Batman in the 1960s Issue 51: May/June 1968

 

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

Novick

Detective Comics #375

"The Frigid Finger of Fate!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Chic Stone & Sid Greene

Perennial loser Pete Maddox discovers he has an unnatural gift--he can dream the future! Through a series of mishaps, Maddox learns how to fine-tune this superpower and earn winnings from horse races. Then, one night, he dreams of killing the Batman from a rooftop and puts his plan into action. Unfortunately, like most of his dream-motivated schemes, Maddox can't pull off the assassination of the Dark Knight but, without any evidence of wrongdoing, he's free to go. A few days later, Dick Grayson points out a newspaper story to Bruce Wayne. Pete Maddox has died in a meat locker.

This was one of the shortest synopses I've ever been assigned to write (and yet, I feel I should be paid double my usual salary for having to wade through this mess) because, thanks to Gardner Fox, there's not much of a story. I do have to admit that  "The Frigid Finger of Fate!" provided me with several guffaws thanks to the increasingly escalated requirements for Maddox's dreams to come true. When his second dream goes awry, he stumbles upon the fact that he must be in a freezing cold temperature to make the power work. Then, later on, after another stumble, he realizes that if he tells anyone about his dream, it won't come true! I was waiting for the third tier where poor Pete has to whistle "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" while standing on his head in the Arctic. Alas, it didn't show.

The Chic Stone-Sid Greene art is awful--I mean, Shelly Moldoff awful--with beloved characters who look nothing like they have in the past and awkwardly posed fight scenes. Irv Novick's cover (an "homage" to the Kennedy assassination?) is the lone saving grace. I'd love for Mr. Fox to explain to his readers how Batman tosses a trio of goons off a roof and they survive. Oh, and I think Gardy forgot to include Maddox's motivation for putting a bullet through the Caped Crusader's eyes. How was that going to make him a millionaire?  Truly abysmal stuff.-Peter

Jack-What an odd story! I perked up at the mention of "wild talents," which I think is a reference to the work of Charles Fort, and I had to look up the meaning of "oneiromantic." There was some unintentional humor when Maddox was shown sitting on a big block of ice in his boxer shorts, and the end, where he froze to death, was certainly unexpected. Despite the mediocre artwork, are we seeing a turn to the dark side for Batman? The cover is one of several around this time at DC where the hero is riding in a car and waving to a cheering crowd.

Novick

Batman #201

"Batman's Gangland Guardians!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Chic Stone & Joe Giella

The Penguin has gathered six other members of Batman's Rogues Gallery in a secret location to deliver surprising news: a West Coast syndicate is about to invade Gotham City and they've planned a series of robberies that include death traps for the Caped Crusader! The Penguin suggests that after Batman is gone, the syndicate will target the rogues, so they'd better save Batman!

Helpfully, the Penguin heard a voice telling him where the syndicate would strike and the nature of their death traps. The next evening, the Fowl Fiend saves Batman from an explosion at the Gotham City Museum before Batman spends a few pages beating up two syndicate goons. The following night, the Mad Hatter prevents Batman from being blown up by a giant pearl after the Dark Knight beats up three jewel thieves in Gotham Square Park, and Batman begins to wonder if he has a guardian angel.

Another day passes, and that night the Cluemaster prevents Batman and the Bat-copter from being blown to bits by an exploding cloud above Meadowland Amusement Park. Yet another night, and Batman confronts smugglers in Gotham City Harbor, where Johnny Witts keeps an exploding buoy from killing Batman. A group of fake police accuse Batman of also being a fake and of masterminding a smuggling racket, but when they line him up to shoot him, he disappears through a trap door rigged up by the Getaway Genius. Back at the Batcave, Batman figures out that Mr. Esper was sending him messages that told him where to go to intercept each crime, but the man in the cowl never learns the identity of "Batman's Gangland Guardians!"

Much more could have been done with this story, which is basically a series of explosions followed by fisticuffs. The first problem is that half of "Batman's greatest villains" are nobodies--Johnny Wits? The Getaway Genius? Where's the Riddler? And why don't the Joker and Catwoman save Batman? Other than making corny jokes, they have no role in the story. The second problem is the lack of suspense. We know Batman will get away, so why not have the rogues barely avoid being noticed? It would be more interesting if Batman came close to figuring out who his guardian angels were. Finally, the biggest problem is the art. It has dawned on me that what Moldoff was doing for years and what Stone is doing now is an intentional imitation of Bob Kane's art style. Perhaps these pencillers and inkers could have done better had they not had to keep up the facade that Kane was drawing the stories. In the letters columns, the editor continues to let readers think that Kane is involved, at least when the artist is not someone with such a personal style as Carmine Infantino.-Jack

Peter-The conceit, that all of Gotham's Rogues team up to save Batman's life, is a cute one, but it perfectly illustrates how juvenile the titles have become. Fox's needless last-second twist overcomplicates things. I'm not sure how, in some adventures, Batman can find a frayed shoelace and deduct that the criminal was five foot eleven, weighed one-eighty, and had a blonde mustache, but couldn't figure out what was at play here. Maybe he's the World's Greatest Part-Time Detective?

Andru/Esposito

The Brave and the Bold #77

"So Thunders the Cannoneer!"

Story by Bob Haney

Art by Ross Andru & Mike Esposito

It must be 1968, because the Brotherhood Express is on the move across America; it's a train whose cars contain exhibits of the greatest treasures and accomplishments from countries across the world! What could go wrong? Some quick reconnaissance by Batman demonstrates security lapses all around Gotham City, leading Commissioner Gordon to reroute the train, but he's being watched by the Cannoneer, who is shot from a cannon and bursts through the window of Gordon's office, where he scoops up the plans for the new route.

Shortly, at the Dulcamora Grand Imperial Circus, the Cannoneer comforts Lilli de la Pooche, a pretty midget who laments the fact that the Queen Bee is a half inch shorter! The Cannoneer gives Lilli a pill that he promises will shrink her and she faints dead away. The next day, the train pulls into Gotham but it and all of the priceless works of art aboard it are fakes! Batman discovers that a tiny person must have bypassed the train's security features, so he places a call to Ray Palmer, who transforms into the Atom and races to Batman's aid. The real Brotherhood Express is on a spur outside Gotham City and the tiny person who got aboard is none other than Lilli, who did not expect the pill to shrink her to the size of the Atom.

At the circus, Batman discovers that the Cannoneer and Lilli are missing. Titanic Tex is certain that the Cannoneer is behind it and Batman figures out what happened. He and the Atom zip off in the Bat-copter and locate the real train; Batman fights various crooks, including the simian Dum-Dum, while the Atom battles the shrunken Lilli. Eventually, Batman locates the Cannoneer and they fight atop the speeding train. Batman manages to defeat his foe and the Atom does the same to Lilli. With the help of the circus folk, they manage to stop the Brotherhood Express from crashing and, in the end, Lilli is returned to normal size and accepts Tex's marriage proposal. The Atom hops aboard the express to ride home and all is well in Gotham City.

Bob Haney sure knows how to pack a lot into a 24-page story! "So Thunders the Cannoneer!" is filled with nutty asides and wacky characters, all of which adds to the fun. The Cannoneer is dead ringer for the Golden Age hero, Bulletman and, while I'm not exactly clear on why the Atom needed to be involved, he's a cool hero and he has a great costume.-Jack

Peter-This goofy team-up was the most fun I had reading a Bat-Adventure this month and, by process of elimination, the easiest on the eye. Lots of highlights here: Gordo (see left), looking for all the world, like he's been dropping acid on his lunch break, guarantees no baddie will get near the train while a stack of parole papers for Catwoman, Penguin, Joker, Mr. Freeze, and the Riddler lie waiting to be signed on his desk; Bob Haney's caption: Shortly at the Dulcamora Grand Imperial Circus--in the dressing room of Lilli de la Pooche--beautiful circus midget...; the Atom, getting his ass kicked but not wanting to use force on the aforementioned Lilli because she's "too beautiful to hit"; and as the cherry on top, the circus acts rebuilding a train track in mere minutes! This strip has it all!

Novick

Detective Comics #376

"Hunted or Haunted?"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Chic Stone & Sid Greene

Let's take a little trip to a post-apocalyptic future (Year 543 after Destruct Day of the Null-Nuclear War to be exact), where we listen in as the members of the "Batmaniacs" debate whether the Caped Crusader was a myth--or a man! Just then, their leader, the bald-as-an-egg Tomas, arrives after a time trip to 1968 Gotham.

Tomas relates the story of his adventure in Gotham City, following around the real-life Batman and Robin. With just a hint of coincidence, Tomas arrives at just the right place and time to witness the Caped Crusaders assist Commissioner Gordon in retrieving some stolen papers designed to put the FBI's Most Wanted, Harve Pelley, behind bars for... well, however many years hardened criminals serve in Gotham. Tomas is able to remain invisible while he follows our heroes around town; still, Bats has a sinking feeling he's being watched!

Thanks to Batman's insanely skilled detective brain, Pelley is caught and delivered to the authorities and Tomas returns to Mad Max World, able to confirm that, yep, Batman really existed. In fact, unknown to Tomas, he is the direct descendant of Bruce Wayne--Tomas Wayne!!!

It's great to know that 500+ years after a civilization-ending nuclear war, the world has built itself back up with technology even more advanced than pre-mushroom clouds. Despite the obvious loss of hair (which I've dealt with just fine), these Batmaniacs actually look like they're having a good time. Gordo's flashback within Tomas's flashback is "Holy Confusing, Batman!" I kept having to turn the pages back and forth to make sense of the goings-on. In fact, the whole magilla stretches the boundaries of patience and brain power. The most inventive aspect of this turkey was the idea that a cult builds up around the mythology of Batman. How did these guys get models of the Batmobile and Bat-copter? From etchings on the side of a cave? Chic and Sid have obviously never seen the Commish portrayed in the funny books, since Gordo looks more like Mr. Monopoly than the number one cop in Gotham.-Peter

Jack-I recall Superman stories from the '60s where people of the future had extremely large bald heads because their brains were so big and advanced, so I presume that's what's going on with the future folk in this story--in one panel, Tomas's head is extra-large, although it seems more normal in the rest of the panels and his cohorts among the Batmaniacs all seem to have heads that fit the classic Bat mask perfectly. As in a few stories we've read lately, the most interesting event happens right at the end.

Novick

Batman #202

"Gateway to Death!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Chic Stone (?) & Sid Greene

"Menace of the Motorcycle Marauders!"

Story by Mike Friedrich

Art by Chic Stone (?) & Joe Giella

A cop on the beat is shocked to see bricks rise from a trash can and hurl themselves through the window of a jewelry store! Batman and Robin respond quickly and conclude that this is the work of the Psychic Plunderer, who recently robbed a bank by having a gun appear out of nowhere and point itself at a teller. At the Batcave, Alfred announces that he knows the crook's identity, but he seems to pass out and can only mumble when he tries to tell the Dynamic Duo the name.

Alfred mentioned an "eternal gate," so Batman and Robin head for the Eternal Gate Cemetery, where Batman is knocked out by an unseen force. After he awakens, he and Robin follow footprints to a mausoleum, but before they enter, they insert earplugs and nose filters. Inside the mausoleum, they discover a tall man, a short man, and a bald man. The short man screams, emitting a powerful sonic wave, but the earplugs prevent any damage. The bald man uses his mental powers to send stone urns and bronze jars flying at the Dynamic Duo, but they avoid the objects. As the good guys trade punches with the bad guys, the tall man breaks a glass vial that emits a green gas, and when Batman and Robin are punched, they accidentally inhale some gas.

This slows them down a bit, but they use their wits to prevail. Bruce and Dick visit Alfred the Butler, who is in bed, recovering. He explains that he once met the Great Norman, who could make objects fly across the stage. Norman saved Alfred from an explosion during WWII, but the butler lost track of the magician until recently, when he saw him at the cemetery. Alfred knew at once that Norman was the Psychic Plunderer, but when he tried to reveal this to Batman, his mind couldn't take the strain of betraying the man who had once saved his life.

"Gateway to Death!": is poor from start to finish. It all stems from a jewelry store robbery and Batman has no difficulty finding the crooks. Nearly half of the story's fourteen pages are taken up with Batman and Robin fighting the trio of crooks. Not for the first time, Gardner Fox throws in a reference that was sure to make the young readers scratch their heads; here, it's when Batman sees the bad guys and remarks that "'They look like the original "Unholy Three"!'" The reference is to a Lon Chaney movie from 1925 that was remade in 1930, and I doubt many readers in 1968 knew what the Caped Crusader was talking about.

Dick Grayson gets all dressed up for a school assembly because he's giving a speech and hoping to be elected class president. On his way to school, Dick observes a motorcycle gang called the Hornets causing mayhem, so he changes into his Robin costume and goes after them. All but one of the bikers escape, so Robin returns to the Batcave and disguises himself as Jimbo, the one biker who didn't get away, with the goal of infiltrating the gang and stopping the "Menace of the Motorcycle Marauders!"

In disguise, Robin rides Jimbo's motorcycle to the gang's hangout where, as soon as they're all assembled, he tears off his disguise and knocks them senseless. Back at Wayne Manor, Dick is upset because his crime fighting detour caused him to miss giving his speech and he lost the election.

As tough as it is to take the Stone/Greene artwork on the lead story, the Stone/Giella art on the backup is even worse. Robin makes a questionable choice when he decides to take on an entire motorcycle gang singlehandedly; it's compounded when it causes him to miss an important school event. Surely, capturing the Hornets could've waited another day?-Jack

Peter-Holy Coincidence, Batman! Norman saves Al's life decades before and the World's Greatest Butler stumbles across his old friend days before the guy is going to pull off a heist. Not sure how, with all the super-powered freaks flying around Gotham and elsewhere, Al could positively identify the perpetrator as his long-lost buddy. The Robin solo, with its Hell's Angels hook, is typical pulp paper aside from that last panel, which shows us a heartbroken Dick. Just when he thinks he can have a teenage life, the hoods pull him back in!

Next Week...
A Wally Wood/Joe Orlando
Team-Up!

The Hitchcock Project-Final Escape by John Resko [9.18]

by Jack Seabrook

"Final Escape" is an episode that is remembered for its horrifying ending, but the show that aired on CBS on Friday, February 21, 1964, had a complicated history that remains hard to unravel.

The onscreen credits state that the show's teleplay is by John Resko, from a story by Thomas H. Cannan, Jr., and Randall Hood. However, the University of Wisconsin holds the papers of Jerome Ross, who was a TV writer for decades. In those papers is a folder containing a large amount of material related to "Final Escape," including a typed but unpublished four-page "original story" by Tom Cannon titled "The Fate of Paul Perreau." The story is also labeled a "synopsis," and the time is given as 1950; the place is Devil's Island, the notorious French penal colony off the coast of French Guiana that closed in 1953.

In the story, Paul Perreau is a wealthy, young French bachelor who is sentenced to 20 years on Devil's Island for a financial crime. After Perreau spends months in a cell, the prisoner in the next cell suggests that the only way to escape is in a pine coffin and that they should arrange for the jail's doctor to put them both to sleep and end their suffering. Perreau taunts the prison's commander into having him flogged and he is taken to the infirmary, where he proposes a scheme to the doctor: when the prisoner in the next cell dies, Paul will join his corpse in the coffin and be buried. The doctor tells him that he will be able to survive underground for thirty minutes, by which time the doctor will have dug up the coffin and freed Perreau. The plan goes off without a hitch until Perreau, sealed in the coffin and buried underground, lights a match and discovers that the corpse next to him in the coffin is that of the doctor.

Stephen McNally as Captain Tolman

Presumably, the "Tom Cannon" whose name is on the original story/synopsis is the same person as "Thomas H. Cannan, Jr.," one of the authors credited onscreen with the story on which the show that aired is based. Cannan lived from 1934 to 1992 and only has one other credit on IMDb (as "Tom Cannan"), as writer of the teleplay for a 1975 episode of The Streets of San Francisco that deals with an escape from Alcatraz prison!

The Jerome Ross folder also includes two drafts of a teleplay that Ross wrote that is titled "Final Escape" and based on "The Fate of Paul Perreau." Also contained in the folder are a step outline (a scene-by-scene breakdown of the story), a treatment (a detailed prose summary of a script idea used to pitch a project), and handwritten and typed notes that Ross kept, including notes about story conferences he had with Robert Douglas, who would later produce "Final Escape" for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. From the notes, it appears that Douglas gave the story to Ross to draft a screenplay.

Robert Keith as Doc

On June 6, 1963, Ross jotted down ideas of how to broaden Cannan's story in order to make it a character study of Manuel (Perreau's new name), Commandant Sandoz (the warden/commander of the prison), and Dr. Echevara (the infirmary doctor). Manuel is described as a "Louis Jourdan character," referring to the suave, French actor who was one of the stars of Gigi in 1958. Manuel is allowed to keep a locket with his mother's picture in it; unbeknownst to the commandant, diamonds are hidden inside the locket. The commandant has a native girl as a companion.

A June 12 story conference with Douglas was their third meeting, and they decided to replace having Manuel flogged with having him put in a sweatbox; it's noted that this was used in the 1957 film, The Bridge on the River Kwai. Ross also lists plot points that need to be planted along the way so that they can be brought up again later in the story. Outline notes on June 15 state that the location will be changed from Devil's Island to the fictional Isle of Sorrows, and the step outline is dated June 17.

Edd Byrnes as Paul Perry

In this outline, Manuel is now a wealthy playboy in Rio de Janeiro who is arrested for murder and transported to the Isle of Sorrows, where he boasts of his certainty that he'll escape. The rest of the plot follows the original story. Ross notes that the location was changed because Devil's Island closed years ago. Ross and Douglas had more story conferences on June 18 and 19, deciding to change Manuel's crime from murder to forgery and to make the commandant a more intellectual character who resents Manuel's privilege.

Ross then worked on the first draft of the teleplay, which is dated July 15, 1963. It opens with a prologue set in Rio de Janeiro, where Manuel, who now has the surname Braganza, is shown living the high life until he is arrested for a headline-making robbery. In the first act, he is taken by boat to the prison on the Isle of Sorrows, where Sandoz watches his arrival, accompanied by a young, pretty Indian girl. Dr. Echevara is introduced and has spent thirty years on the prison island; he and Manuel bond over their shared love of poetry. The doctor gives Manuel a break and classifies him as suitable for modified labor rather than heavy labor. Manuel visits Sandoz and boasts that he'll escape soon, but Sandoz explains that the half mile of water separating the island from the mainland is home to man-eating sharks; one of the other prisoners who tried to escape is missing an arm. Manuel finds a bunk next to an old prisoner who is dying, and he observes prisoners on work duty making bamboo shades and wooden coffins.

Nicholas Colasanto as the dying prisoner

In act two, Manuel is growing desperate and planning his escape when Sandoz orders him to be placed on the burial crew that takes a boat to the mainland to bury prisoners' corpses; Sandoz expects that Manuel will try to escape and plans to have him shot in the attempt. This fate befalls another prisoner, however, and Manuel returns to the island, where he proposes his scheme to the doctor before refusing to work and being put in the sweatbox for four days. In act three, Manuel ends up in the infirmary and explains his plan to the doctor, who demands half of the money that Manuel stole and tells the prisoner that he can only survive thirty minutes inside a coffin underground.

In the final act, the other prisoner has died and Sandoz presses the doctor about what Manuel is planning. Manuel observes the corpse placed in the coffin and joins it; the lid is nailed on and he is transported to the mainland and buried. In the final scene, shots alternate between Manuel inside the coffin and the scene above ground, where no one is present. Manuel discovers the doctor's corpse and there is a final scene where Sandoz has watched the burial through binoculars and moves the king on a chessboard before remarking, "'Checkmate, Braganza.'"

John Kellogg as a guard

Jerome Ross had another story conference with Robert Douglas on July 18. Douglas thought that the story was too modern and needed to be opened up, and he told Ross to delete Sandoz's female companion. A revised teleplay is dated July 18, 1963. This version opens with Sandoz and the doctor playing chess, and instead of showing Manuel being arrested and transported to the island, these facts are conveyed through dialogue between the chess players. There is more focus on Sandoz's poor upbringing and his resentment of Manuel.

The rest of the teleplay is similar to the first draft, but the final shot of Sandoz at the chessboard is cut and the story ends with Manuel discovering the doctor's corpse and screaming, "'No-o-oo-o!'" as his last match burns out.

Jerome Ross (1911-2012) wrote for TV from 1950 to 1980 and won Edgar Awards in 1954, for an episode of Studio One, and in 1967, for an episode of Mission: Impossible. He wrote two episodes of The Outer Limits, but no episodes of the Hitchcock TV show are credited to him.

What happened to Jerome Ross's teleplay and why is he not credited onscreen in the version of "Final Escape" that aired on TV? That version is credited to John Resko, "from a story by Thomas H. Cannan, Jr. and Randall Hood." The Catalogue of Copyright Entries lists a screenplay titled "The Fate of Paul Perreau," whose first draft was registered on February 19, 1962, over a year before Jerome Ross began working on his teleplay. The screenplay is credited to Tom Cannan, Jr., and Randall Hood, from an original account by Hannah Firoved, a pseudonym of Cannan and Hood. A copy of this screenplay is held at the University of Iowa, but when I requested permission to get a copy for research purposes, a lawyer for 20th Century Fox informed me that no copies are allowed and the only way to review the screenplay is to travel to Iowa and read it in person.

Ray Kellogg as the blacksmith

It appears that Cannan and Hood wrote a screenplay that was never produced. Somehow, a synopsis then made its way to producer Robert Douglas and, for some reason, the author's name on the synopsis is listed as Tom Cannon. This is undoubtedly Tom Cannan, but why would an author misspell his own name? Randall Hood (1928-1976) has only one credit as a writer on IMDb and it is this episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He also directed four films and one TV episode between 1961 and 1978.

"Final Escape" aired on February 21, 1964, so it was probably filmed in late 1963 or early 1964. At some point between mid-July 1963 and the time the show was filmed, producer Robert Douglas must have decided that Jerome Ross's teleplay was unusable, because the teleplay for the show that aired is credited to John Resko and it is based on a story by Cannan and Hood, presumably the screenplay that the pair copyrighted in 1962.

Oddly enough, though John Resko (1911-1991) is a fascinating character, he has no other credits as a TV or film writer! Convicted of murder when he was eighteen years old and sentenced to die in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison, his sentence was commuted to life in 1932 by future president Roosevelt, who was then governor of New York. Resko spent almost twenty years in prison and was released in late 1949. While in prison, he took up painting and became a talented painter of rather modernistic, haunted scenes. His 1956 book, Reprieve: The Testament of John Resko, was well-received, and it was adapted into a film titled Convicts 4 that was released in September 1962.

Bernie Hamilton as a prisoner

The TV version of "Final Escape" differs from Cannan's synopsis and Ross's teleplays in many ways. Paul Perreau/Manuel Braganza has been Americanized as Paul Perry and the events take place in an unidentified location, though Captain Tolman (as Sandoz has been renamed) asks Perry in an early scene if he really robbed "'nine banks between here and Boston.'" A sign at the gate reads "State Prison Lumber Camp No. 2." The show begins with Perry, a shackle on his leg, trying to escape on foot and being caught by an armed guard. Perry is walked back to a prison truck by Captain Tolman and a group of guards; the captain remarks that the prisoner made off with almost $500,000 and suggests that if Perry turns in his partner and returns the money, he could be released.

The guards and Perry climb in a truck and, on their way back to the prison, they stop at a desolate, dusty graveyard, where Doc, who is elderly and drunk, is having difficulty placing a wooden marker on a new grave. He hates to bury prisoners and can't keep away from the bottle on burial day; he also has a bad heart. Tolman tells Doc that his granddaughter Elissa might be admitted to the county hospital, where she could be cared for; he adds that "'alcohol and a weak heart don't mix.'" We learn that Perry has a reputation for trying to escape from every prison where he's held, and the scene shifts to the prison, which looks like a series of shacks in the middle of nowhere. Act one ends with a guard remarking that no one has ever escaped from Captain Tolman's prison.

Stacy Harris as the lawyer

The first act of "Final Escape" thus introduces the three main characters and their relationships and sets up the conflict between the prisoner with a reputation for escaping and the captain who never lets anyone go free. The third key figure is the doctor, who hates his job of having to bury dead prisoners, drinks heavily, has a bad heart, and has a sick granddaughter for whom he can't afford treatment.

Act two begins with new shackles being put on Perry's ankles before he is brought to see Captain Tolman, "'de facto warden of this camp.'" Tolman talks Perry into signing a guilty plea, explaining that his attempt at escape would add five years to the ten he is already serving, while a guilty plea would increase his prison time by just a year. Outside, Perry is assigned to help Doc make coffins; the doctor  remarks that each one has "'room for two of me in there.'" After Doc nearly collapses and clutches at his chest, the men relax with cigarettes and it's revealed that, while Perry has been in this prison for less than a week, Doc has been here for twenty-nine years.

Perry meets with his lawyer in the prison's dining room during visiting hours, while across the room, Doc attempts to comfort his granddaughter, who is crying and confined to a wheelchair. As visiting hours end, Perry makes a bird by folding a piece of paper and hands it to the girl, who cheers up. Tolman then summons Doc to his office and, after plying him with alcohol, the warden asks the doctor to befriend Perry, encourage him to try another escape, and advise Tolman. After the captain offers to help Doc's family, the old man agrees, but Tolman cautions that an extensive waiting list means that it will be a long time until Elissa is admitted to the hospital. Doc says that she needs money for a specialist and a "'chance at a healthy, normal life.'"

Hinton Pope
as a guard

Doc and Perry continue to work side by side and Doc explains that he only makes twelve cents a day and his son makes very little money doing odd jobs; they need $5000 for Elissa's operation. Doc tells Perry to write to his partner on the outside and have him send $5000 to Doc's son; in exchange, Doc will help Perry escape. Doc explains the plan about being buried in a coffin alongside a dead prisoner; Doc will wait to erect the grave marker and, when everyone else has left, he'll dig up Perry, who will then be able to escape. Though Doc says that there will be "'plenty of air till I get to you,'" Perry is skeptical, but Doc talks him into agreeing and Perry asks Doc for his son's address.

In Act two, Paul's prison sentence is lengthened, which strengthens his motivation to escape. He begins working alongside Doc, whose granddaughter is introduced. Tolman asks Doc to encourage Perry to escape, and in this version it is Doc who proposes the doomed plan, not Perry.

The third act begins as Tolman confronts Doc, whose son and granddaughter have left town. Doc lies and says that he borrowed money from an old school buddy, but Tolman suspects that he's lying and that he got the money from Perry. Prisoners are shown working outdoors in the prison yard, using ropes to place large trees on a flatbed truck. One convict is crushed in an accident and ends up in bad shape in the infirmary. Back in the prison yard, Perry stages a fake accident that makes it look like his foot is injured; he is admitted to the infirmary and his leg shackles are removed so his foot can be put in a cast. Tolman announces that Perry will be sent back to the main prison the next day and Doc comments that the other prisoner is near death. Perry's impending transfer makes his escape urgent and, though Doc warns him not to kill the other prisoner, the man dies anyway.

Betsy Hale as Elissa

Act three sets up the show's finale by causing one prisoner to be near death, having Perry stage his own seeming injury, and adding time pressure when Tolman says that Perry will be transferred the following day. Everything is now in place for Perry and Doc to execute their plan.

Doc is drinking heavily again as act four opens. He instructs Perry to be sure to pull the shroud over his head when he gets in the coffin and gives Perry tobacco, matches, and chocolate before leaving the infirmary and falling down the stairs outside in a drunken stupor. That night, Perry removes the cast from his foot before sneaking out of the infirmary and across the prison yard, avoiding being spotted by a sentry. After seeing Tolman leave the morgue with two prisoners, Perry sneaks in. The morgue is in shadows as he climbs into the coffin next to a corpse that is covered by a shroud. Perry pulls the lid over the top of the coffin and there is a close up of him inside.

In the morning, prisoners nail the lid on the coffin and shots of Perry in the confined space alternate with shots of the prisoners loading the coffin onto a flatbed truck. There is a dissolve to the graveyard, where shots continue to go back and forth between showing Perry inside the coffin and showing the prisoners filling in the grave with dirt and leaving. There is no sign of Doc. Perry lights matches and speaks his thoughts out loud, while above, the gravesite is desolate. Perry grows more desperate, offering to give Doc anything he wants and pounding on the coffin lid. Above, there is no one. Finally, as Perry bangs on the lid, the shroud slips off of the corpse lying next to him and there is a close up of Doc's dead face. Perry sees it and mutters, "'Doc...Doc...'" before the screen fades to black.

In the end, Paul Perry succeeds in making his "final escape," but no one else knows that he is trapped in the coffin, buried alive, and doomed to die from lack of oxygen. He will be thought to have escaped the prison without a trace when the truth is something much worse.

John Alderson as a guard

"Final Escape" is a slow-paced episode that turns out to be all setup for the final twist. There is an overuse of Bernard Herrmann's five-note theme from "Behind the Locked Door," and the show as a whole looks low-budget. The biggest problem is the final shot, where the revelation that the corpse is Doc lacks the impact needed to convey the real horror of the situation.

The TV show that aired in 1964 is significantly different than the original story by Tom Cannan and from the draft screenplays by Jerome Ross; perhaps that's why Ross did not receive a credit. The location has been moved from an island off the coast of Brazil to somewhere in America, and all of the characters have been Americanized--Paul Perreau/Manuel Braganza becomes Paul Perry, Captain Sandoz becomes Captain Tolman, and Dr. Echevara becomes Doc. In the final version, Doc suggests the escape plan to Perry, while in the earlier versions it was Perry's idea. Doc's granddaughter is introduced to motivate him to suggest the plan to Perry and, instead of Perry going to infirmary after being beaten or put in a sweatbox for several days, he fakes an injury while on work detail.

The result is an ineffective episode that wastes a great ending. Perhaps this is an example of too many cooks spoiling the broth, but "Final Escape" might have worked better if Jerome Ross's teleplay had been used.

"Final Escape" was directed by William Witney (1915-2002), in his only effort for the series. He served in the Marines in WWII and directed serials for Republic Pictures. He made films starting in 1937 and directed TV shows from 1954 on. He also directed another prison escape movie called I Escaped From Devil's Island (1973). A website is devoted to him here.

The final shot of Doc, lying dead in the coffin

Starring as Captain Tolman is Stephen McNally (1911-1994), who succeeds in creating a sense of cruel authority. He acted in many Westerns and was on screen from 1942 to 1980. He starred in a TV series called Target: The Corruptors (1961-1962) and appeared in an episode of The Outer Limits, but this was his only role on the Hitchcock show.

"Final Escape" is the next-to-last screen credit for Robert Keith (1898-1966), who steals the show as Doc. Keith had a long career on film and TV from 1924 to 1964. He also played many roles on Broadway, from 1921 to 1951, and he was in the original cast of Mister Roberts when it premiered in 1948. Keith was seen on the big screen in The Wild One (1953) and Guys and Dolls (1955), and this was one of his two appearances on the Hitchcock show; the other was "Ten O' Clock Tiger." His last role was in an episode of The Twilight Zone. His son, Brian Keith, was also in several episodes of the Hitchcock series.

Edd Byrnes (1932-2020) plays Paul Perry. He was born Edward Byrne Breitenberger and had a long career, mostly on TV, from 1956 to 1999. He played "Kookie" on the TV series 77 Sunset Strip and was a teen idol for a short time; this clip, of him lip-syncing with Connie Stevens to his hit single, "Kookie, Kookie, Lend me Your Comb," demonstrates a level of hysteria among female fans that predated Beatlemania by several years. "Final Escape" was his first TV role to air after 77 Sunset Strip ended.

In smaller roles:

• Nicholas Colasanto (1924-1985) as the prisoner crushed by the tree; he served in the Navy in WWII and later had a long screen career that lasted from 1957 to 1985. He appeared in Hitchcock's Family Plot (1976) and his best-known role was as Coach on the sitcom, Cheers (1982-1985). He also worked as a TV director from 1966 to 1981.
• John Kellogg (1916-2000) as the prison guard in the first scene who says, "'he don't look so dangerous to me'"; he was on screen from 1938 to 1990 and also appeared on The Outer Limits.
• Ray Kellogg (1919-1981) as the blacksmith who puts on and removes Paul's leg shackles; he was on screen from 1942 to 1972, had a small role in Hitchcock's Topaz (1969), and appeared on The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.
• Bernie Hamilton (1928-2008) as the Black convict; he was on screen from 1950 to 1985 and had a regular role on Starsky and Hutch (1975-1979). He was on The Twilight Zone and also appeared in one episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat."
• Stacy Harris (1918-1973) as the lawyer who meets with Paul during visiting hours; he was a busy voice actor on radio from 1946 to 1960 and appeared in numerous TV shows and a few films from 1950 to 1972. He was also in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("The Old Pro") and another episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
• Hinton Pope (1919-1995) as one of the guards by the truck in the early scene where Paul is captured and taken back to prison; he was on TV from 1961 to 1981 and appeared in no less than nine episodes of the Hitchcock TV series, including "A Tangled Web."
• Betsy Hale (1952- ) as Doc's granddaughter; in her short screen career, from 1959 to 1965, she was in an episode of Thriller, played a small part in Hitchcock's The Birds (1963), appeared in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("Road Hog"), and had a small role in 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.
• John Alderson (1916-2006) as another guard; he had a 40-year career on screen, from 1951 to 1990, and appeared in three episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "The Crocodile Case."
He was also in Fritz Lang's Moonfleet (1955) and Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief (1955), as well as one episode of Night Gallery; he was a regular on the TV series, Boots and Saddles (1957-1958).

Season Hubley as Lena Trent

"Final Escape" was remade for the 1980s color version of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and, while it features important changes and is only half as long and in color, it works better than the original version. The main character is Lena Trent, a wealthy woman who is sentenced to life in prison for murdering her husband. She is sent to Mohave women's prison, where she tries to use her wiles on every man she meets, finally charming the warden into assigning her to a light work detail. In this version, Doc is an older Black man who needs cataract surgery. Lena tries to escape in a laundry truck and is sentenced to thirty days in solitary confinement.

After her thirty-day term ends, she is beaten by another prisoner and sent to the infirmary, where she manipulates Doc with lies and a promise to fund his operation. She suggests the plan to bury her and dig her up, and this stripped-down version of the story works better than the overly long original. Acting, writing, and direction all work together to create a suspenseful mood and the final scene is more effective than the conclusion of the hour-long version. The teleplay by Charles Grant Craig adheres more closely to Tom Cannan's original story than does John Resko's teleplay for the hour-long version.

Watch the original version of "Final Escape" here and the remake here and judge for yourself.

On a related note, Al Feldstein's story, "Escape," published in the Vault of Horror #16, cover-dated December 1950-January 1951 and on sale on September 19, 1950, also concerns a crook who plans to sneak out of prison by hiding in a coffin. Little does he know that the coffin is bound for the new prison crematorium!

Sources:

Cannon, Tom. "The Fate of Paul Perreau."

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

"Final Escape." The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, season 2, episode 18, CBS, 21 Feb. 1964.

"Final Escape." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 1, episode 4, CBS, 27 Oct. 1985.

Full Text of "Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series. Parts 3-4: Dramas and Works Prepared for Oral Delivery Jan-Dec 1962: Vol 16 No 1-2," archive.org/stream/catalogofcopyrig31634libr/catalogofcopyrig31634libr_djvu.txt.

Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. OTR Pub, 2001.

IMDb, www.imdb.com.

"Obituary: Jerome Ross (1911-2012)." The Classic TV History Blog, 29 Mar. 2012, classictvhistory.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/obituary-jerome-ross-1911-2012/.

Ross, Jerome. "Final Escape." 15 July 1963.

Ross, Jerome. "Final Escape." 28 July 1963.

Ross, Jerome. "Notes." 6 June 1963-18 July 1963.

Ross, Jerome. "Treatment." 17 June 1963.

Twentieth Century Fox Film Scripts - Special Collections - The University of Iowa Libraries, www.lib.uiowa.edu/scua/msc/tomsc350/msc302/msc302.html.

Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "The Dangerous People" here!

In two weeks: "The Little Man Who Was There," starring Norman Lloyd!

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 140: Atlas/Marvel Horror & Science Fiction Comics!

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 125

November 1956 Part I

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Adventure Into Mystery #4

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Hex!" (a: Don Heck) ★★1/2

(r: Chamber of Chills #13)

"The Voice in the Shell!" (a: George Roussos) ★★

"The Invaders" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★

"The Menace of the Little Men!" (a: Chuck Miller) ★

"None Are So Blind!" (a: Al Williamson) ★★

"Those in a Trance" (a: Bob Powell) ★★1/2

Frank Hubbard agrees to move with his new wife to her hometown in Pennsylvania but is peeved by "The Hex!" painted on their barn. Julia explains to Frank that the hex wards off evil and bad luck and that everyone in the area has one.

Frank refuses to become one of "the savages" and paints over the hex, much to the dismay of gorgeous Julia. It's not long before bad luck befalls the couple. Frank falls ill with a mystery malady, the crops burn in a freak lightning storm, and the entire farm floods during a once-in-a-lifetime storm. Still, Frank refuses to give in to his wife's wishes to repaint a hex on the barn.

Then, one morning, as if by magic, Frank feels wonderful and there's a knock at the door. It's the mailman, bringing Frank the news that he won a $25,000 sweepstakes. With glee, he races out of the house into the garden where Julia... is finishing repainting the hex! A cute little cautionary fable (I still refuse to remove the labels on my pillows for just such a reason) with some fabulous Donn Heck art. If Don's 1960s work had half the charisma and vivaciousness of "The Hex!," critics would have been quite a bit more positive when assessing the man's art.

Deep-sea diver Ken Bayard is searching for unusual seashells for his "cute as a button" eight-year-old niece and he latches onto what looks like the perfect specimen. When he gets back up above the water and puts the shell to his ear, he can hear "The Voice in the Shell!" Actually, voices! Intrigued, he dives further down the next day and is sucked into an underground world. Ken has found Atlantis (he knows it's Atlantis because there's a big ATLANTIS sign over what appears to be an ancient road). 

Suddenly, men rise from the city with weapons and evil etched upon their faces. Ken knows it's time to grab a hunk of highway so he blasts up to the surface in record time, with the seamen staying behind. Ken gets a bad case of the bends but it's better than being skewered by Namor's trident. Silly but harmless stuff, forgotten five minutes after being consumed, with by-the-numbers graphics by George Roussos.

Earth seems on the verge of World War III when "The Invaders" from space appear in the sky. Suddenly, the world's military forces must join together for the survival of humanity. This one has been done a time or two as has the really silly twist at the climax. In "The Menace of the Little Men!," a group of vacationers are stranded at a hunting lodge, held hostage by a trio of little green men. The Martians are looking for the perfect specimen as a blueprint for their fleet of robots. Another dopey twist climax, but at least this one only wastes three pages.

Explorers Guy and Clark are searching for the magical "valley of giants," a land where giants wander the tundra freely. The expedition is grueling, but finally they come to the fabled valley and are disappointed when the natives are all normal-sized. They say their goodbyes to the friendly villagers after a brief stay, unaware that they drank a potion that made them just as large as the natives, who don't want their wonderland publicized! "None are So Blind!" is very silly (I think our heroes probably would have felt their bodies going through some kind of change), but the Al Williamson art makes it worth a read.

Composer Serge Mazerik is working on his latest symphony, surely a masterpiece, when he notices that the piece is putting his dog to sleep. Later, he invites his friend Armand over for a listen and, again, the sound of snoring fills the air. At first outraged, the musical genius then begins to ponder a future where the rich come to listen to his music and fall asleep, leaving their wallets and purses to be pinched. All goes haywire though at the first concert, where everyone falls asleep... except the cop who arrests Serge. The detective came to the concert with his wife and, not being a fan of classical music, turned his hearing aid off! Thumbs up to "Those in a Trance" for its cute and clever twist and Bob Powell's best art in quite a while.-Peter

Astonishing #55

Cover by Bill Everett

"The Creature in the Cave" 

(a: George Roussos & John Giunta) ★1/2

"The Way He Died!" (a: Reed Crandall) ★★1/2

"Where Prowls the Beast!" (a: Angelo Torres) ★★★1/2

"Ravalo the Mysterious!" (a: Dick Ayers) ★1/2

"The Man Who Was Taken!" (a: Joe Maneely) ★1/2

"His Brother's Keeper" (a: John Forte) ★★1/2

A big game hunter is after the biggest game of his career... the legendary creature, the Evil One! The thing lives in a foreign country in a hidden valley filled with monks. When Ellis seeks permission to shoot the thing, he is denied. No one, and I mean no one, tells Ellis no! That night, he sneaks out of the village and heads for "The Creature in the Cave." When he finds it, the thing looms above him but makes no move to assault him.

Just then, the monks arrive and explain that the thing is their way of keeping villagers from committing crimes. The monster removes his head, revealing a man in a costume. The monks then tell Ellis that he will stay in the valley as the new Evil One. Predictable script with art that very much resembles 1960s Gold Key; it does the trick without much work involved.

Paul was born a mutant, with powers of suggestion that can alter a man's mind. Now, the US government wants Paul to fly to "a foreign country" (hmmmm...) and force his will on a dictator who's about to declare war on the free world. Paul accepts his assignment and arrives just outside the evil man's residence. As the commie unknown country's leader gets a breath of fresh air on his balcony, Paul gives him a "push" with his mental powers and the Russkie despot drops dead. 

But then Paul remembers that if he uses his entire power at once, he'll drop dead as well. He does. It's only then, in the epilogue, we discover that the government official who's been narrating was Paul's father. Yep, it's pretty hokey and convoluted, but "The Way He Died!" is also pretty effective. I'm not sure how Paul knew that turning his "energy" level to 11 would kill him (I assume from past mutant experiences), but the fact that he forgot it would deep-six him is pretty silly. This is not prime Reed Crandall, by the way; the figures are stiff and need a better inker.

Daniel Morey receives a bundle of correspondence from his old friend Mark Trask, whom he hasn't seen in years. Daniel reads the letter and becomes engrossed in what became of Mark Trask, who always insisted that mental power won out over physical. Trask had stumbled upon a lost world populated by dinosaurs and, through an unfortunate encounter with a T. Rex, was trapped in the deep valley with no way out. He had grabbed the nearest giant bird available and hoped the map and letter would reach his old friend. Intrigued, Morey packs up and heads to the Lost Valley.

Wow! Angelo Torres delivers art so far above his comrades-in-Atlas at the time that you'd (again) mistake it for work left over when EC's science fiction/fantasy line collapsed. Lump Torres in with Frazetta and Williamson as the best artists of jungle peril stories. The script is exciting and comes equipped with an effective twist ending. "Where Prowls the Beast!" might be the best story I've run across so far in the post-code era.

"Ravalo the Mysterious!" is a silly "what if" story about a woman who meets a handsome man on a station platform who informs her he works for the great Ravalo the Magician and they're looking for a female assistant. But who is the handsome man and should she accept his invitation? No.

Good-natured Ollie takes all the pranks and jokes thrown at him by the mean folk of Hooterville and still emerges smiling, unscathed. When aliens arrive on Earth looking for one single human being without malice, they select Ollie, of course. It's only when he's on the ship and doffs his mask that we discover Ollie was an alien. "The Man Who Was Taken!" has three pages of Joe Maneely's art and that's about it.

In the finale, "His Brother's Keeper," astronaut Larry Collins has lost his nerve while on the planet Mars. He doesn't have the guts to get on the ship back to Earth and that's that. But his brother, the famous pilot Dave Collins, is living nearby and Larry's C.O. explains the situation to the space vet. Dave finds Larry in a pub, nursing his sorrow, and insists that the next spaceship to Earth will definitely have a Collins on board. 

Larry disagrees and his brother cold cocks him, carries him to the spaceport, and dumps his unconscious body on the tarmac. Larry awakens, tells his brother he's seen the light, and climbs aboard the rocket. As Dave leaves the base, two soldiers discuss the fact that Dave Collins lives on Mars because he lost his nerve to make a return trip! Somehow, I never saw that ironic twist coming! The script for "His Brother's Keeper" was written by EC vet (and future DC mystery line powerhouse), Jack Oleck.-Peter

Journey Into Mystery #40

Cover by Bill Everett

"I Saw a Demon!" (a: John Giunta) ★★

"The Silence!" (a: Gene Colan) ★★

"How Harry Escaped" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★1/2

"The Strange Secret of Henry Hill!" (a: Bill Draut) ★★

"The Victim!" (a: Vic Carrabotta) ★1/2

"The Question That Can't Be Answered!" (a: John Forte) ★★

A scientist named Morgan has a theory that a machine could be used to read sound waves etched on ancient surfaces and he builds a machine to test it. Using an ancient rock unearthed in Egypt, he hears a chant and suddenly a demon appears, explaining that he will use his powers to rule the world. There's only one problem: the demon has to grant one wish to the person who summoned him. Morgan wishes him back to where he came from and destroys the machine.

Extra points to "I Saw a Demon!" for the unintentionally hilarious speech where the demon explains that he's really a mutant created by ancient radiation and ancient people called him "the man." Over time, that was garbled into "de man" and, finally, "demon." The demon also resembles Sub Mariner in a red cape that drags on the ground. You'd think a demon would be smart enough not to announce his plans to the person who could wish him away.

In 2076, the first men reach Mars and find that it has a breathable atmosphere. On exploring the planet, they find a town that looks just like one on Earth! However, there are no inhabitants. Befuddled by "The Silence!," the astronauts leave a signpost that reads, "We came, we saw, we found nothing!" and then take off back to Earth. An hour later, apelike Martians emerge from hiding, puzzled that the humans left so soon after the Martians built them a town just like one on Earth.

Gene Colan's art is the highlight of this pointless three-pager. It's interesting how his style remained so consistent for decades.

A banker named Harry Thomas flees the U.S. after embezzling millions. He discovers a portrait that causes the person looking at it to grow younger as long as the portrait is hung in moonlight. After paying crooks to steal the portrait, Harry finds himself growing younger until the police enter the house and arrest him, insisting that he's too young to be who he says he is. The portrait remains in moonlight and Harry keeps growing younger until he disappears. The portrait is now blank!

Once again, Jack Oleck gives Carl Wessler a run for his money in the bad script department. "How Harry Escaped" is a story we've all read before and the art by Ed Winiarski doesn't do it any favors.

Abner Ferris wonders what is "The Strange Secret of Henry Hill!" that allows the rich, handsome young man to succeed at everything. Discovering that Professor Seth Blye put Henry through school, Abner pays a nocturnal visit to the abandoned house where the Prof lived and worked. He finds a mysterious machine that is still running and a diary that explains that the Prof transported Henry as a baby from another dimension to our own. The jealous man discovers that he can eliminate Hill by turning a dial on the machine so, like any good villain, he attempts to blackmail Henry for $100K. Too bad Abner doesn't realize that he, not Henry, was the baby from another dimension; when he destroys the machine, Abner fades away, having returned to the dimension from whence he came.

This story is more enjoyable than it has a right to be, mainly because of the odd plot and the twists and turns it takes along the way. The best thing Bill Draut (or whoever colored the story) does is to give the baby blond hair, so we think it grows up to be blond Henry rather than dark-haired Abner.

A con man named Adam Stokes targets an old inventor named Charles Perkins and convinces "The Victim!" that he is a promoter, interested in developing his gizmos. Perkins shows off his new rainmaking machine and gives Stokes a check for $5000 to start a publicity campaign. Stokes is living it up! Soon, he spies a machine that Perkins calls a Space Diminisher. The inventor throws a switch and both men find themselves on the planet Pluto! Turns out Perkins is a purple Plutonian who was intent on proving that his machine worked by bringing an Earthling to Pluto! Stokes played along perfectly.

Another Atlas story ends with a development out of left field where one of the characters turns out to be an alien from outer space. Carrabotta's art here is not bad and reminds me in spots of Ayers or Sekowsky.

Ned Parker is a cynical reporter determined to expose Prof. Jiminez, a hypnotist whose act involves bringing back to life a woman who has been dead for 200 years. During a performance where Jiminez puts his assistant, Cara, to sleep, Parker is in the audience and also nods off, hypnotized. He travels 500 years into the future, where he accuses another hypnotist of fraud and is hypnotized into going 500 years into the past. On stage, Cara accuses Jiminez of fraud and he thinks he's ruined, but Parker confronts him backstage and tells him he's for real. Parker poses "The Question That Can't Be Answered!," asking the hypnotist "'Who am I'"?

The puzzle that ends this story is intriguing: is the Ned Parker of 1956 the real one, or is the man 500 years in the future the real Ned? The writer provides no answers. John Forte's art is serviceable but hardly exciting.-Jack

Journey Into Unknown Worlds #51

Cover by Carl Burgos

"Who is Nokki?" (a: Joe Sinnott) ★★

"He Was Nobody!" (a: Wally Wood) ★★

"I'm Afraid to Shut My Eyes!" (a: Bob McCarthy) ★

"The Faceless Man!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

"Inside the Dark Cave" (a: John Severin) ★★★

"Our Strange Neighbors" (a: John Forte) ★★

High in the Tibetan mountains, a greedy explorer named Grover Clayton learns of a large vein of gold and offers to reward any native who will guide him to it. One man agrees and, after an arduous journey, they reach the gold. Grover turns on his guide and shoots him, but the guide reveals that he is a spiritual being known as Nokki, and he leaves Grover alone to die on the remote, snowy mountain.

I must be losing my faculties, since I did not guess the twist ending of "Who Is Nokki?" in advance. I figured Nokki would be an abominable snowman or an alien from outer space, or perhaps an abominable Martian snowman. Joe Sinnott's art is decent, especially in a panel with Grover blasting away at Nokki that looks like an illustration from a Western pulp.

The only thing keeping the town of Valley Ridge from being destroyed is a dam, and it's been raining so long and so hard that the dam can't hold back the water for much longer! An old man called Preston the Magician offers to help, but his advice to have faith and pray seems to yield little benefit. The dam watchman warns everyone to clear out, but suddenly a young stranger appears and leads the townsfolk up to the dam, where they try to avoid destruction. It's too late--the dam bursts and the town is destroyed. The people rebuild the town and the state builds a new dam; the people look for the silent stranger who led them in their hour of need, but it turns out that "He Was Nobody!" The old magician denies being the source of salvation and, when he's alone, takes off his fake beard and reveals himself to be the young stranger, who used the faith of the people to accomplish a miracle.

I give the writing of this story one star, but I give the art by Wally Wood a rating of four stars. The graphics are as good as anything he did for EC, even though his hard work was in service of a worthless tale.

After renting a house in France that was once owned by a famous painter named Rambeau, John Martin returned to the States, where he tells his psychiatrist that "I'm Afraid to Shut My Eyes!" Rambeau was known for his primitive paintings of jungles, but one day he vanished. While staying in the house, Martin had a dream that he walked into one of the jungle paintings and heard a voice calling him to stay. Now he fears that if he snoozes, he'll be trapped forever on the other side of a canvas. John reluctantly accepts a sleeping pill from the shrink, has another dream of the jungle, and barely escapes.

Aside from the terrible scribbling by Bob McCarthy, this story made little sense. In the first caption, it says that John is back in America. Yet his shrink tells him "'Good night, monsieur,'" and at the end of the story he is seen fleeing the house, which suggests that he's in France. I'm confused.

Earl Tenley is happily married, but he keeps thinking there's something he should recall but cannot. While out for a walk one evening, he encounters three men whose faces are shadowy and who wear spandex suits and flowing capes. He suddenly recalls that he was sent from the planet Daneb to scout Earth and see if it's ready to benefit from the other planet's advances. The aliens invite Earl to return to his home planet and its cold, mechanized civilization, but Earl declines, having gotten used to Earth and this crazy little thing called love.

A sappy story is improved by very nice art from Steve Ditko, who clearly labored over each page. It may only by 1956, but his style is already evident in the four pages of "The Faceless Man!," including a panel I've reproduced here that features one of Ditko's trademarked silhouetted figures.

"Inside the Dark Cave" on a hill in Ireland live a group of leprechauns, imprisoned by a boulder that blocks the cave's entrance. One of the group produces a musical instrument that, when played, will send a thought to a mortal, who will come and move the rock, thus freeing the wee folk. They think hard and come up with the name of a man who will be bound to succeed. They play the instrument, which will work its magic only one time, but the man who responds can't budge the boulder. Who would think that such a puny lad would be named Samson Muldoon?

I have to hand it to the editor of this issue--Wally Wood, Steve Ditko, and now John Severin! Quite a lineup! I am particularly fond of Severin's art, and this three-pager gives him the opportunity to draw some spiffy leprechauns. The twist ending is cute, too.

 A real estate man named Henry Daniels is surprised when a trio of green-skinned aliens from the planet Zeraphon show up at his office, wanting to buy a piece of land to settle on. He sells them a patch of crummy land on the outskirts of town and they pay him in gold nuggets. Soon, the local bigots start to talk about "Our Strange Neighbors" and grab their torches and baseball bats in order to drive the immigrants back to where they came from. The aliens fight back and the bigots run off. Days later, they vamoose, having left a lovely neighborhood in place of what was a wasteland. The local bigots kick themselves for chasing off the aliens, realizing that they could have done some good.

The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh? A story from 1956 looks an awful lot like the U.S. in 2025, where people are all too ready to chase off immigrants. Shameful.-Jack

Next Week...
The Rogues Join Forces!