packing. Lester shrugs and exclaims "I Saved Mankind!" on national TV while the space visitors, who were actually dumping an elixir that would eradicate disease from Earth, head back to Planet X--Third From the Right. Like "The Man Who Lived Twice," any brief interlude of wit in "I Saved Mankind!" is buried in the muck of the heavily-inked, mediocre artwork.

This issue's theme of "Awful Art" continues with "Behind the Mask," about Joe Fenton, a carnival clown who desperately wants to adopt a kid with his wife. Because of his work schedule (!), the adoption agency turns the couple down, but a miracle arrives when Joe is walking home through a field and literally stumbles over an abandoned baby. The Fentons agree to keep the kid and tell all their friends they've finally been granted that adoption. 

Joe's happiness comes to a screeching halt when he overhears the baby speaking into a strange object and informing his C.O. that the way is nearly clear for the big Earth invasion. Yes! Joe Fenton's new son is actually Ogu, emissary from another world! Joe can't decide whether to keep quiet or to call the White House, like Lester Harmon did. In the end, that unhappy option is eliminated when he overhears Ogu telling his contact that Earth is a splendid place to live and should not be invaded. And oh, by the way, can Ogu stay? I'm not sure I understand the decision not to invade a planet you were already geared up for because the inhabitants are swell people, but if the order had been to go ahead and invade, then we wouldn't have been "blessed" with the saccharine-saturated finale. Yecccccch.

Frederick Harper has been working on a machine that can "convert" things (don't ask questions), but the darn thing doesn't want to do what it's supposed to do. Fed up after years of marriage to a worm, wife Louella pushes "The Mysterious Machine!" over and the gizmo spits out a diamond. Fred explains that the gem had previously been a simple rock. Louella takes the diamond to a jeweler and the man confirms its value, handing the amazed woman a cool grand in a quick sale. Louella heads home and tells her spineless husband to get cracking. 

Fred pumps out diamond after diamond and Louella poshes up her surroundings exponentially. Then, one day, Fred tells his wife he won't do it anymore, that man was not meant to tamper with the laws of nature and all that. He's going to change all the diamonds back to rocks. Louella enters the machine to retrieve her bounty and the converter switches on. Once the cycle is complete, Louella exits the contraption a loving wife who only wants to cuddle and make sandwiches for her hubby. I found "The Mysterious Machine!" to be enjoyable, despite some red flags (why does Fred suddenly decide it's not natural to turn rocks into gems after he's crafted millions of dollars' worth?) and the Woromay/Kirkel art sure looks like Howard Nostrand in spots. [Looks like bargain-basement Jack Davis to me!--Jack]

Someone is breaking into the lab of famed electronics expert, Professor Bryce, and stealing equipment. When Bryce stays after hours one night to try to catch the culprit, a man in fancy garb materializes and explains he's from the 18th century and came to the present via time machine to borrow elaborate devices in order to invent electric lights! Bryce refuses to let the man bring back any of his equipment and, moments after the man heads back to his own time, the lights go out across the world!

"The Unbelievable Man!" is another of those really contrived, headache-inducing time travel yarns that makes no sense no matter how many times you read it. Sure, I get that the lights go out, but why would the professor have a breaker box and fuses for lights that don't exist in the first place? And this guy is such a genius that he invented a time machine, but he has to cheat in order to become father of the light bulb!-Peter

Strange Tales of the Unusual #2

Cover by Sol Brodsky & Carl Burgos

"He Waits in the Dark Alley" (a: Bill Everett) ★★

"Man Afraid" (a: Joe Orlando) ★1/2

"The Man Without a Heart" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★

"Those Who Plan" (a: John Forte) ★

"Lost on the Wrong World" (a: Art Peddy & Bernard Baily(?)) ★

A skid row bum sleeps in alleys and regrets his life choices, remembering that his father once told him that if he wished hard enough, his dreams would come true. Ha! Yeah, right. Suddenly, the wino stumbles over a newspaper and, picking it up, notices that it has tomorrow's date.

Thinking back to that timely quote issued by his father, the vagrant decides this is a message from Heaven, his one big chance. Skimming the headlines, he comes across an item about a millionaire being assaulted in front of his office building. Picturing the huge reward the mogul will pay out, our hero hurries over to the building in order to interrupt the violent incident. He sees the tycoon and a car slowing down with a gun barrel pointed at its target. The bum wrestles the rich man to the ground and... is summarily arrested for assault. Just then, a policeman pokes the bum with his nightstick and he realizes he's back in his alley. It was all a dream! Then he sees the same newspaper lying on the ground and decides to mind his own business.

Wow! Never saw that big twist coming! "He Waits in the Dark Alley" starts out interestingly enough, with our protagonist mulling his fate ("If only I could get a break--get lots of money! But that would take some special kind of miracle! Me, I just get lower and lower as the years go by!"), but quickly becomes the same old "peek into the future" nonsense. The story can't be completely ignored, however, since it features some atmospheric Bill Everett artwork.

"Man Afraid" is a mediocre alien espionage thriller about a guy who suddenly becomes convinced that the people around him are aliens. It's only in the end that he discovers he can pick the outer space visitors out of a crowd because he's one of them! Another cliched plot device covered. Artist Joe Orlando still seems to be developing that eerie style he perfected once he became the chief architect of the DC mystery titles.

Pulp hack Carl Wessler earns his easiest twenty bucks when he rewrites Dickens' A Christmas Carol as "The Man Without a Heart." Seriously, we've called out swipes and cliches numerous times here, but this has to be one of the most egregious examples set down on paper. Were there no copies of the Dickens holiday classic circulating in America in 1956?

The doldrums continue with "Those Who Plan," wherein a poor schmuck overhears two dogs talking about world domination and then tries to convince the authorities of the plot. He's first shown the precinct door and then, eventually, loaded into a wagon by those nice young men in their clean white coats.

And... let's add a cherry on top with the confusing "Lost on the Wrong World." Mean-spirited Harvey Watts visits his optician in order to get new eyeglasses, but when the specs are fitted, Harvey sees his face on everyone around him. After a long, convoluted, and unfunny series of events, Harvey becomes disgusted with mankind and takes a rocket ship to Mars, where he lives happily ever after. Five cliched and lazily-written tales in one issue. I believe this is why slabbed comics were invented.-Peter

Uncanny Tales #40

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Night the Sphinx Spoke!" (a: Dick Ayers) ★

"There Is No Escape" (a: Ross Andru) ★1/2

"A Day to Remember" (a: John Severin) ★★1/2

"The Man Who Vanished!" (a: John Forte) ★★

"A Man's Best Friend" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★★

"Trapped in the Labyrinth!" (a: Doug Wildey) ★★1/2

Archaeologists have discovered a secret chamber in the sphinx, so a crook named Vince cooks up a scheme to trick superstitious local workmen into handing over the jewels they find in the chamber. Vince wires the sphinx for sound and "The Night the Sphinx Spoke!" follows. It tells the workmen to hand over the jewels to Pharaoh, who is actually Vince's cohort, Jerry, in costume. The handoff goes as planned, but when Vince returns to Cairo to meet up with Jerry, he is arrested and thrown in the clink with Jerry, who says that he was arrested that morning for stealing a pharaoh costume from the museum. But if the sphinx wasn't Jerry, who was it?

Raise your hand if you didn't see that ending coming. You are officially banned from reading Atlas comics. You'll thank me. Dick Ayers turns in some awful art here and this issue is notable for including six stories rather than the usual five; none exceed four pages.

Chased down a dark alley by androids, a man fears that "There is No Escape"! He makes his way to a secret meeting of humans and tells them that androids are a menace. The humans are skeptical, but the man insists. He leaves and is again trailed until he succeeds in reaching a safe house, where he climbs into a tub and pushes a button to turn himself off. A small group of humans and androids enter and agree that the man, a robot, needs to be controlled so that it doesn't ruin the peace between humans and androids.

The only plus about this four-pager is that Ross Andru tried a bit harder with his panels than Dick Ayers did in the story before it. Otherwise, it makes little sense and just takes up space.

Rupert leaves for work in the morning but can't remember what the thing was that he was supposed to remember today. Neither can his wife, Thelma. On his way to work, Rupert finds a wallet on the sidewalk. Inside it is a note promising a reward to the person who brings it to 236 Elm Drive.

Rupert takes a bus to Elm Drive and approaches the house, the roof of which resembles a rocket ship. He enters and is welcomed by Martians, who reveal that the reward is a free trip to Mars! Rupert tries to decline but is told that the Martian king wants to see a real, live Earthling. Unfortunately for the Martians, a short-circuit in the ship's wiring prevents it from taking off and Rupert escapes out a window. Back at home, he and Thelma suddenly recall that today is April Fool's Day! They have a laugh about the Martians but, on Mars, the king is not laughing.

John Severin single-handedly saves the day for this issue of Uncanny Tales with three pages of delightful art. Carl Wessler's script for "A Day to Remember" is silly, but at least we get more Severin. I felt sympathy for Rupert, since I have trouble remembering things all the time.

A painter named Ogden pays a visit to his friend, a doctor named Don Keller, who is experimenting on animals by injecting a serum into them to try to make growths disappear. He's puzzled by the fact that the entire animal disappears for a short time!

Don tells Ogden that his artwork is primitive, like ancient cave paintings. When Don leaves the room to fix coffee for them both, Ogden accidentally injects himself with the serum and becomes "The Man Who Vanished!" He finds himself back in caveman times, hunting a mastodon. When he and the other cavemen return to their cave after the hunt, Og (Ogden's caveman name) begins to sketch pictures on the wall, telling the story of the hunt. He awakens back in Don's house and he and Don sit down to coffee and argue about whether his art is primitive or modern.

I'm a bit taken aback by this story, which actually has some thought behind it. I wonder how many readers in 1956 were familiar with terms like primitive or modern art. John Forte does his usual, adequate job illustrating the tale, but I gave this one a two-star rating because it made me think, at least a little bit, which is not something that often happens when I read Atlas comics.

Harvey thinks that Bruce is just a big, lazy hound, but when a spaceship from Jupiter lands in Harvey's back yard and Bruce is kidnapped as an example of an Earth creature, "A Man's Best Friend" soon proves his worth! Bruce is taken back to Jupiter, where he unwittingly helps the emperor squelch a rebellion. The grateful emperor cancels the planned invasion of Earth and sends Bruce home, where Harvey tells him that he's useless, but he loves him anyway.

We've seen versions of this story before, where a dog saves the planet from alien invaders and the humans never know it. Ed Winiarski is not my favorite Atlas artist, but I like the costumes of the folks on Jupiter--the hooded rebels look like villains from a Golden Age comic.

Wilson and Holt love puzzles so much that they try to come up with games that the other can't solve. Wilson takes Holt to see Massam Farrah, an Indian mystic, who hypnotizes Holt. Holt finds himself in a world so surreal that he can't escape; he admits defeat and Farrah tells him that he was "Trapped in the Labyrinth!" of his own mind.

For an issue that seems to be comprised of short stories from the scrap heap, Uncanny Tales #40 has two tales that are worth a look. The first was "The Man Who Vanished!" and the second is this one. I'm reproducing the last two pages here because they look like something Ditko might have drawn for Dr. Strange a decade later.-Jack

Next Week...
Two of the Rogues
in One Story!

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 112: Marvel/ Atlas Science Fiction and Horror Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 97

February 1956 Part II

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Mystery Tales #38

Cover by Bill Everett & Carl Burgos

"The Man With Two Faces!" (a: Bob Powell) ★★

"The Ice Man!" (a: Bill Benulis) ★★★

"The Searching Wind!" (a: Manny Stallman) ★★★

"The Globes That Vanished!" (a: Al Hartley) ★

"Lost in the Black Tunnel" (a: Tony DiPreta) ★

Wandering the mountains of Tibet, really ugly sculptor Jon Carlton runs into a lama (not the four-legged kind) who tells him that beauty is only skin deep, ugliness is a reflection of the soul, and a lot of other mystic mumbo-jumbo. Jon balks and heads back to the States, where he discovers he can only create really ugly art. No one will buy his pieces and Jon is going broke. What he needs is a really good-looking woman.

Jon finds a hot dame in Marie Trevor, who is not only blonde, but intelligent! What a find, he thinks, but Marie would never date a gargoyle like Jon. Something has to be done, pronto. So the artist makes a mask and pops it on. He goes out socializing, hits it off with Marie, and before you know it, they're making wedding plans. Jon knows he has to confess about the big clay mask on his face because... well, you know, wedding night and all. So he tells Marie to turn her back and he whips off the mask, only to discover his real face has become the handsome Jon he'd only imagined. We'll never know if Marie was a superficial gold digger because she smiles and wonders what Jon is up to. If only she knew.

"The Man With Two Faces!" is another of these post-CCA tales that would doubtless have been completely different without restrictions. Jon, when it comes right down to it, is a good guy with a good heart (he's just a bit homely), so no real "just desserts" were on the menu. I'd love to see how long Jon's solution to his ugly mug would have worked in "real life." We never see him go back to his artist's studio and craft new masks every hour or so, but I gotta imagine after a while that face was getting pretty stiff. Poor Bob Powell; now that the comic industry has been gelded, he can't whip up the old ghoulish magic and has to make do with a whole lot of talking faces.

Deep in debt, 16th-century pauper George Wembly accepts an offer from King Edward himself and allows a scientist to place George into suspended animation. Four hundred years later, George is awakened from his slumber by a passing whaling ship. George vows to not slip into old habits of incurring debt, but when he falls in love with beautiful Eleanor, he discovers women of the 20th are not much different than women of the 16th. George grabs a rowboat and heads for his old iceberg.  "The Ice Man!" is a funny, sweet strip that I would call a "cautionary tale" if we men didn't already know. As with Bob Powell, Bill Benulis puts in extra effort even when it's a simple dialogue panel.

In "The Searching Wind," two 21st-century scientists theorize that hurricanes are plotted rather than random. When they take their jet up into the eye of the storm, their ship is forced down, but something is following them. Turns out aliens from another planet are testing out their weapons in preparation to invade Earth. The final panel, where the military prepares for space war, is a great wrap-up. I always like reading these stories set in the then-future to see how close the writer came to guessing how advanced we'd become. Pretty close.

All the globes in the world suddenly fly off their perches and head for space. Scientists are baffled until the orbs return and display a new world on their surface. The land masses are now underwater and the seas have dried up. When one of the eggheads spins his globe, a message appears: "The alternative to Peace." "The Globes That Vanished!" is preachy in a boring way and is caked with a mediocre sheen, care of Al Hartley. In the equally inane "Lost in the Black Tunnel," three thieves attempt to hide from the cops in a Tunnel of Love and stumble across a race of subterranean four-armed creatures.-Peter

Mystic #44

Cover by Carl Burgos

"Man from the Saucer!" (a: Bill Everett) ★★1/2

"Those in Hiding!" (a: Bob Brown) ★1/2

"The Footprints" (a: John Forte) ★★

"Defeat!" (a: Vic Carrabotta) ★★

"Danger in the Night" (a: Mac L. Pakula) ★

A flying saucer that's buzzing the skies over London has the populace in a state of confusion and panic. The alien vehicle also has everyone doubting the identity of their neighbor. In fact, over at the Soho Cafe, the waitresses and diner owner, Edwin Rudley, suspect that top server Flo's new beau has another set of arms under that marvelous suit. The truth is predictable. The plot and reveal of "Man From the Saucer!" have been done to death (and don't think this will be the last time we'll see them, either), but who cares when you've got the devilishly good art of Bill Everett to ogle. Everett's women are unparalleled in funny books. Don't argue with me.

In "Those In Hiding," John Carter is about to be operated on when he gives the universal sign of hope, the crossed fingers. Suddenly, the surgeon stops the operation and orders Carter to be taken back to his room. Later, the doc visits Carter and explains that he is one of the "secret sorcerers" that invented the magic that made airplanes, nuclear bombs, and porta-potties; Mark's crossed fingers are a sign to the sorcerers that they've been recognized. Mark tries to explain that he's completely in the dark, but the doctor is hearing none of it. He sighs, apologizes, and lets Mark know that extreme measures will have to be taken. Yes, I'm afraid Mark is put into a trance and wakes up to remember only a bad dream. Talk about brutality. These post-code villains were ruthless. As is Bob Brown's stiff and elementary artwork. It's not horrible; in fact, it's serviceable. That's the problem; there's no life in any of the panels.

Little Freddy discovers there are elves hiding in the woods surrounding his parents' property. He can't get his Ma and Pa to believe him, but he knows better. Meanwhile, one of the elves is trying to convince his Pop that giants exist. "The Footprints" is a cute little fantasy with some sharp John Forte graphics.

Retired army general Ryder spends every waking hour trying to recreate Waterloo, with Napoleon as the victor. If only Ryder were there instead of Napoleon. Presto! He is there and in the midst of battle. Can this old fart succeed where Napoleon failed? Spoiler alert: Nope. "Defeat!" is another anemic variation on the overused "if you go back in time, you will alter history" plot device.

The final story this issue, "Danger in the Night," is an overlong and weakly-scripted rip-off of Orson Welles's famous War of the Worlds broadcast. In this version, a rural police chief receives an airing of an invasion of Saturnians and alerts the White House. Inexplicably, the Air Force bombers are scrambled and army boots hit the ground in neighboring towns but, in the end, it's simply a dramatized invasion of Earth. This one from Saturn itself. Mac Pakula's art seesaws between sketchy and too heavily inked to salvageable in spots.-Peter

Spellbound #26

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Things in the Box!" (a: Dick Ayers) ★★

"The Stranger's Eyes!" (a: John Romita) ★★

"The Brain" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★1/2

"Prisoner of the Dwarfs!" (a: Art Peddy) ★

"Beware: The House!" (a: Bill Benulis) ★★

A miserable, 35-year-old man named Jan Elliot works as a janitor and lives in a dreary basement room. A large box is delivered to him and he thinks it's a mistake, but when he opens it, it's a birthday gift: a Rejuvachange Kit, with chemicals to change his appearance. He mixes the chemicals, drinks the potion, passes out, and wakes up to find himself suddenly handsome.

A man with a white beard and a strange outfit appears and tells Jan that he comes from two hundred years in the future and the box was delivered to Jan by mistake. The wonderful world of the future was made possible by the Galactic President, the first super-being, and the bearded man was supposed to receive the box. Jan hands it over and the man begins to fade away. As he disappears, he explains that he is the Galactic President of the future and he's also Jan Elliot!

I know that's supposed to be a big, surprising ending, but I don't really get it. Jan took the potion by mistake and will now be a mutant who changes the world for the better and lives another two hundred years. That part I get. But why does the Jan of the future need to drink it again? Is it to become young and handsome again? "The Things in the Box" doesn't make a lot of sense.

Sitting at a cafe, Howard Gleason complains about being an ordinary guy. The man sitting next to him proclaims that "there is nothing a man can't do if he concentrates hard enough!" Howard gazes into "The Stranger's Eyes!" and rushes out the door to catch the last bus home. As he runs after it, he concentrates hard on catching it and suddenly takes flight! At home, his wife Nina isn't happy with the change in Howard; she likes him just the way he is.

The next day, at work, Howard shows what concentration can do. By the end of the week, his boss has given him a big raise and a promotion. On his way home, he flies over a railroad crossing and prevents a crash, but a policeman complains that he could have handled it without help. Howard begins to feel sad that no one likes him anymore. He discovers that the man at the cafe was Sabatini, the world's greatest hypnotist, so he visits the performer in the middle of his show and has him reverse the spell. Within a few days things are back to normal, until Howard is late for his bus and again takes flight.

It's interesting to see the 1950s' work of John Romita, since his style would later become so familiar. Here, some of the panels look a bit like the work of Jack Davis, while others hint at the future Romita style.

Professor Stowe discovers a large, strangely-shaped brain in a jar in his lab one morning and wonders how it got there. No one knows, but when he opens the jar, the brain disintegrates. Another brain appears the next day and, like before, "The Brain" is labeled, "Martian Brain." With the help of a scientist named Keller, Stowe studies the brain through the jar. Keller draws what a Martian must look like, based on Keller's calculations, and sketches what looks like a giant ant. Finally, Keller notices that the jar magnifies objects inside it by a thousand times, so the brain is actually tiny. It turns out to be an ant's brain, so Stowe concludes that Martians are ants. Two ants on the lab floor wiggle their antennae excitedly now that interplanetary contact has been made.

Yeesh! That was dumb. Hard to believe two scientists could study the brain so thoroughly and not notice the glass was really thick. The ending, where we learn that ants put the brain there so they could make contact with humans, is ridiculous. Maybe they could crawl under the jar and put the teeny, tiny brain in, but how did they write the full-sized label saying it's a Martian brain?

Park Ranger Dave Morrow becomes a "Prisoner of the Dwarfs!" when he seeks out the source of a mysterious forest fire. Underground, the wee folk show him a dynamite charge that will destroy the Earth if the dwarves are discovered. Dave struggles and suddenly finds himself back above ground. Other rangers find the dwarves' hole and the dynamite blows up, but instead of destroying the planet, it just closes the hole. Somehow, in his underground struggle, Dave changed the angle of the explosives and saved the planet.

Too bad dynamite didn't blow up this script before Art Peddy was assigned to draw it. We all would've been better off.

Jack Delaney inherits a big, old house, moves in, spiffs it up, and finds that every aspect of his life seems to improve. Why, the house even seems to anticipate his needs! He makes the mistake of bringing pretty Jane Farley home as his wife and the house rebels, eventually catching fire. The couple manage to escape out a window and, in the charred remains of the structure, Jack finds a wooden heart, cracked in two.

"Beware: The House!" is not much of a story, but I see what you mean about Bill Benulis's art. It's clean and reminds me a bit of Krigstein's work.-Jack

Strange Stories of Suspense #7

Cover by John Severin

"Closed In" (a: Werner Roth) ★★

"Old John's Secret" (a: Bill Everett) ★★★

"The House That Wasn't" (a: John Forte) ★1/2

"Turnabout" (a: Ed Moore) ★★

"The Eyes!" (a: Vic Carrabotta) ★★

Val Kenyon is slowly going crazy due to overpopulation in the future. He takes a dangerous job in exchange for some privacy for himself and his wife and soon discovers that he is being trained to be on the first colonizing spaceship to the stars.

Werner Roth's art on "Closed In" is not bad--certainly better than I expected when I saw his name. I think of him as one of the X-Men artists I was never happy to see. The problem of overpopulation is one that used to be addressed frequently in science fiction stories but doesn't get talked about much nowadays.

Old John works in a factory manning a riveting machine, but he's poorly paid and makes frequent mistakes. One night he stays late to finish his work and there's a knock at the door. He admits a man who asks him to rivet together two split sections of a strange metallic plate. Old John tries his best, but half of the plate is held with broken rivets. The stranger is in a hurry; he grabs the finished product and pays John before rushing off into the night. In the driving rain, the stranger tears off his plastic mask to reveal that he's a green mutant from the future! He puts the riveted piece of metal in place on the side of a time machine and he and his fellow mutant take off for the future, having made note of the weapons of our time so they can later return and rule the world! Unfortunately, the poorly-riveted metal fails and the time machine explodes and crashes. "Old John's Secret" is that he'll never tell about the after-hours job he did, unaware that he saved mankind.

Bill Everett does a nice job with this one, though he doesn't get to draw any pretty girls as he did in "Man from the Saucer!" The story is one we've read before and the end is no surprise. The highlight is the panel I've reproduced here.

After arguing with his strong-willed wife Alice in the morning before leaving for work, Dan Reed returns home at day's end to find a duplicate house next to his own, with a duplicate Alice who is completely subservient to his needs. He quickly tires of her agreeing with everything he says and goes next door to the real Alice, grateful for her independence. He assumes he imagined "The House That Wasn't," but how can he explain the hair clip in his pocket from the other Alice?

John Forte's art looks nice on this four-pager, which is essentially just a series of panels showing Dan and Alice talking to each other. The replacement Alice seems like the ultimate 1950s wife, but the ending with the hair clip is unnecessary.

Lou and Emmy are in the attic, trying on clothes from 1910 and wishing they could go back in time and be young again. Suddenly, they begin to notice some unusual things. A grandfather clock that they sold thirty years ago is back in its place, the old telephone is hanging on the wall, all of the old furniture has returned, and on the piano is a copy of "Latest Hits of 1909." Emmy and Lou look at each other and realize they are young again and they're back in 1910!

Outside, they run into friends who remark about a wedding the night before, and Emmy and Lou hop into their old jalopy for a drive down the street. They return to the attic and decide they'd like to go back to 1955 but, no matter how hard they wish, they remain stuck in 1910. In 1955, another couple have just finished putting on unfamiliar clothes and look out the window to see a jet plane fly overhead. They realize that they're now in 1955 and happily exclaim that "'we got our wish!'"

"Turnabout" starts out charmingly, very much like one of Jack Finney's 1950s' time travel stories. The art by Ed Moore is clean but, like so many Atlas stories, the writer doesn't know where to go after three and a half pages and ends it with a letdown of a twist.

The day after he robs a store, Barney Harper hides out in a run-down room, afraid that the police will catch up with him. When he opens the shade to let in some light, he sees a detective staring in at him. The second time he looks out, he sees strange creatures watching him! Barney leaves the building, but everywhere he goes, the detective seems to follow. Upset by all of "The Eyes!" that he's sure are watching him, Barney turns himself in at the police station and confesses to his crime. The desk sergeant shows him the daily paper and Barney sees that the detective and the creatures were really giant balloons in the annual Christmas parade! When he's put in a cell, the prisoner in the cell next door has eyes like those on the balloons.

I was going to give this story a star and a half, mainly due to the art, but I let out a loud laugh when I saw that the detective and the creatures were really big parade balloons. A laugh is worth an extra half star, even if the writer blew it by tacking on a second twist that's less effective.-Jack

Next Week...
Jack and Peter will try to figure out
how the enigmatic No-Face actually eats!