Star Spangled DC War Stories Issue 157: February 1975

The DC War Comics
1959-1976
by Corporals Enfantino and Seabrook

Dominguez

Weird War Tales 34

"The Common Enemy!"
Story by Arnold Drake
Art by Jack Sparling

"The Flying Coffins!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ruben Yandoc

"To His Rescue Came a Maiden!"
Story by George Kashdan
Art by Ricardo Villamonte

Peter: An American soldier ends up stranded on a deserted island in the Pacific during WWII, alone save a giant Easter Island-esque totem half-buried in the jungle. Then, after two years of solitude, the GI gets a visitor: a Japanese soldier, who immediately lets his enemy know he's not there to make friends. The two begin a never-ending war and during one of their mini-battles, the statue is hit by a potato masher and, amazingly, digs itself out. The two soldiers forget their private war for the moment and team up to fight this new menace. Then it seems the totem has become bored of the game; it calls forth its spaceship, parked at the bottom of the ocean "maybe a million years," and flies off. The two earthlings resume their battle for decades!

"The Common Enemy!"

I would proclaim this one of the stupidest DC war stories I've ever read, but then I'm sure I've said that before (and, doubtless, will again), but... seriously, this is the stupidest DC war story I've ever read. Writer Drake dusts off one of the oldest cliches in the book, the "Arena" rip-off, and then throws in some von Daniken just for the hell of it. But the rising totem is not the dopiest element... that would be the never-ending supply of ammo these two soldiers use on each other. The final panel lets us know that, 29 years after the war has ended, these two jamokes are still firing at each other! Did they figure out a way to make bullets out of coconuts?

In World War I, French ace Guy Genet and his German counterpart, Hauptmann Kleber, commit to a solo duel but both are killed before the match-up can occur. Death won't slow these two down, though, so decades later, during WWII, the aces finally get their duel. Well, actually, I guess death did slow them down since it took them decades to finally empty their machine guns into each other! Big Bob's weird script for "The Flying Coffins!" is as dusty as the rest of his contributions, but at least the art chores were handed over to Ruben Yandoc (Rubeny), and the visuals are pretty nice. The ending sputters out as badly as Kleber's Fokker DR-1, with no clear outcome of the ghostly duel.

What? Did you think I was lying?!
("The Common Enemy!")

Sadistic Nazi Colonel von Hoffman, fleeing from American soldiers, ducks into a castle and meets up with the caretaker, who promises the colonel he will lead him to safety. After the servant takes von Hoffman to an underground passageway, the colonel murders him and ducks through a doorway, unaware that he's walking into an Iron Maiden. Bloodthirsty Nazis have become the go-to monsters in WWT and von Hoffman is only the latest. As with "The Flying Coffins!," "To His Rescue Came a Maiden!" holds no surprises but is easy on the eye. Clever title, too.

"The Flying Coffins!"

Jack: It's hard to say which of these three stories is the worst, but I'll give the edge to "The Common Enemy!," which features dreadful Sparling art amidst a hodgepodge of cliches from war comics and the 1970s. It's like a racist space odyssey. "The Flying Coffins!" is similar to the story before it in that two enemies keep fighting after they should have stopped. Still, Yandoc is better than Sparling. "To His Rescue Came a Maiden!" is best because it's only four pages long. The end comes out of nowhere and Villamonte's art looks like he's still got a lot to learn.

Kubert

G.I. Combat 175

"The Captive Tank"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Sam Glanzman

"Ace Without Pity"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ric Estrada

Peter: On the way to defend Hill 217, the Jeb engages and destroys a German tank. The Nazi commander survives the ordeal but he's a little frazzled and believes the Jeb to be another German tank. Commander Jeb plays along with his German counterpart and obeys the orders given him, realizing that the directions to Hill 217 the Nazi is giving are taking the Jeb through mine-free territory. Once the Jeb Stuart makes it to the Hill, the Nazi regains his senses and tries to sabotage the mission, but our heroes survive to fight another day.

It's inexplicable to me that Jeb would have let the Nazi take command of the Haunted Tank from the get-go (after it's apparent the tank is heading through a safe zone, I get it, but Jeb sure didn't know that, did he?) and it's at that point in "The Captive Tank" his crew should have been questioning their commander's losing his marbles rather than earlier, when he's having his usual beginning-of-the-adventure powwow with the great General in the Sky (and, Big Bob, can't we refrain at least one issue from the obligatory discussion amongst the crew about the mental state of their commander?).

"The Captive Tank"

World War I pilot Bruno Krieg has one goal as he takes to the skies and that's to become a German ace no matter what the cost. He engages a British pilot but the Brit soon runs out of ammo. That won't stop Krieg from attaining his glory, so he opens up on his defenseless enemy and awaits ace-dom. His euphoria is short-lived, however, when the Brit sends his plane crashing into Krieg's Focke-Wulf and the German takes a nose-dive. Krieg survives the crash and swims to shore but, later, while attempting to reach his airfield by sea, he is attacked by a Great White... an enemy as cut-throat and unforgiving as he. Much better than the lead-in thanks to its ironic climax, "Ace Without Pity" sure feels like a "Gallery of War" entry. It's got the heavier and more violent script by Kanigher and roller coaster visuals by Estrada. It's the best Ric/Big Bob entry in quite some time but still more evidence that, aside from the Enemy Ace, Kanigher's Nazis were glory-hungry, bloodthirsty androids.

"Ace Without Pity"

Jack: "The Captive Tank" got pretty exciting despite Glanzman's art and it was nice to see Gus get some action for a change. I like how Kanigher (at least this time out) works to distinguish the members of the usually faceless tank crew from each other. As for "Ace Without Pity," I was sure this was a Jaws tie-in but then I saw that the movie did not come out till the following summer, so I guess Big Bob anticipated the feeding frenzy in advance! The letters page has Glanzman's autobiography, which is reproduced at the bottom of this post.

Kubert

Our Army at War 277

"Gashouse Gang"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Russ Heath

"Death-Watch!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ric Estrada

Jack: Marching through snow on their way north through Italy, the men of Easy Co. suddenly find themselves under fire. Rock sustains a serious injury to his foot and instructs Bulldozer to take command and check out the area while Rock stays behind in a hillside cave. Hours pass and Bulldozer returns, distraught over having lost track of some of his men.

The next night, Bulldozer goes out again with a reduced force and comes back at dawn, having lost even more men. By the next evening, Bulldozer has gone off the deep end due to grief and thinks he's back in his boyhood haunt on Chicago's South Side, fighting the "Gashouse Gang." Rock knocks him out but later that night Bulldozer escapes. Although he is still injured, Rock sets off alone to look for his comrade. He saves Bulldozer from some Nazi gunners and then convinces the still-addled soldier that they are both kids in Chicago and the Nazis are the Gashouse Gang.

"Gashouse Gang"

Rock and Bulldozer manage to destroy a giant Nazi gun and, when they head back to base and see that the men who were thought to be lost are alive and well, Bulldozer snaps out of his funk and is back to his old self.

Russ Heath may not be capable of turning in a bad art job, and this one is pretty good, especially in some of the more violent spots. Still, Kanigher's script is corny and goes over some tired territory. It's also a bit hard to follow at times. I do like getting a bit of back-story on one of the men of Easy Co., though, something I wish they'd do more of.

Marine Sergeant Sam Huff is asked by one of his men to tell the story of war photographer Arnie Anderson, who won a prize for a picture he took during battle on Guadalcanal. Huff explains how the intrepid photographer followed his unit from island to jungle, snapping pictures but seemingly managing to avoid injury while men were dying all around him. The soldiers began to think he was bad luck, so he went to sit in his jeep, where he was promptly killed by enemy fire. Sgt. Huff's photo of Anderson, dead in the jeep, was published in Life.

"Death-Watch!"

Kanigher and Estrada team up for an impressive Gallery of War entry! The black and white panels that represent the photos Anderson took are more impressive than Estrada's color work, probably because they're grittier than what we're used to from this artist. I looked up Arnie Anderson but he seems to be a fictional character.

Peter: Another issue, another serious injury to Rock. Bulldozer remarks "You ought be on your way back to the base, Rock..." when, actually, the Sarge probably should have been laid up in a military hospital for months after all the wounds he's suffered lately. And who really thought any of the regulars had met with untimely fates? Again, Bulldozer makes a pithy comment upon seeing the return of all his missing comrades: "I feel like--I'm comin' back--from a bad dream!" Yep, feels just like one of those dream stories to me as well. The "Gallery of War" entry is a strong one, graced with a powerful final image and perhaps the best Estrada work yet. I wonder if Big Bob was basing his Arnie Anderson character on famed WWII journalist Ernie Pyle, also killed in action.

Kubert

Star Spangled War Stories 184

"A Sense of Obligation"
Story by David Michelinie
Art by Gerry Talaoc

"Death on the Russian Front"
Story by Steve Skeates
Art by Ramona Fradon

Peter: The Unknown Soldier receives the word on his latest mission while he's perfecting his killing skills. In order to protect the "Operation: Torch" mission the Allies have sweeping through North Africa, US must infiltrate the German Commando training center located in France. Once there, our hero befriends Heinrich Staub, a German soldier not entirely sympathetic to the Nazi code of ethics; US saves the man's life during a field exercise and earns his trust. Later, during a raid on a French resistance headquarters, Staub witnesses the Soldier unmasked and says nothing to his superiors, believing US to be a disfigured German soldier seeking anonymity. Eventually, US leads a band of French freedom fighters in an assault on the commandos and US is forced to kill Staub. Again, the Unknown Soldier has excelled at his job but feels no triumph.

"A Sense of Obligation"

"A Sense of Obligation" is another really good Michelinie/Talaoc installment, with lots of standout dialogue and twists. As when Staub looks on in disgust at Nazi soldiers executing villagers:

Staub: There are other ways of punishing rebels--more humane ways! But these "elite soldiers" seem to delight in inflicting pain! Sometimes I think that's the only reason the blasted Nazis started the war!
US: The blasted--? But Heinrich--you are a Nazi!
Staub: Nein! I am a German! I will never be a Nazi! I hate what these devils are doing to the country I love!

Equally effective is the scene where Staub helps the Soldier out from under some debris and hands him his mask, mistakenly believing this is a comrade who only wants to hide his scars from fellow soldiers. It's a fabulous scene and creates a foundation for the tough choice the Soldier must make in the end. Gerry Talaoc's art for that scene is like something out of Tales From the Crypt. We are in good hands here.

"A Sense of Obligation"

The second half of this issue's double-bill is Steve Skeates's preachy "Death on the Russian Front," wherein a Nazi officer must contend with two soldiers and their disregard for the fancy officers of the Luftwaffe. War is hell and it makes good men do bad things. A new message. The art, by Golden Age artist Ramona Fradon, is not awful (it's a kind of low-rent Will Eisner if you look at it sideways), but the huge, fried-egg eyes on all three characters is a bit annoying.

"Death on the Russian Front"

Jack: This was easily the best of the four comics we read for this post. Gerry Talaoc is a great choice to draw the Unknown Soldier series, which has taken a welcome turn with the decision to eschew the bandages and instead have US look more like a living skull. Michelinie's story is very good, involving a decent German who forces US to make a difficult decision. I enjoyed the second story more than you did, Peter. I'm happy to see something set on the Russian Front for a change, since this is a big part of WWII that is neglected in the DC War Comics. When I see Ramona Fradon's art, I immediately think of her work on Metamorpho; it takes a bit of getting used to, but I really like it, and I seem to recall she did some great work in the DC Horror books later in the '70s. It's also cool that she was a female comic artist at a time when men overwhelmed the industry.

Next Week...
Praise for Grandenetti?
Peter Needs a Vacation?
Jack Weighs In!

From G.I. Combat 175

The Hitchcock Project-James P. Cavanagh Part Eleven: Where Beauty Lies [7.38] and Wrapup

by Jack Seabrook

Alfred Hitchcock Presents began its seven-year run in October 1955 with "Revenge" and ended in June 1962 with another tale of revenge, "Where Beauty Lies." The teleplay is by James P. Cavanagh and the title card says it is based on a story by Henry Farrell, but no such short story was ever published. Instead, it appears that Farrell wrote a teleplay and sold it to the TV show, where James P. Cavanagh revised it. Two copies of Farrell's original script are in the collection of his papers at Boston University; they are dated March 22, 1962, and to review them one would have to go to Boston and visit the library in person, since they are under copyright and the library staff will not make copies nor allow copies to be made.

The final version of the script, as by Cavanagh and as filmed and directed by Robert Florey, aired on NBC on Tuesday, June 26, 1962, and was the last new episode of the half-hour series to air on network television. The unaired episode, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," later turned up in syndication packages.

Cloris Leachman as Caroline

"Where Beauty Lies" opens with a scene deceptive in several ways, as Paul Ross and Caroline Hardy embrace passionately. She seems apprehensive yet he is aggressive; as they cling together on a couch, the doorbell rings. Paul's wife Julie is at the door and he leaves with her, after which Caroline's brother Collin arrives to take his sister home. What is going on here? We soon learn that Caroline has an unusual love/hate relationship with her brother (she's 37 and he's two years younger), a famous and very handsome stage actor. Back at home, Caroline sets out dinner in a room decorated with numerous framed photographs of her brother (and what appears to be an Oscar on a bookshelf). Collin returns from a rehearsal and she is angry at him for breaking up her affair with Paul.

George Nader as Collin

Caroline is bitter that her brother lives his life as he wishes while she serves him. Believing her chances at happiness are few, she is the plain sister of a handsome man and she has spent her life in her brother's shadow, envying his good looks. The following Thursday evening, Collin and Caroline dine together at a fancy restaurant and she is happy until his beautiful actress/girlfriend Joan arrives and the two of them leave for a party, leaving Caroline alone and heartbroken.

The next week, Caroline is at home supervising a man who is repainting the interior walls. Collin comes home and informs her that she is not going to Boston with him, where he is about to star in a play. Caroline had been angry at not being included in the party after their dinner together, and now, once Collin is gone, she makes a telephone call to confirm her suspicion that Joan is going with him. Caroline smashes a framed photo of Collin on the floor and we see his face being obliterated by paint thinner that spills from a can that tipped over on the floor.

One day soon after that, Caroline receives a telegram that reports that Collin will arrive home on the late train. She looks at his partially destroyed photo and asks the painter to start working on the walls in Collin's study. That night, she prepares the study and pours the flammable paint thinner all over the logs in the fireplace. She leaves a note for her brother, telling him that she was tired and went to bed and instructing him to "put a light under the soup." Later, Collin arrives home and she listens from another room as he enters the study, closes an open window to keep out the cold, and bends down to light the fire in the fireplace. He lights the fire and suddenly the flames roar up from the paint thinner that was poured on the logs; he screams as his face is burned.

We next see Collin and Caroline in his hospital room, where he lies in bed with his face wrapped in bandages. The doctor asks Caroline to speak to him in the hallway and tells her that her brother will be blind; his face will be disfigured but plastic surgery may help.

The show's final scene takes place back at Collin's home, where Caroline serves him lunch on a tray that he angrily knocks to the floor. Blind and bitter, he wants to be left alone and has shut himself away from other people for weeks. Collin keeps his face hidden and turns away from the camera. Distraught at losing his good looks, the former leading man laments that "'I'm only fit to play in horror pictures.'" Throughout the scene, he keeps his face turned away, building up suspense and making the viewer yearn to experience the full horror of his disfigurement. Caroline seems to comfort him, insisting that he does not look bad, but he tells her that he knows he is "'grotesque.'" Finally, he turns, and the real horror is revealed: Collin's face looks perfectly normal and he is as handsome as ever! His sister has tricked him into thinking he is deformed as punishment for his treatment of her, and now she can have him all to herself.

Collin hides his face from view, thinking himself deformed.

"Where Beauty Lies" is a delicious tale of revenge whose concluding scene recalls the famous 1960 Twilight Zone episode, "Eye of the Beholder." In that show, a beautiful girl believes she is ugly in a world where everyone else's face is hideous. Her face (and those of the others) is kept hidden from the viewer throughout most of the episode by means of a combination of bandages, shadows, and camera angles. In the final scene of "Where Beauty Lies," director Robert Florey uses similar tricks to hide Collin's face from the viewer until the truth is revealed. The irony is superb: all her life, Caroline lived in the shadow of her handsome younger brother, believing that she was unattractive and envying his god-given beauty. Now she holds the upper hand and can ensure that he feels the way she always did: he is the ugly one who must depend on his sibling.

Florey keeps the story moving quickly and saves his best camera work for the latter scenes. When Collin arrives home on the fateful night, the camera is positioned above (similar to a shot in Florey's "A Jury of Her Peers") and we see Collin enter the house and head for his study. When he bends down to light the fire, the camera is inside the fireplace looking out, as the flames engulf the handsome actor. The final scene is well-staged, keeping Collin's face hidden until the last moment when it is revealed.

Cavanagh's script is well-written and both plotting and dialogue work to tell the story clearly and effectively. The two lead actors are perfect for their roles; both George Nader (as Collin) and Cloris Leachman (as Caroline) are utterly believable as two siblings with a close relationship that is ultimately destructive.

None are so blind--

In Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy writes, "Beauty to her, as to all who have felt, lay not in the thing, but in what the thing symbolized." In "Where Beauty Lies," unfortunately, beauty symbolizes unhappiness to Caroline and is something that must be attacked and then kept hidden from sight, lest it continue to cause her despair.

George Nader (1921-2002) served in WWII and then starred in film and on TV from 1950 to 1974. He was in Robot Monster (1953) and he was seen in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Nader and his partner Mark Miller were close friends with Rock Hudson and inherited the interest from the actor's large estate when he died of AIDS. Nader also wrote a science fiction novel titled Chrome (1987).

Vanity of vanities...

Cloris Leachman (1926- ) was in the 1946 Miss America Pageant before becoming an actress. She studied at the Actors Studio and began appearing on screen in 1947. She was in Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and she appeared on The Twilight Zone ("It's a Good Life") and Thriller before winning an Academy Award for her role in The Last Picture Show (1971). She played Phyllis on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977) and on its spinoff, Phyllis (1975-1977) and won nine Emmy Awards. She also had a memorable role in Young Frankenstein (1974). Leachman was in three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including the second one to air, "Premonition."

In smaller roles:

• Pamela Curran (1930- ) plays Joan Blake, Collin's beautiful actress/girlfriend; she was on screen from 1958 to 1971, appeared three times on Thriller, and was seen twice on the Hitchcock show.

Pamela Curran as Joan

• Charles Carlson plays Paul, the man who passionately kisses Caroline in the opening scene before his wife shows up; he had a brief TV career from 1960 to 1964 but managed to show up on The Twilight Zone and on five episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "The Greatest Monster of Them All."

Charles Carlson as Paul

• Raymond Bailey (1904-1980) was a busy character actor who appeared in eleven episodes of the Hitchcock show, including the very first one filmed, "Breakdown." A busy character actor, he is best known as Mr. Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962 to 1971).

Raymond Bailey as the doctor

• Marilyn Clark (1929- ) plays Julie, the wife who shows up in the first scene to collect her straying husband; she was on screen from 1950 to 1980 but only has eight credits on IMDb in the course of three decades.



Marilyn Clark as Julie

• Norman Leavitt (1913-2005) is another character actor with a familiar face; he was on screen from 1946 to 1978 and was seen in seven episodes of the Hitchcock series, including "One More Mile to Go."

Norman Leavitt as the painter

Robert Florey (1900-1979), the director, had a long career in film and on TV that is summarized in my discussion of the last episode he directed that was written by James P. Cavanagh, "A Jury of Her Peers." Florey directed five episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Henry Farrell (1920-2006), who wrote the original teleplay that Cavanagh revised, was born Charles Farrell Myers. He wrote novels, short stories, teleplays, and screenplays and also used the pseudonym, Charles F. Myer. While this was the only episode of the Hitchcock TV show to be based on his writing, he is best remembered today for his novel, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1960), that served as the basis for a popular film of the same title that was released in 1962. Farrell seems to have thought highly of "Where Beauty Lies," since the collection of his papers at Boston University also includes a 300-page typescript of a screenplay with the same title that he wrote in 1968-1969; no film was ever produced of this story, however.

Watch "Where Beauty Lies" online here. The seventh season is still not available on DVD. If anyone happens to go to Boston University and read Farrell's original teleplay, I would be interested to hear how it differs from the version that was produced.

Sources:

The FictionMags Index, www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/0start.htm.

IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/.

The Inventory of the Henry Farrell Collection #1371. archives.bu.edu/finding-aid/finding_aid_121953.pdf.

“Where Beauty Lies.” Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 7, episode 38, NBC, 26 June 1962.

Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, www.wikipedia.org/.

James P. Cavanagh on Alfred Hitchcock Presents: An Overview and Episode Guide

James P. Cavanagh wrote the teleplays for 15 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, all based on stories written by others. Eleven episodes were based on published short stories, while two were based on unpublished stories, one on a radio play, and one on a stage play. Two of the shows he wrote, "One More Mile to Go" and "Arthur," were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

His 15 episodes were spread out over six of the show's seven seasons, with two coming near the end of season one, five spanning the entire run of season two, three in season three, none at all in season four, two in season five, just one in season six, and two in the final season, including the last episode to air on the network. Cavanagh was skilled at translating stories from page to screen, often turning extended bits of narrative into lively dialogue.

EPISODE GUIDE-JAMES P. CAVANAGH ON ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS

Episode title-"The Hidden Thing" [1.37]
Broadcast date-20 May 1956
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on an unpublished story by A.J. Russell
First print appearance-none
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-here

Episode title-"The Creeper" [1.38]
Broadcast date-17 June 1956
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on "The Creeper," a radio play by Joseph Ruscoll
First print appearance-none; radio play first broadcast March 29, 1946
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-here

Episode title-"Fog Closing In" [1.38]
Broadcast date-7 October 1956
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on "The Fog Closing In" by Martin Brooke
First print appearance-Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, April 1956
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-here

"Fog Closing In"

Episode title-"None Are So Blind" [2.5]
Broadcast date-28 October 1956
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on "None Are So Blind" by John Collier
First print appearance-The New Yorker, 31 March 1956
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-here

Episode title-"The End of Indian Summer" [2.22]
Broadcast date-24 February 1957
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on "The End of Indian Summer" by Maurice Baudin Jr.
First print appearance-Esquire, April 1945
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-here

Episode title-"One More Mile to Go" [2.28]
Broadcast date-7 April 1957
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on "One More Mile to Go" by F.J. Smith
First print appearance-Manhunt, June 1956
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-here

"One More Mile to Go"

Episode title-"Father and Son" [2.36]
Broadcast date-2 June 1957
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on "Father and Son" by Thomas Burke
First print appearance-Vanity Fair, August 1934
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-here

Episode title-"Heart of Gold" [3.4]
Broadcast date-27 October 1957
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on "M is for the Many" by Henry Slesar
First print appearance-Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March 1957
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-here

"Heart of Gold"

Episode title-"Sylvia" [3.16]
Broadcast date-19 January 1958
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on "Sylvia" by Ira Levin
First print appearance-Manhunt, April 1955
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-here

Episode title-"The Festive Season" [3.31]
Broadcast date-4 May 1958
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on "Death on Christmas Eve" by Stanley Ellin
First print appearance-Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, January 1950
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-here

Episode title-"Arthur" [5.1]
Broadcast date-27 September 1959
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on "Being a Murderer Myself" by Arthur Williams
First print appearance-Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, August 1948
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-here

Arthur

Episode title-"Mother, May I Go Out to Swim?" [5.26]
Broadcast date-10 April 1960
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on "Mother, May I Go Out to Swim?" by Q. Patrick (Hugh C. Wheeler and Richard C. Webb)
First print appearance-Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1948
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-here

Episode title-"Coming, Mama" [6.26]
Broadcast date-11 April 1961
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on "Coming, Mama" by Henriette McClelland
First print appearance-Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, September 1960
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-here

"Coming, Mama"

Episode title-"A Jury of Her Peers" [7.12]
Broadcast date-26 December 1961
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on Trifles by Susan Glaspell
First print appearance-play first performed 8 August 1916
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-no

Episode title-"Where Beauty Lies" [7.38]
Broadcast date-26 June 1962
Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh
Based on "Where Beauty Lies" by Henry Farrell
First print appearance-none
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-no

In two weeks: Our series on Arthur Ross begins with "Three Wives Too Many," starring Teresa Wright and Dan Duryea!

Listen to two great podcasts on Alfred Hitchcock Presents:

Presenting Alfred Hitchcock Presents (website here)

Good Evening: An Alfred Hitchcock Presents Podcast (website here)

Both are highly recommended!

The Warren Report Issue 9: November/December 1966

The Critical Guide to 

the Warren Illustrated Magazines

1964-1983

by Uncle Jack

& Cousin Peter

Morrow

Creepy #12

"Dark House of Dreams" ★1/2
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Angelo Torres

"Turncoat!" ★
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Bob Jenney

"Maximum Effort!" ★
Story by Ron Parker
Art by Rocco Mastroserio

"Voodoo Doll!" ★★
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Jerry Grandenetti

"Blood of the Werewolf!" ★★
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Steve Ditko

"Idol Hands!" ★1/2
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Manny Stallman

"Adam Link, Robot Detective" ★
Story by Otto Binder
Art by Joe Orlando

"Dark House of Dreams"

Artist Richard Vane buys the house that the evil Matthew Gaunt once lived in, hoping for inspiration for his ghoulish paintings. Inspiration comes very quickly in the form of frightening, elaborate nightmares starring himself and a variety of creatures. When Vane's agent visits, he asks the artist why his work has dried up in the last few weeks after Vane had been so prolific (and selling at a fast clip!); Richard explains that his nightmares ended one month ago. When the agent presses his client, Vane explains that he died during his last sleep and Matthew Gaunt has possessed his body. The agent scoffs until Richard lifts his head and reveals the bald visage of Matthew Gaunt!

"Dark House of Dreams" is a very lukewarm bowl of Gothic muck, with a monstrous evil being who's never even justified; we have no idea why this Matthew Gaunt is the devil everyone says he is. It's a lot like those code-approved Gothics that DC foisted on Jack and me during our tenure on Do You Dare Enter years ago. All that's missing is the scantily-clad, terrified woman running through the moors. The climax is a cliche but Angelo Torres does his best to keep our mind off Archie's stodgy script.

"Turncoat"

Union Army soldier Lucas Tyrone is a coward and he's not afraid to admit it. First he plays dead during a massacre and then, later, he switches uniforms with a dead Reb and heads off, hoping for a little peace and quiet. Unfortunately, he meets up with several wounded Rebel soldiers and it isn't long before his charade is discovered. The big surprise for Lucas is that the entire group of Rebs is actually dead and heading for the promised land. By switching his uniform, he took the place of the dead man in that march. A slice from a dead man's saber makes it official. If this script was any good (and it ain't), I'd swear this was scheduled for the fifth issue of Blazing Combat. It just has that look. Speaking of looks, newcomer Bob Jenney has the look of a Myron Fass regular; it's an ugly, amateurish style that makes Orlando look like Frazetta. Jenney, known primarily for his long run on Dell's The Cisco Kid,  would only contribute four stories to the Warren zines (none of them spectacular), but some of his earlier work, especially that in the pulps, does have a certain style. The only fresh bit about this stinker is the idea that, with the donning of a dead man's clothes, the "Turncoat" becomes a resident of the land of the dead... well, sorta.

"Maximum Effort!"

Phyffe and Drumm, owners of the town mortuary, have somehow been able to keep costs down and allow the townsfolk to bury their kin for a very affordable price. But reporter Dave McCormick just has to snoop around the mortuary when he gets a bee in his bonnet, wondering just how the heck the funeral men cut their costs. What McCormick discovers, to his detriment, is that Phyffe and Drumm have been grinding the bones for fertilizer and using the flesh and blood for food. Yep, Drumm is a vampire and Phyffe... a ghoul! Oh (deep yawn), do we really get another "...because I'm a ghoul!" tagline? Seriously, "Maximum Effort!" is one dumb story; Archie wasn't fearing for his job when Ron Parker was around. Mastroserio's art is on par with that of Jenney, Grandenetti, and Stallman; James Warren surely couldn't have been admiring these guys' work and thinking this was what he had in mind for the second coming of EC.

"Voodoo Doll!"

Howard Loman turns to black magic to keep his young wife, Enid, from straying; a "Voodoo Doll!" is the (very expensive) tool Loman uses but, unbeknownst to the gullible fool, the "sorcerer" he has enlisted is in cahoots with Mrs. Loman. After Enid confronts Loman with her knowledge of his dirty deed, she whips out a similar doll of Howard and sticks a pin in its chest. Howard, just as gullible as always, dies of a heart attack. Beside herself with laughter, Enid heads down to the basement incinerator and tosses both dolls into the fire. Bad idea! "Voodoo Doll!" is fairly predictable but still moderately enjoyable (especially when compared to the terrible trio preceding it) and if you squint, Jerry Grandenetti's art really isn't so bad (this is where Jack tells me I'm insane); not nearly as bad as Jerry's art for the DC war books earlier that decade. Still, there's the lingering question: was it all in the heads of Howard and Enid or did the charlatan have legitimate powers? And it's unusual that he escaped retribution.

"Blood of the Werewolf!"

A lunatic bursts into the office of psychiatrist Steven Nigel, confessing he's the werewolf who has been committing the "Full Moon Murders" plaguing the city. The distraught young man, Carl, tells a tale of having been kidnapped and operated on by a scientist who explains his son is cursed with lycanthropy and only a full blood transfusion will cure him. After that evening, Carl transforms into a beast and murders when the moon is full. The psychiatrist tells his patient there's nothing he can do for him since he is suffering from schizophrenia, but just then the transformation begins. Dr. Nigel reaches into his desk drawer and shoots the man dead just as he's about to be torn to shreds. Afterwards, his father drops by to see if Nigel is all right and Nigel explains that the silver bullet in the gun may take some explaining but he and his father, the scientist who operated on Carl, should be in the clear. Thank goodness we have Steve Ditko to take us on this ride or else this would have been nothing but a very familiar trip (although that panel of Carl the werewolf looks awfully familiar to those of us who read "The Beast Man" way back in Creepy #11!). What a coincidence Carl stopped by the office of the very man who received his blood! What are the odds?

More Ditko goodness!

"Idol Hands!"

Professor Duffer proudly accepts the Museum Assistant Director job, a position granted him due to his excavating and bringing back to the museum the great Xochipec idol, a huge statue with a poised fist. Of course, since this is a Creepy comic, Duffer has no time to enjoy his new position since young upstart, Professor Bell, has coveted the job for so long and has a plan hatching. Duffer has a bad ticker, so one night Bell and his squeeze, Sheila (Duffer's assistant), conjure up a high priest to frighten Duffer to death. The pair haul the body over to the huge fist and... KABOOM! Next morning, the crowds have quite the exhibit to stare at.

As with most of the tales this issue, "Idol Hands!" suffers from a reheated script, one that offers no surprises with each turn of the page. Further, the ending makes no sense whatsoever. Why bother posing Duffer on the fist rather than leaving him where he fell? Is the exhibit "haunted?" If so, why didn't Bell die when he donned the High Priest garb? Most laughable of all is the fact that no one in the museum noticed the mass of pummeled flesh and river of blood running from the huge fist! As with Stallman's job on "The Black Death" (in Creepy #11), there's an odd change of gears in the last couple pages as if Stallman were rushed and couldn't finish the job.

"Adam Link, Robot Detective"

Mere minutes after Eve, Adam Link's robot-squeeze, is reassembled (following her near-fatal plunge from a cliff in the last installment), she's hauled away for the murder of two hoodlums. Police believe the thugs were pummeled to death by strong steel hands but Adam Link knows his baby doll is innocent. With the help of his friend, Jack, Link dresses up as a human and hits the town looking for clues but the clock is ticking for Eve... What better way to finish up a dismal issue than with another Adam Link junk pile? Binder's script is almost as stiff as Orlando's doodles. A pity editor Goodwin didn't assign the job to the kid responsible for the nice art on this issue's "Creepy's Fan Page," 17-year old future Warren editor Bill DuBay. -Peter

Jack-A weak issue, for the most part. The highlight for me was the Ditko story, which features excellent work by the artist and a good story with an unnecessary twist. I also found "Voodoo Doll!" fairly enjoyable and even kind of liked Grandenetti's art--it is starting to exhibit the Mod tendencies of the mid-sixties. The dream sequences in "Dark House of Dreams" cry out for Ditko; Torres isn't able to let himself go enough to do them justice. "Turncoat" recalls a Twilight Zone episode though it has mediocre art and a confusing conclusion. Rocco Mastroserio's work on "Maximum Effort!" has a bit of a Jack Davis vibe and is kind of fun albeit predictable. I thought Manny Stallman's art on "Idol Hands!" showed kind of an underground comix style and the big panel of the idol (reproduced above) is pretty cool. Finally, as for Adam Link, why are these stories in Creepy? There's nothing creepy about them, other than Joe Orlando's art--and once again I suspect Grandenetti had a hand in it, especially the cute (Mod) chick. Even the cover is dull!

Morrow

Eerie #6

"Cave of the Druids!"★★★1/2
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Reed Crandall

"Deep Ruby!"★★1/2
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Steve Ditko

"Running Scared!"★★
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Mark Ricton (Sam Citron)

"The Curse of Kali!"★1/2
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Angelo Torres

"Trial by Fire!"★1/2
Story and Art by Johnny Craig

"Point of View!"★★
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Rocco Mastroserio

"The Changeling!"★★1/2
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Gene Colan

"Cave of the Druids!"

It's 41 A.D. and the Roman Army has invaded the British Isles, where Marcus, a lone legionnaire, tracks a lost patrol into a dark wood, ignoring the warnings of  an old man. Marcus locates the patrol and every man in it lies dead with his heart torn from his body. Resting for the night, Marcus finds himself attacked by trees whose limbs are like arms; he barely escapes death by using a fiery branch to fight off the attackers. Druids approach to cut his heart out, but Marcus surprises them by being alive and does them in; he then enters the "Cave of the Druids!" and witnesses a strange ritual, where a priestess leads her followers in the worship of Dispater. The followers attack Marcus and the priestess turns them into animals, but Marcus grabs her magic wand and tosses it into the flames, thereby causing her to be consumed in flames. Marcus walks away unscathed as the stunned druids gaze at the charred remains of their priestess.

Maybe it's Reed Crandall, but I really enjoyed the lead story in this issue of Eerie! There are no dumb detours and no forced attempt at a twist ending--just a good adventure story. I'm also a sucker for a tale involving Roman soldiers. Wikipedia tells us that Dispater was a Roman God often mistaken for a Celtic god.

"Deep Ruby!"

Lester Darrow, a jeweler, is disgusted when he is accosted on a city street by a man in rags and tatters, who shows him a large, red ruby and asks him to gaze at it. Darrow decides he must have the "Deep Ruby!" and the next thing he knows, he's inside the jewel, being chased by demons! Before they can drain his blood he manages to escape and begs the bum holding the ruby to let him out, agreeing to pay any price. Unfortunately for Mr. Darrow, the price turns out to be that he now becomes the man in rags and tatters, desperate to find another sucker who cannot resist his ruby.

Reading these stories Ditko drew for Warren makes me wonder what he could have done had he stayed at Marvel. The art on these stories is outstandingly creative and not like anything the other Warren artists were doing. I would love to see it in color. Goodwin's story gets off to a good enough start, and when Ditko's imagination is allowed to run wild (as it is here) the results are great, but the ending is a letdown.

Why is Andrew Barton "Running Scared!" as he is pursued through the streets of New York City by two men who insist that they will get him in the end? He runs from them in an alley and jumps off the end of a pier when he is cornered. A taxi pulls up and they're in it! Even when he makes it home, they're hiding behind a curtain! They finally reveal what we guessed right off the bat: Barton is dead and they are the undertakers who finally embalm him and get him in his coffin.

Shaggy and Velma chase a dead man
("Running Scared!")

I wasn't terribly impressed with the artwork of Sam Citron (who inexplicably uses the pseudonym of Mark Ricton here and nowhere else) but when I looked him up online I discovered he was a Golden Age artist who drew Superman as early as 1943. His art here reminds me a bit of what I used to see on TV in Scooby Doo--Where Are You! It's competent but pales next to Ditko and Crandall's stories.

"The Curse of Kali!"

During the reign of Queen Victoria, British soldiers in India visit an abandoned village and find the men of Lt. Smythe's garrison dead, though the lieutenant and his sergeant are not among the deceased. They soon find Sergeant Cairn, who has a story to tell. Lt. Smythe had become smitten with a pretty Indian woman who was supposed to be sacrificed to the god Kali. Smythe rescued her but received "The Curse of Kali!" from a guru. Soon, the men of the garrison began to be killed and their blood drained. Sgt. Cairn suspected the girl, but to his horror he discovered that the guru's curse turned Lt. Smythe into a blood-sucking monster, one whom Sgt. Cairn kills by driving a stake through its heart.

Angelo Torres was a very accomplished artist and he does his best with this dull tale, but Goodwin's insistence on trying to capture the cockney accent of the sergeant is annoying as all get out. What with all the "sorr" ("sir") and "uv" ("of") slang, I found it very hard to read and a real slog to get through seven pages. Comic book stories should be clear, in my opinion, and this one took me two reads to figure out what was happening.

One of the better panels from "Trial By Fire!"

Judge Alfred Harker is running for office in a small New England town but everyone keeps bringing up his ancestors, who burned witches at the stake. He can't explain why he keeps blurting out a magical phrase and apparently causing the sudden death of hecklers or his political opponents. It doesn't look good for the judge, who has no idea that his problems are all being caused by his wife, who is descended from the very witches whom his ancestors burned! Eventually, the crowd turns on the judge and takes him to the town square for burning. His wife feigns concern and runs to his side, secretly hoping to watch him be fried to a crisp, but the flames burn through the ropes holding him to the stake and he topples over onto his wife, who burns to death underneath the judge.

I am a big fan of Johnny Craig and usually find something good to say about his stories, but "Trial By Fire!" is a stinker. The art is sub par and the story is fairly nonsensical, capped off by the ridiculous ending where the judge falls on top of his wife. For some inexplicable reason, the judge ends up dead but not burned. None of it makes much sense.

The figure closest to us has a Ghastly feel to it!
("Point of View!")

Newly in charge of the insane asylum, Gorsham asks to meet the inmates. Among them is a man who claims to be Victor Frankenstein; he shows Gorsham his latest experiment, a hulking man in need of a better brain. Gorsham ridicules the inmate and beats his creature until, one night, the inmates revolt and the monster attacks Gorsham. The boss wakes up later and discovers that his brain has been inserted in the creature's body.

It's a bit confusing when "Point of View!" is supposed to take place; it's also confusing as to whether the inmate really is Victor Frankenstein or not. Cousin Eerie clears things up in his final narration by telling us that the inmate was really a nut, but how do we explain that an inmate in the asylum had the wherewithal (and laboratory) to make a monster? Archie Goodwin was really scrounging for ideas at this point with an unenviable workload each month.

Rachel Meredith reports to her new job as governess for a young boy named Donald, whose mother has been in an insane asylum since shortly after the boy's birth and whose father spends all his time in the family library, conducting research. The lad doesn't make a great first impression, what with the mangled corpse of a cat he produces from behind his back, but Rachel shields him from his father's anger. The next day, the family's servant, Lathrop, is found mangled and dead in the garden, but little Donald just giggles. Rachel speaks to his father, who tells her that the boy is "The Changeling!," a satanic creature left in place of his real son. Dad is reading up on occult lore in order to find a way to rid himself of the boy. Rachel tells Donald, and the next thing you know, a monstrous creature is attacking Pop. Donald sets fire to the mansion and, when the embers cool, all that is found is Pop's corpse, and someone remarks that they heard Donald call the murderous creature "mother."

"The Changeling!"

A Gothic horror story, this, and none better to render it than Gene Colan, whose pages seem a bit washed out and unfinished this time. Still, he's always effective in rendering these sort of tales, and the whole thing is a reasonably good finish to an issue that started out well but did not hold up.-Jack

Peter- Aside from the art, "Cave of the Druids!" is no great shakes. It's got one of those finales that sputters rather than bedazzles (the cover portrays a scene featuring demons that never happens). As with Reed Crandall, Steve Ditko always seems to turn in a job that stands out from the pack and "Deep Ruby!" is no exception. You can just imagine Archie in his tiny office desperately trying to come up with yet another Doctor Strange-esque script for Ditko to illustrate. "Running Scared!" easily wins Worst-of-the-Month award; it's a never-ending scraping at the bottom of the barrel. Hard to believe Archie was responsible for this awful mess; the doodles aren't much to look at either. "The Curse of Kali!" and "Point of View!" are two more examples of overworked plots that can't even work up interesting twists. Johnny Craig contributes the so-so "Trial By Fire!," which has an intriguing build-up to a disappointing crescendo. The hands-down winner this issue is "The Changeling!," which gives away most of its surprise in its title. It's a smorgasbord of genre hooks and Lovecraftian chills and not more than a little reminiscent of The Omen, which would not appear on screens for another decade, and it contains yet another fabulous gift from Gentleman Gene.

Next Week...
Can the Michelinie/Talaoc team
get the Unknown Soldier back on track?

From Creepy 12