Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 186: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Fantasy Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 171

May-June 1960

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Journey Into Mystery #58

Cover by Steve Ditko

"Return of the Martian!" (a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers) ★1/2

"I Found Rro... the Thing from the Bottomless Pit!" ★★

 (a: Don Heck & Jack Kirby)

"They Called Me a Witch!" (a: Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott) ★1/2

"Beware!!! Of the Little Toy Men!!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

(r: Marvel Super-Heroes #29)

Minutes after the events documented in the riveting "The Martian" (in JIM #57), Zetora the giant orange Martian breaks out of his cell and heads for Manhattan. Leaving a path of destruction behind him, the swim trunks clad behemoth crushes everything the army throws at him and finally reaches his destination: the United Nations building. There, Zetora somehow squeezes in through the small doors and faces the leaders of all the nations on Earth. He delivers his ultimatum: surrender or perish. Seeing no other way around it, the leaders quickly give in like a bunch of children on a playground and hand Earth over to the Martian. 

Luckily, Zetora picks just that moment to fall over dead. You see, earthlings might be immune to the bacteria found on our planet but... Martians are not! So this will be the deux ex machina from here on out I suppose, with Stan throwing his hands up and shrugging. If it worked for H.G., it should work for Jack and Dick, right? "Return of the Martian" is short on substance but it's got some pretty good creature art.

In "I Found Rro... the Thing from the Bottomless Pit!," a New Mexico engineer digs a hole straight through to the Earth's core and releases a fire-breathing dragon that flies all the way to San Francisco and then comes back to the original dig site (why it did this is never revealed, but I assume it just wanted to check out the surroundings). The army blasts the dragon from the sky and the monster slides back into its hole, but not before dropping a small cylinder etched with hieroglyphic-like engravings. When the suddenly very busy United Nations has the scrawl deciphered, it tells the story of a peaceful dragon race at the center of the Earth that was hoping to meet up with new friends. However, in light of Rro's violent reception, the welcome mat has been pulled. Don Heck's Rro doesn't much resemble Ditko's cover creature; someone forget to tell Don that monsters wear shorts.

In 18th-century Salem, seamstress Amanda Dalton falls hard for handsome John Redmond, but his ex-gal, Evelyn, is a jealous shrew and spreads word throughout the village that Amanda is a witch. John denies the accusations to his neighbors and chalks it up to a jilted Evelyn, and the village folk seem to take his word. Still, Amanda turns down John's offer to marry him because... she really is a witch! "They Called Me a Witch!" ends with a twist we've seen on several occasions across several publishers. Without giant monsters, the Kirby/Sinnott art is pretty bland. Oddly enough, someone thought it okay to include the postal statement right on the splash!

In the finale this issue, "Beware!!! Of the Little Toy Men!!," a newspaper reporter tries to convince his editor that a local eccentric millionaire who's passing out free toy men to kids is actually an alien from space laying the groundwork for invasion. His toy men will rise up and conquer Earth when the time is right. Then the editor tells his journalist that he's insane and to get back to work. Regardless of the rebuff, our hero makes it his duty to alert the citizens of Earth. Some truly awesome graphics from Ditko here while the script is lifeless and, in the end, ridiculous. In the final panels, the reporter finally gets his editor to believe him by revealing a secret that should have the boss calling the men in white suits rather than the FBI!-Peter

Tales of Suspense #9

Cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"I Saw Diablo! The Demon from the Fifth Dimension!" ★★

(a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers)

(r: Strange Tales Annual #1)(r: Monsters on the Prowl #30)

"The Wrath of Chondu!" (a: Doug Wildey) ★★

(r: Weird Wonder Tales #7)

"Time on My Hands!" (a: John Forte) ★

"Earth Will Be Destroyed!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★

(Crypt of Shadows #19)

"The Return of the Living Robot!" (a: Don Heck) ★

An intrepid adventurer overhears talk in a "gloomy Trinidad cafe" of a monster beyond all knowledge of science, a creature made of smoke that lives in the Sierra Madres. Unable to hold himself back, our hero heads to the Aztec village terrorized by the hazy behemoth. Sure enough, within minutes of arriving, the man is screaming "I Saw Diablo! The Demon from the Fifth Dimension!" The giant cloud telepathically relates his story to the bewildered human; Diablo has been on Earth for centuries, gathering up enough power to take over. Nothing on this puny planet can defeat it.

But just before Diablo gets on the walkie-talkie to his Diablo Brothers, our protagonist gets a brainstorm and fools the demon into heading home, job unfinished. Why would inhabitants of a "fifth dimension" recognize themselves as coming from a "fifth dimension?" Wouldn't they consider themselves the "first" and us the "fifth?" How do they know they're not the "sixth" or "tenth?" This must have been one of the easier big monster strips for Kirby to pump out, since Diablo resembles "The Squiggle from the Fifth Dimension." Though our brave adventurer goes nameless (he's the narrator), years later the character is identified as Ulysses Bloodstone, Monster Hunter. 

Doug Wildey's amazing art is the reason to wade through the three pages of "The Wrath of Chondu!," about a mind-reading showman who gets carjacked and must prove he really can warp men's minds. Wildey's work is extremely atmospheric, very much like that of Gene Colan's, and a breath of fresh air amidst so much monotony. Steve Gerber memorably brought Chondu back to team up with two other Atlas title bad guys (Dr. Nagan from "It Walks Erect" in Mystery Tales #21 and Dr. Morgan from "Prisoner of the Fantastic Fog" back in World of Fantasy #11) to take on The Defenders in that team's 21st issue. 

The other three-pager this issue, "Time on My Hands!," concerns a thief who steals into a government building and jumps in a just completed time machine. He sets the dial to 1975, jumps out, and heads for the local library, where he looks up the winning nags for the races on the day after he left. The knucklehead then heads back to his craft, only to find it missing. When he tells a passing cop that he's misplaced his time machine, the cop runs him in. Time machines have been illegal since 1973! Besides, the cop sighs, the dope parked his gizmo in a garbage disposal and it's been incinerated. This is an almost note for note rewrite of "Trapped in Tomorrow" from Strange Tales #68 (April 1959). The ink is barely dry before Stan is ripping himself off now.

Having destroyed their own world through nuclear war, the inhabitants of Gorgon look to make another world their own: Earth. The planet's supreme ruler orders his scientists to lock in their terrifying U-Gun on Earth and fire when ready. "Earth Will Be Destroyed!" But the eggheads are perplexed, since the U-Gun simply spins in circles, unable to fix on its target. Ya know why? Cuz Gorgon is a tiny speck on a microscope slide and it's about to be washed away. Another groaner aided significantly by the dazzling pencil of Mr. Ditko. Last up is "The Return of the Living Robot!," a sequel to last issue's "It Walks By Night!" The Living Robot survives his fall into the sea and vows vengeance on mankind by... returning to civilization and changing the dumb laws that make robots illegal. 

No destruction or widespread panic in this guy's plans. The Robot steals the identity of his friend, Cyril Stredford, a man who has the ear of the House of Commons and pleads his case to the government. Just as the law is about to be repealed, the real Cyril bursts through the doors, screaming "I Was Attacked by the Living Robot Who Wasn't Really Me!" The Robot grabs a hunk of the highway, but Cyril catches up to him and, in a brutal brawl, tosses the artificial man off a roof and then ponders whether a good robot like himself can change the views of mankind. Yep, Cyril is a robot too!!! Who'd a thunk? As dumb as this entry is, I do like the idea of sequels to these Atlas tales. I'm not saying that will raise the level of quality, but it's an interesting idea.-Peter

Tales to Astonish #9

Cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"Return of the Genie!" (a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers) ★★

(r: Vault of Evil #11)

"No Way Out" (a: Steve Ditko) ★

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #34)

"I Saw Droom the Living Lizard!" (a: Don Heck) ★1/2

(r: Fantasy Masterpieces #8)(r: Where Monsters Dwell #28)

"Fangs of the Bear" (a: Doug Wildey) ★

(r: Crypt of Shadows #13)

After months of being stuck in a bottle resting in swamp mud, the genie is freed when an old feller happens by and pulls the cork for a peek inside. Seeking revenge on the human race, the genie flies to Manhattan and covers it with a magic vapor that removes the law of gravity. He then flies to Chicago and reduces everyone to insect size, then to Detroit, where he turns domestic pets into giants, and on to other cities.

His big idea is to bring the moon to Earth, scaring people who fear a collision. Finally, he creates an army of goliaths and takes over one country after another. The genie plans to take over the galaxy but, when his spaceship exits Earth's atmosphere, he loses his powers. Next thing he knows, he's back in the bottle in the swamp, aware that he'll remain trapped until he learns a lesson about greed.

Kirby and Ayers draw some decent panels depicting the mad genie, but the story goes nowhere. Was any reader clamoring for the "Return of the Genie!"? I know I wasn't.

In the 21st century, man can travel to the farthest reaches of our nine planets (Pluto still counted) but some mysterious barrier prevents ships from going any further. Is there "No Way Out"? Dr. Harris, a top scientist, volunteers to pilot a spaceship to the barrier and see what's up. He gets there and can't break through, so he heads home, where he sees a fish bowl and suspects that mankind is being protected, like fish in a bowl, by some mysterious force.

Far from Ditko's best work and a terrible story to boot. There is unintentional hilarity when Harris gets out of his rocket ship and takes a power drill to the invisible space barrier. Nope! That doesn't work either.

Hoping to solve the problem of overpopulation, a scientist named Henry Gordon invents a serum to make produce grow bigger so it can provide more food for hungry people. When some of his serum accidentally spills on a lizard, it grows to enormous size! "I Saw Droom the Living Lizard!" thinks the scientist, and Droom starts knocking over buildings.

The military can't stop Droom and the president declares a state of emergency. Droom heads out to the country and plucks a bomber from the sky before it can drop a nuclear bomb on him! Finally, the military attaches rockets to Droom and launches him into outer space! Droom stops growing, spends ten million years in suspended animation, and ends up on the primitive planet known as Earth, where his kind will rule until they die out.

Hoo boy, not another story where it turns out that the events we're seeing a) did not happen on Earth and b) happened a really long time ago. What a shock! Heck probably wasn't the best choice to draw this story, but how many pages could Kirby crank out in a month? Wait--don't answer that.

A man invents a robot teddy bear and sells it to a toy shop where rich people shop, intending to use the cuddly little guy to commit robberies. A rich couple buys the bear and takes it home, so the inventor has the bear steal a jewelry box and return to the lab. The next day, the inventor sells the same bear back to the toy store, claiming it's a new one, and it's purchased by a poor young man who takes it home and gives it to his disabled son. Despite the inventor's best efforts to recall it, the bear refuses to leave the boy's side. The inventor grabs a gun, goes to the family's apartment, and demands that they give him the teddy bear. The bear attacks the man and squeezes him till he passes out; the cops come and take the crook away and the boy and his bear live happily ever after.

"Fangs of the Bear" wraps up a terrible issue of Tales to Astonish. The bear doesn't even have fangs! It amazes me that Marvel reprinted all four of these stories in the 1970s. I guess they were looking to fill pages and not worried about quality.-Jack

Strange Tales #75

Cover by Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko

"Taboo! The Thing from the Murky Swamp!" 

(a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers) ★★1/2

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #2)(r: Weird Wonder Tales #13)

"The Return of the Totem!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★1/2

(r: Weird Wonder Tales #13)

"Doomsday!" (a: Paul Reinman) ★1/2

"I Made the Hulk Live" (a: Don Heck) ★1/2

(r: Tomb of Darkness #22)

Lewis Conrad, the famous explorer whose adventure books sell millions of copies, is in the Amazon Rainforest when he encounters "Taboo! The Thing from the Murky Swamp!" Taboo looks like a great big creature made of mud, but when he picks up Conrad, Taboo uses mental telepathy to explain that he's really an alien who is stranded on Earth. Lewis agrees to help the mucky guy get home and visits the United Nations, where every nation shares its scientific knowledge with him.

Lewis returns to the swamp and gives Taboo a device containing all of the knowledge, but the monster laughs and says he tricked us and will return to destroy all of humanity. Taboo flies off into space, where he blows up--Lewis  put an H-bomb in the device that could be detonated by remote control just in case Taboo was lying.

The splash page by Kirby and Ayers is dynamite and the story's not bad either! I was expecting some pushback from world leaders when Lewis asked if they could share all of their scientific knowledge so that he could give it to a swamp creature, but they didn't have a problem with it. I was glad that Taboo turned out to be a sneaky villain and that we were able to blow him up. That was a pretty neat trick to hide an H-bomb in the device!

"The Return of the Totem!" finds the big wooden pole hopping back to the Indian village after knocking a big hole in the wall of the jail. It picks up teepees and makes mayhem, so the tribe races to a nearby cave and hides. The old Indian visits the police to warn them, but they scoff at the thought of a walking totem pole until it attacks the mayor's home that night. The next day, the totem pole disrupts a company picnic but is stopped by the old Indian, who tosses some magic potion on the pole and causes it to fall off a cliff into water, where it drifts out to sea.

Will the totem return? I certainly hope not. These stories are hard to take and even Ditko seems to realize how silly the idea of a totem pole hopping after people is.

While arguing about whether there is a supernatural force that governs the universe and maintains order, a pair of scientists named Walter and Lynn invent a deadly gas called X-39 that will kill everyone on Earth in 24 hours and accidentally knock over a beaker of the stuff, releasing it into the atmosphere! As it spreads, the scientists chat about all of the terrible battles that have occurred throughout human history. Suddenly, a powerful wind comes out of nowhere and blows the gas safely into space! Now Walter agrees with Lynn that some force protects the universe.

Some of Paul Reinman's panels in "Doomsday!" look a bit like the work of Gil Kane, but this story is essentially a page filler. One would think that scientists would be a bit more careful with a gas that could kill everyone on Earth. Oops! Knocked it over!

A short man named Al vows to get revenge on those who mocked him, so he develops a formula to make him tall and powerful! It doesn't work, so he builds a giant robot outfit that he can wear in his quest to become ruler of the world. Al climbs inside and the suit locks around him, but he realizes that he left the key to the starter on the lab table, so now he's stuck inside!

The most interesting thing about "I Made the Hulk Live" is its title, which anticipates the Marvel hero who will come a few years later. This is another story about a scientist who makes a stupid mistake. Nothing much happens outside of his imagination.-Jack

Thursday on The 100:
No One Said These Were All
Going to Be Good Time Fun Flicks!

And In One Week...
A Genuine
Ditko Classic!

The 100 Chapter 4: 94 and 93

Who doesn't love a list?

I devour the BFI Best Films of All Time list whenever they deem it necessary to revise and (invariably) disagree with most of the findings, but I still get a kick out of browsing. Same with Rolling Stone's inane Best 100 Albums (how does Sgt. Pepper drop from #1 to #24 in the latest incarnation?); the anger I feel subsides when I see they've put a couple of Aerosmith albums on the list! We all disagree with that number one but we keep right on scrolling through each choice.

This project, which has been percolating for quite a while, originated from the constant back and forth "good natured bickering" between John Scoleri and myself. John invariably loves everything and I hate it all (for more of the discourse, I advise one and all to pick up a copy of bare•bones print magazine and read our debates about streaming and movie theaters to get a taste). I began to think it would be fun to compose a Favorite (as opposed to Best) 100 and compare our selections. Making it even more tantalizing, I managed to talk the third head of Ghidorah, Jack Seabrook, into participating. This could be interesting, since John's never seen a movie the two Georges (Romero and Lucas) didn't have a hand in, and Jack usually favors the flicks that have words at the bottom of the screen (dis-moi que j'ai tort, Jack!). I, on the other hand, can't wait to educate these two gentlemen as to what constitutes good cinema.

Every Thursday, we'll count down our picks, two at a time. We're hoping this will generate discourse outside of our trio. Let us know just how crazy we are. This is going to be fun!—Peter

The Sting

(1973)

Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw

Directed by: George Roy Hill

Henry Gondorff: Glad to meet you, kid. You're a real horse's ass.

Johnny Hooker: Luther said I could learn something from you. I already know how to drink.

In the 1970s, Newman and Redford were mega-stars, super novas that seemingly could not pick the wrong project, and that streak continued with The Sting. The boys had famously teamed up four years before for the smash Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, also directed by Hill. The Sting has a measured, slow pace that probably wouldn’t sit well with today’s filmgoers, but the time invested certainly pays off. We are privy to every step in the planning of the “Big Con.”

The entire cast, especially Newman as the veteran con, Henry, and Shaw as the mark, are unbeatable (the card game between the two is a brilliant seesaw between tension and comedy). Redford plays innocent and wide-eyed Johnny Hooker, cocky yet willing to learn. The pair’s best scene in the movie would have to be their initial meeting, where Hooker has reason to doubt the prowess of the drunk who sits in the bathtub before him. There are a couple of clever twists in the climax, both predictable if you pick up the clues, and the final shot leaves you wanting more time with these two con men. It’s a cliche, but they really don’t make them like this anymore. Alas, the pair would never work together again.

I caught up with this one late, I think in a viewing on HBO in the late 1970s. This would not have been the type of film I’d have run to the theater to catch. Well, not unless the titular event was delivered by a giant wasp.—Peter

Remarks from the Gallery

Jack: I saw this in the theater when it first came out and loved it. I've watched it several times since then. It's much higher on my list!

John: While it doesn't show up on my list, it's one I am fond of as well. I wouldn't mind catching it on the big screen; perhaps the Alamo Drafthouse will hook me up! I recall wanting everyone in my peer group to adopt the brushing my finger across our nose to be a secret sign, but I can't imagine any of them understood the reference.

Star Wars (1977)
Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford 

Directed by: George Lucas

Can Luke Skywalker save the rebel forces from the evil Death Star?

I saw Star Wars on its opening weekend in 1977 and immediately loved it. Prior to that, I had been hooked on Logan's Run, which came out the year before, but after seeing Star Wars, I forgot all about the earlier flick.

I had all the merch — the paperback (which I tried to read before the movie came out but couldn't get through), the original poster thumbtacked to my bedroom wall, the Super 8 version (3 minutes long?), the double issue of Cinefantastique, the soundtrack album — all of it.

Watching it again today, it doesn't quite hold the same magic. After a very slow start, it picks up, but there are still long stretches that are just people shooting ray guns at each other. You could go out for popcorn and miss nothing. Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing make the film work for me, and Harrison Ford is still great in it, but Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher are so young. C3P0 and R2D2 reminded me of the Go Go Gophers!

I was struck by the constant music! The movie wouldn't work without it. The special effects, which were so amazing 49 years ago, seem dated now, but that's to be expected. I wasn't at all impressed with the direction or the pacing. Still, how could this not make the top 100?—Jack

Remarks from the Gallery

Peter: I remember waiting in line the day after it opened. Saturday morning about 11 at the Century in San Jose. I had seen the teaser promo book at one of the local bookstores and picked up the tie-in a month or so before the film opened. I was primed and I wasn't disappointed. That is, at the time, I wasn't. Now, fifty years later, it's still a good flick, but not my go-to Star Wars chapter. It's hard to put into words just how huge Star Wars was when it opened. I saw it three times in the first few months and waited in line every time (once, at a San Francisco theater, we waited all day). As good as it was, I always thought Close Encounters (which opened five months later) was infinitely better. Apples and oranges, though.

John: Once again, Jack picks a film I've never—waitaminute—I am familiar with this one. Perhaps I'll find more time to speak about it in the months ahead, given it's one of a handful of films I've seen at least 100 times in the last 50 years. I will say this—I didn't see it coming. I never saw a trailer for it (had the trailer above played with King Kong in December 1976, it definitely would have made an impression on 6-year-old me, even sans the John Williams score). Nope, my introduction came in early June when my best friend Mark showed me the photo section of the novelization (you know the one, the gold cover with John Berkey's art) and told me how great the movie was. From that point on, I couldn't see it soon enough. Our first trip out to the Century 22 on Winchester Blvd. was a bust, with lines snaking through the parking lot and nary a single place to park, so the family threw in the towel and went home. My mom took us back out a few hours later (I assume at my pleading), and we were able to get in, forever changing the life and trajectory of this particular moviegoer. 

Ronin (1998)

Starring: Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno, Stellan Skarsgard

Director: John Frankenheimer

Spence: You ever kill anybody?

Sam: I hurt somebody's feelings once.

John Frankenheimer made a lot of great movies, but this one is my favorite. I love DeNiro and Jean Reno's relationship, and Sean Bean is perfectly used based on audience expectations for his character. The film has a number of fantastic set pieces, not to mention an epic car chase to give Billy Friedkin a run for his money!—John

Remarks from the Gallery

Peter: Copycat.

Jack: The first movie to show up on two lists! What will be the first to be on all three lists? Hint: it won't be Ronin.

The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)

Starring: Les Tremayne, Don Sullivan, Jeanne Carmen

Directed by: Irvin Berwick

"I think we've found our killer"

The above snippet of dialogue is delivered by doctor/chemist Les Tremayne in a very sober tone after the titular rapscallion exits a meat locker holding the head of an unfortunate local. It also perfectly encapsulates why I love this dopey, high-energy, mini masterpiece. There's no rhyme or reason to anything that goes on in the 78 minutes it'll take for you to breeze through this rip-off of Creature from the Black Lagoon, but that only adds to the enjoyment. Where did this monster come from? Who cares? Why did Sturges the light-keeper feed this thing for so many years and did its yen for human blood begin only when its human buddy couldn't provide the usual ration of "meat scraps?" And why would this old man keep its existence a secret, especially when dealing with a daughter whose lust is reaching its peak? You got me. Again, I'll only throw up my hands and answer, "Because it makes for a more enjoyable thriller."

My first exposure to The Monster of Piedras Blancas, like a lot of the creature features I took in while a youngster, was a pic in the pages of Famous Monsters, that well-known still of the monster holding the severed head in his hands as if practicing his "Alas Yorick..." monologue. A severed head and lots of blood was something new to me; I just had to see what this thing was all about. It took a few years, but the flick finally showed up on one of the local Saturday afternoon double features and I caught it at my grandmother's house. I was probably about nine or ten and that meat locker scene did not disappoint. Luckily, my Nana wasn't in the room at the time or the TV likely would have gone dark and I would not have gloried in the thrilling climax set atop the lighthouse.

Again, only ten, but Jeanne Carmen made me wonder new things about life. Do girls really take all their clothes off at the beach? She was so cool I assumed she had a Partridge Family lunchbox just like me. Imagine the great conversations we could have over peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.—Peter

Remarks from the Gallery

Jack: Your writeup makes me want to check this out. I've heard of it but never seen it.

John: I have Peter to thank for introducing me to this classic creature feature, which somehow eluded me in the televised Creature Features and Chiller Diller circles. While not the caliber of the resident of the Black Lagoon, our namesake offers up a better than average (i.e., Corman-budget) monster suit. I've been a fan ever since Pete sat me down to watch his VHS copy and have even stopped on the road to the (sadly inaccessible) Piedras Blancas lighthouse for a photo op while on a road trip to Southern California in my late teens.

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Starring: Roger Moore, Barbara Bach

Directed by: Lewis Gilbert

When two ballistic missile submarines disappear, James Bond teams up with a beautiful Russian secret agent to get to the bottom of things. What 007 doesn't know is that the agent, code name XXX, has vowed revenge on the man who killed her lover--and that man is Bond!

I saw The Spy Who Loved Me in a packed house at Blue Star Cinema in Watchung, NJ, when I was 14, and it was a thrill. I still remember the audience bursting into applause at the end of the thrilling pre-credit sequence, as Bond skis off an impossibly high cliff and falls and falls and falls for what seems like forever until his parachute opens--and the parachute has a big British flag on it!

Rewatching it today, the movie holds up, even if I can see its inherent silliness. Barbara Bach still looks gorgeous, though her acting isn't quite as good as I remembered. The sets are fantastic, especially the scenes filmed by the Egyptian pyramids and the Sphinx. This was the first appearance of Richard Kiel as Jaws, and he's great. Even Caroline Munro shows up—arguably even more attractive than Barbara Bach—before she's blown to bits in a helicopter.

The film as a whole is like a Best of Bond mashup. There's a character who looks like Oddjob. The Big Bad is a knockoff of Blofeld. Roger Moore spends the movie smirking and making corny quips; I think he actually had to act for about thirty seconds toward the end. But it all works. And the theme song, "Nobody Does It Better," has to be considered one of the best Bond themes. It gets stuck in my head and I can't get it out.

Finally, watching the movie today makes me think how of its time it was. The 1976 Olympics had been a huge hit the year before, with women's gymnastics taking over the culture, so of course the credit sequence has naked women in silhouette doing gymnastic routines with giant gun barrels instead of horses. And Richard Kiel's Jaws obviously follows the Spielberg smash. At the end of The Spy Who Loved Me, this Jaws actually falls into a shark tank and does away with a killer shark with his metallic teeth! Like I said, this movie is just plain fun. It's my favorite Roger Moore Bond movie.—Jack

Remarks from the Gallery

Peter: Even though I saw this at least five times in the Summer of '77 (at the Almaden Twin), I can't stand any of the Moore Bonds now that I'm grown up and know better. He has an inherent "safeness" to him. He's also too up his own arse throughout most of his appearances. I always got the impression that Moore couldn't be Bond because Bond needs to get his hands dirty now and then and Moore is always spic 'n' span. I'll agree that Carly Simon's tune is an all-timer (though my personal top Bond theme would have to be Wings's "Live and Let Die"). For me, there's a giant void between Connery's last (official) Bond, Diamonds are Forever, and Craig's first one. All the installments in between, to me, are unrewatchable.

John: My first exposure to James Bond was For Your Eyes Only, which might explain why I was never a Bond fan in my youth (and didn't really become one until Daniel Craig took on the mantle). That said—Caroline Munro! So The Spy Who Loved Me was one of the few Bond films I deliberately sought out. Of course the poor dubbing of Caroline's dialogue, and the fact that her appearance is ultimately just a glorified cameo role, ultimately didn't win me over to the franchise. But God bless still photographer Bob Penn for exposing seemingly more rolls of film on Caroline than any other Bond girl before or after! I treasure the dozens of photos in my collection from shoots that originated with this film!

The Last Man on Earth (1964)

Starring: Vincent Price, Franca Bettoia, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart 

Director: Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow

"December 1965. Is that all it has been since I inherited the world? Only three years. Seems like 100 million."

The first official adaptation of my favorite novel of all time, Richard Matheson's I Am Legend. And while it fumbles some key aspects of the story (in particular, making the main character a classic sci-fi trope scientist, instead of the everyman of the novel, and the film being shot in Italy, which does not resemble the Southern California locales of the novel), it remains the most faithful feature adaptation of the novel to date (and likely the only one we'll ever get, Spanish student film Soy Leyenda notwithstanding, given that Warner Brothers controls the rights and seems dead set of any future adaptations being based on their own version: The Omega Man—More on that later).

A very entertaining movie about the dead (in this case, as with the novel, vampires) coming back to life in search of blood, and one man's pursuit to stay alive in this new world order. Price is often called out as being miscast, but I think the only real strike against him is audience familiarity. I think he does a decent job with the material he was given. And while Matheson's original screenplay adaptation of his novel has been published, it leads me to wonder if this version (credited to his pseudonym Logan Swanson and William F. Leicester) is actually based on a subsequent draft he did, which hews to the book more than his original screenplay did, particularly the ending. Or perhaps we have Leicester to thank for that (along with renaming the protagonist from Robert Neville to Robert Morgan)?

I'd personally love to know a lot more details about the US/Italian co-production. English language texts tend to give Salkow a lot of credit, but the Italian release (L'Ultimo uomo della Terra), which does not credit Salkow, has a few scenes not included in the US cut; while the US cut only features a few things not present in that version (the most interesting being an insert shot of a sign outside the Community Church during the opening noting THE END HAS COME). 

It's worth pointing out a couple of things in the film's trailer—the creatures are referenced as 'the living dead' and also 'zombies'—eight years before George A. Romero's 'ghouls' would begin their official takeover of the moniker from that Haitian/Voodoo variety. — John

Remarks from the Gallery

Peter: I probably saw this on Creature Features (or on Bob Wilkins's Sacramento equivalent) before you even saw Night of the Living Dead, John. I prefer Chuck Heston's The Omega Man to this, mostly due to Vinnie's scenery-chewing, but I'm going to give LMOE another look soon. Will Smith's version, with its impossibly large-jawed zombies, is a big smelly turd.

Jack: I know I saw this long ago. Any movie starring Vincent Price is A-OK in my book!

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 185: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Fantasy Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 170

March-April 1960

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Journey Into Mystery #57

Cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"Orogo!! The Nightmare from Outer Space!!" 

(a: Don Heck & Jack Kirby) ★1/2

(r: Fantasy Masterpieces 2)(r: Where Monsters Dwell #12)

"The Earth-Crawlers!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #12)

"The Metal Monster" (a: Paul Reinman) ★

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #12)

"The Martian Who Stole My Body!" ★1/2

(a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers)

(r: Fear #7)

"Orogo!! The Nightmare from Outer Space!!" arrives on Earth looking for laborers to bring back with him in his gargantuan spaceship. No one can avert their gaze from Orogo's hypnotic eye and soon the giant is nudging thousands of earthlings aboard his vessel. Only one man can stand up to the mighty Orogo; ironically, it's an old man who spends his time sitting on a park bench and staring off into space. It's 100% predictable why the elderly gent is not swayed by Orogo's pulsating orb, but the secret is played out over six pages. My favorite panel is when Orogo is defied and his entire metallic body shuts down; it looks like he's throwing a tantrum!

Would-be inventor Henry Salt has a nagging wife who wants her hubby to whip up a gizmo that will make them rich. Henry insists he's working on something that will make the world a better place to live. "Pshaw!" exclaims the old ball and chain, "Get to work on making my life easier!" Shrugging off his first impulse to bury a hatchet in the old crow's head, Henry continues his work.

Meanwhile, in Africa, disgraced voodoo witch doctor Tutaku escapes from prison and swears vengeance on all mankind. He heads back to his hut, grabs his magic potion, and stands triumphantly on a cliff overlooking the valley. He dumps the formula out over the land but then, in an unfortunate accident, he is killed by his own secret potion. Down in the valley, the vegetation goes wild, growing to mammoth proportions and absorbing all the water around it. Scientists decree that the world will end soon as a dry and arid wasteland if something isn't done.

Coincidentally, back at Henry Salt's place, the quasi-scientist is demonstrating to a prospective buyer the incredible function of his new invention: a machine that can stop rain from falling in certain areas. What are the chances? Henry's attention is diverted to a nearby TV screen and he learns about the troubles in Africa. After contacting the State Department, Henry is rushed to the "dark continent" by the military and saves the world! Hurrah! I can only thank Henry for having the wherewithal to work on such a niche gizmo or we would all have succumbed to "The Earth-Crawlers!" sooner or later. What would the benefits of such a machine be? I was completely caught up in this silly yarn thanks to the imaginative script and Ditko gloss.

Construction foreman Mason accepts a job in Europe to build a road through an ancient forest but runs afoul of a group of gypsies who place a curse on him. Shortly thereafter, Mason is attacked and stalked by his own bulldozer. Salvation arrives in the form of one of the gypsies who elicits a promise from the construction boss to detour his road away from the forest. A really dumb and suspenseless fantasy yarn with ho-hum graphics from the declining Paul Reinman. It's obvious that when Stan and his brother/writing partner Larry Leiber were cooking up "The Metal Monster!" they thought it perfectly fine to "borrow" from Theodore Sturgeon's "Killdozer!" (a story that would, ironically, pop up fourteen years later in an authorized adaptation in Worlds Unknown #6).

The day is not going great for John Warren. First, his Dalmatian, the uniquely named "Spot," won't behave and then John runs into a rogue Martian (here on Earth avoiding persecution on his home planet) who switches places with our hapless hero. John is stuck inside a gigantic red-orange body and can't make his neighbors see the truth. After all is said and done, the authorities take his word for it when Spot starts licking his gargantuan feet. You can't fool a dog! John gets the Martian to switch bodies and the world is safe again. Well, who knows, since the sequel, "The Martian Returns!," debuts next issue. "The Martian Who Stole My Body!" follows the Lee/Kirby (or is it really just Kirby/Kirby?) formula to a tee; pert near every gigantic menace from here on out will sport swimming trunks to preserve their modesty.-Peter

Tales of Suspense #8

Cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"Monstro... the Menace from the Murky Depths!" ★★1/2

(a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers)

"The Story of Sammy Snork!" (a: Bill Everett) ★

"I Am the Changing Man!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★

"The Runaway Planet!" (a: Doug Wildey) ★

"It Walks by Night!" (a: Don Heck) ★★

The stinkin' commies are up to no good again, this time testing atomic weapons and exposing the sea's creatures to radioactivity. Thus is born "Monstro... the Menace from the Murky Depths!," a gargantuan octopus who slinks his way into a commie port and begins destroying everything around it. In an awkward show of good faith, the American government allows Professor Faraday to fly behind the Iron Curtain to study and hopefully defeat the newly-monikered Monstro!

Faraday dives down into the sea to get a better look at the monster and evidently sees something no one else can see. He surfaces and explains to the stinkin' Red military officials that within 24 hours Monstro will disappear. Taking this as a show of cowardice, the Reds give Faraday a less than appreciative boot in the ass on his way out of town. Sure enough, the next day, the giant octopus disappears and Faraday explains to his Washington boss that he immediately recognized that Monstro had been exposed to a huge dose of radioactivity due to atomic testing and the side effects would only last a day. Chuckling, Faraday turns to the window and hopes that this will be a lesson for the commies: it's not good to mess with atomic weapons (well, unless you're the U.S., I guess).

"Monstro..." isn't more brilliant than "Orogo" or "Mummex" or "Gorgolla," but I really like the Kirby/Ayers vision this time out. Sure, Monstro never shows more than four or five of his deadly tentacles and he's got a funny set of peepers, but he's one of the more dynamic giants we've seen so far. 

By 1960, the three-page sf/f tale had become virtually extinct in the Atlas titles, yet in this issue we have two, neither of which is noteworthy. First up is "The Story of Sammy Snork!," wherein the titular bank robber stows away on a carnival ride purporting to be a Martian spaceship. Guess what? You're not going to believe it but... yep... it's a real spaceship! Sammy goes to Mars and becomes an exhibit in a zoo. Never saw that ending coming. In "The Runaway Planet!," brilliant and really smart Professor Hauptmann insists the planet that's heading for a collision with Earth will never hit. The Prof is sure that God has more of a plan for us than extinction by accident. He's kinda right. What these two short-shorts have in common is some nice art and cliche-riddled writing. Both also look like they may be "vault" stories, which would explain their length.

Ozak is sent from the planet Deth to scout an invasion plan for Earth. Ozak's greatest asset is that he can assimilate any shape or form so he impersonates television reporters and newscasters in order to spread disinformation and sow the seeds of anarchy. Unfortunately for "The Changing Man!," his awesome ability becomes his Achille's heel and his plot is derailed. The reveal is pretty silly, but Ditko (who would create a "Changing Man" character several years later for DC) does his best to keep us turning pages. 

Last up is "It Walks By Night!," wherein we discover that by 1999 mankind has become fat and lazy and depends on robots for all activities. Then, when the robots rebel against their human masters, androids are declared illegal, rounded up, and destroyed. But one lone scientist swims against the tide, building what he considers to be a bigger, stronger robot, ignoring the fact that if he's caught he'll be executed. His plan is discovered when he's testing his new toy out in the woods and the authorities converge on him, destroying the machine and cornering the genius on a high cliff. Opting for death by fall rather than firing squad, our hero (?) takes the dive. Later, after the cops have left, the man rises from the water with a bit of his metal skin showing through. Oh my God, he's a robot too! To be continued next issue. That last panel, of course, is full-on cheat, since we're given no clues throughout that this guy is anything but a brilliant but flawed scientist. Heck's design for the Robot: Mach II in "It Walks..." is just a little too close to that of "Orogo" in JIM #57. This is the second tale this month with a sequel on the horizon.-Peter

Tales to Astonish #8

Cover by Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko

"I Dared Defy the Floating Head!" (a: Paul Reinman) ★

(r: Where Creatures Roam #2)

"I Live Again!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★

(r: Where Creatures Roam #3)

"I-Am-The-Genie!" (a: Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko) ★★

(r: Fear #1)

"Mummex---King of the Mummies!" (a: Don Heck) ★★

(r: Fear #1)

On a hot summer day in 1965 in New York City, a huge, green, floating head appears in the sky and announces that it is the harbinger of an invasion force from the planet, Aqua Mentorus. Air force jets open fire but the head disappears and reappears over Long Island. The head explains that it can travel by thought alone and also cause destruction, something it demonstrates by willing an empty warehouse to blow up.

Fortunately, a teenager named Bruce quickly deduces that the head is just a projection and its booming voice is coming from loudspeakers. The cops arrest a group of criminals in Central Park who had planned to force an evacuation of the city so they could loot it. The mayor thanks Bruce for teaching everyone the lesson of not panicking in the face of danger.

"I Dared Defy the Floating Head!" is not a good start to this issue. The art by Paul Reinman is below average and the premise is idiotic. Why would New Yorkers not figure out that the head was being projected and the voice was coming from speakers? It's more likely that they would've ignored it.

One of the statues (presumably Evil) from last issue's "I Spent Midnight with the Thing on Bald Mountain!" announces that "I Live Again!" and climbs back up the mountain to find an empty castle. It goes on a rampage, destroying everything in its path. The living statue hops a ship to America and reaches Florida, where it enters a dark place that it thinks it can wait, undisturbed, before wreaking more havoc. Oops! The statue is on a rocket ship that takes off for outer space, never to return.

Well, I guess that's that. There was no sign of the Good statute that also fell off the mountain in the prior story. This story is at least as bad as the one about the floating head and Ditko, whose art is usually good, isn't even trying. If it weren't signed, I'd wonder if someone else drew it.

While he's in prison, Freddie Sykes passes the time by reading fairy tales. His favorite story is the one about the genie, so when he's released, Freddie heads to the library and does some research. He reads about an old gypsy who tossed a bottle with a genie in a swamp, so he heads south, locates the bottle, pulls the cork, and out comes a giant genie!

Freddie demands a solid gold castle, which the genie provides. He asks for a winged horse and gets one. Freddie's demands grow more outrageous: he tells the genie to make the Atlantic Ocean disappear and to blot out the sun. Finally, Freddie decides that he wants to trade places with the genie. The genie agrees, but what Freddie didn't realize is that, once he's a genie, he has to obey orders! The former genie confines the evil Freddie to a bottle and leaves him to ponder his fate.

The story in "I-Am-The-Genie!" is run of the mill but the art is interesting in that it's about 80% Ditko and 20% Kirby. There's the standard Kirby panel at the bottom of page five where a crowd of onlookers gaze up in horror, and the panel in the middle of page six showing the genie's face is pure Kirby, but the rest of the story is much more Ditko than Kirby, and I prefer that.

Paul Fleming's archaeological trip to Egypt takes a surprising turn when "Mummex---King of the Mummies!" suddenly rises from the desert sand. The huge mummy wanders around, looking for something in one pyramid after another before heading to Cairo. He pulls the roof off of a museum and looks inside before giving up and returning to the desert. Fleming discovers that Mummex had a spaceship buried in the sand--he was an alien from another planet and he departed from Earth!

On the planet Andromeda, Mummex--whose real name is Rakka-takes off his mummy bandages, which protected his body during space travel, and announces that he was unable to find any stranded spacemen on Earth. It turns out he's with the Galactic Missing Persons Bureau!

I feel like a broken record. Don Heck's art is pretty nice but the story is dopey. There is never any sense of menace from the enormous mummy, which just lumbers around looking for something and then departs. The revelation that it's an alien is worthy of a big groan.-Jack

Strange Tales #74

Cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"Gorgolla! The Living Gargoyle!!" (a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers) ★★

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #1) (r: Astonishing Tales #22) (r: Where Monsters Dwell #35)

"Beware the Hands of Hundu!" (a: Don Heck) ★1/2

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #35)

"I Was Trapped in the Nightmare World" (a: Paul Reinman) ★1/2

"When the Totem Walks!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★

(r: Weird Wonder Tales #10)

David Hartnell's summer assignment for his architecture class is to research the origin of gargoyles. He travels to Tibet and finds a remote valley with a gigantic stone wall. Behind the wall, David discovers "Gorgolla! The Living Gargoyle!!" The giant stone creature picks David up and nearly talks him to sleep, explaining how all the gargoyles on Earth are actually (surprise, surprise) aliens who traveled here from the faraway planet of Stonus Five and are waiting on buildings for the right time to attack the human race.

Gorgolla explains the awful events that will follow and, despite David's pleas, the creature sends out the signal for the gargoyles to stop hanging out atop buildings and start attacking. To the giant gargoyle's dismay, gargoyles arrive from all over the Earth and attack Gorgolla! Why did they turn on their leader? The gargoyles helpfully explain to David that they watched humans and learned of love and charity, which beats their slave status on Stonus Five. They're happy to serve as guardians of the human race. David goes back to class at summer's end and tells the prof that he was unable to learn the origin of gargoyles, deciding that the story of Gorgolla should be kept secret.

At seven pages, this may be the longest story we've read yet. It's not bad, and the inks by Dick Ayers really bring out all of Kirby's artistic quirks. The gargoyles really look similar to the sort of creatures we'll see in a few years in the superhero comics.

Hundu's paintings bring him fame and fortune, but nothing brings him any closer to Anne, the woman he loves, since she's in love with a writer named Mark Walker. When Anne sends Hundu a telegram that she's marrying Mark, the artist loses his temper and lashes out at the old man who cleans his studio. Mark decides to take a trip to Europe to forget his sorrow. In Germany, he sees an old gypsy man and convinces the fellow to sit for a portrait. The old gypsy gets sick before the portrait is finished and gives Hundu a box of oil paints that will make any picture he creates come true!

Hundu discovers that the paints work and uses them to create a picture of his rival, Mark, in prison on Death Row. After starting on a self-portrait of himself as dictator of the world, Hundu leaves his studio for the night. While he's gone, the old cleaner accidentally knocks the painting out the window and it falls three floors to the ground. As a result, Hundu lies broken on the floor, unable to reach the magic paint. Once it is all washed down the drain, everything Hundu magically created disappears, and Mark and Anne live happily ever after.

"Beware the Hands of Hundu" doesn't even try to make sense. The first thing Hundu paints is a silly hat on a picture of himself, in order to confirm that he was a fool for dealing with the gypsy, but the next thing he paints (of course) is a treasure chest filled with jewels. He then paints Mark on death row, followed by a picture of the Empire State Building upside down! In the end, if the paint's disappearance makes everything go back to normal, why is Hundu still injured? This is not one of Don Heck's better efforts.

Mr. Brown has a theory that people have similar dreams because there is a dream world that everyone visits while they sleep. He goes to sleep and enters the dream world, where he encounters ghostly figures and strange things. In the end, the ghostly figures reveal that they are afraid of him and consider him a nightmare creature. He awakens and wonders if life is but a dream.

"I Was Trapped in the Nightmare World" is slightly better than watching paint dry, but not by much. It's too bad this wasn't assigned to Ditko, who would have made the dream world more interesting.

Hunk and Bull escape from prison one night and make their way to a small Indian village by dawn, where they hold the natives at gunpoint and demand food. The convicts decide that they will have to kill all the Indians to eliminate them as witnesses, so an old man asks a large totem pole to come to life. That night, Hunk and Bull discover that, "When the Totem Walks!," it's coming after them! Bullets don't stop it, so the cons head back to the prison, thinking they'll be safe, but the totem pole bends the bars on the prison window and... continued next issue!

It's a little far-fetched to think of a large totem pole chasing anyone--it does more of a hop or a teeter-totter than a walk--but Ditko pulls it off and the story is reasonably enjoyable. Will we start to see more continued stories now?-Jack

On Thursday...
Peter Openly
Invites Derision

And Next Week...
Beware of...
RRO!!!