Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 175: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Fantasy Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 160

February 1959

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Strange Tales #67

Cover by Joe Sinnott

"Trapped Between Two Worlds!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

"I Seek the Sea Serpent" (a: Don Heck) ★★★

"I Was the Invisible Man!" (a: Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule)

(r: Strange Tales Annual #2)

(r: Giant-Size Man-Thing #1) ★★1/2

"The Man Who Never Was!" (a: Carl Burgos) ★1/2

Brilliantly smart egghead scientist Jeff Raye is working on a matter transporter when his *%$#ing cat gets nosy and pushes the wrong button. Jeff is instantly transported to another planet, in another galaxy, one ruled by war-hungry tyrants. These mad warriors see Jeff's machine as a way for them to conquer the universe, but Jeff has an ace up his sleeve and returns to Earth to destroy his dangerous invention.

I won't even attempt to figure out what most of "Trapped Between Two Worlds!" is about; there's just too much science fictiony mumbo-jumbo for my small brain to work out. I'll quickly say, though, that Ditko's emergence as one of the go-to Atlas artists is an immediate game changer. This doesn't look anything like the strips that were running only a few months before and the extra page count (six as opposed to three or four) will help the stories breathe. 

Efrem becomes obsessed with the legend of a sea serpent that supposedly rears its head now and then in the waters of South America. With the help of a small crew, Efrem explores the aforementioned sea waters and, sure enough, the sea serpent makes an appearance, but a panicked captain fires a harpoon and kills the beast. It sinks to the bottom of the ocean and, when Efrem dives down to recover the really big corpse, the truth is unveiled. The thing was an alien from the water planet Aqua-Centurious, and it was merely trying to reach its damaged ship at the bottom. Now, all its secrets are lost, thanks to the foolishness of man. 

Big monsters were all the rage at the local cinema in 1958, so it's no wonder Atlas would dip its toes in the sub-genre (very soon the company would simply take its shoes off and dive right in). I enjoyed "I Seek the Sea Serpent" very much and must once more cast a positive vote for the art of Don Heck. Now, I agree he was no Al Williamson when it came to dinosaurs and big monsters, but he got the job done and his human characters are more than stick figures. I'm all in on this new era (for now).

Decades before playing drums for U2, Adam Clayton was just another brilliantly smart egghead working on his big invention, the Vibra-Light™, a groundbreaking gizmo that changes sound into light and other really cool, useful tricks. Setting the machine on stun, Adam receives a dose of fabricated ray beams and finds he can travel at the speed of light. This makes him virtually invisible. While out running through the streets doing silly tricks (pinching girls on the rump, etc.), Adam happens upon a gang of bank robbers and steals their booty.

Though he contemplates keeping the dough and entering a life of crime, Adam has a better idea. He returns the cash to the cops and lets them know there's a new boss in town: the Invisible Man! Evidently, one of the benefits of the Vibra-Light™ is that it enables Adam to do things he never could do before, so he builds houses and KOs boxing champs for fun and profit. But, alas, Adam discovers that his new power is also draining his energy and aging him at an alarming clip, so he puts his Invisible Man identity out to pasture and retires to live out what few years he has left.

What a downer of a climax! I love it! I'm glad the writer (Kirby?) opted not to push Adam into the cliched life of crime and instead chose helping his fellow man (well, except when he takes the tires off the car belonging to a couple of hot rodders while they're speeding down the highway). The National Enquirer-esque confessional titles ("I Was the Invisible Man!") are in full swing already, as is the dawn of Jack Kirby's utter dominance of Atlas/Marvel science fiction. Hard to believe that this was only the fifth appearance by Kirby in the Atlas sf titles; from now until November 1962 (when the sf/f stories would dry up altogether), Kirby would work on a further 186 stories and miss work only two months in that time. 

The spinning wheel inside the Atlas break room gets spun one more time and lands on... the time machine (I believe the wheel actually had only three options); therefore, we get the mundane and oft-told tale of Eric Bohn, the greedy assistant to smart, genius scientist, Professor Atherton, who's just put the last touches (blue paint job) on his time machine. Eric urges the prof to go back in time and make lots of money, but the egghead warns that if anything in the past gets changed, yadda yadda yadda. Do I have to tell you that Eric isn't listening to his mentor's speech and decides he's going back to find where Captain Kidd stashed his gold? Of course, he accidentally shoots and kills one of his ancestors (Holy Coincidence!) and thus disappears. I would love to report that "The Man Who Never Was!" is the last time travel tale we'll have to read for a while, but I'm sure the next one is right around the corner.-Peter

Strange Worlds #2

Cover by Steve Ditko

"I Was a Prisoner on the Planet of Plunder!" (a: Don Heck) 

(r: Strange Tales Annual #2) ★★

"I Was the Miracle Man" 

(a: Al Williamson & Marvin Stein?) ★1/2

"I Saw the Day the World Ended!" (a: Bob Bean?) ★

"The Little Lost Planet" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★

"I Am the Scourge of Atlantis!" (a: Dick Ayers) ★

Rick Dugan, agent of IGSSD (Inter-Galactic Spaceways Security Division) tackles his toughest case yet: six cargo ships have been hijacked on Route 34 (just west of the Kessel Run) and his boss wants Rick to disguise himself as a cargo ship captain and see what's what. Since none of the captains of the hijacked cargo ships have been able to provide intel, Dugan is convinced the perps are using hypnotism to pull off their heists.

Dugan visits many planets and all seems calm and serene until he hits Promixa the Second and suddenly the veil is lifted. The aliens on Proxima have been stealing the cargo by using a sinister form of hypnotism--hyper-sonic frequencies! Instead of hypnotizing with their eyes, these guys hum you to sleep and then commit their foul deeds. Lucky for Dugan he's deaf! Oh yeah, you read that right. Evidently, far into the future, special agents don't need their hearing to do the job. The twist of "I Was a Prisoner on the Planet of Plunder!" is a cheat, fer sure, but Don Heck doesn't seem to have read the script and just goes about his business of producing pleasant panels. 

"I Was the Miracle Man" is the story of Bruno Storme, the world's most intelligent guy, who becomes bored being the best at everything, so he builds himself a rocket ship and flies to another galaxy to conquer some unknown planet. Unfortunately for Bruno, this planet is populated by really smart geniuses who put Bruno on exhibit in a zoo. We've seen that last panel a thousand times before and it's no better this time. The usual dazzling graphics of Al Williamson are watered down by an awful inking job; it's tough to see Al through the muck.

Speaking of muck, I dare anyone to wade through the slop passed off as art on "I Saw the Day the World Ended!" Literally the world's smartest man, Professor Garth is working on a machine that can see the future (and telecast it without commercial interruption), but the poor guy has a heart attack just before he plugs the darn thing in. The military, deciding it's in the best interest of mankind to find out what's around the corner, orders the machine hooked up and the view screen spits out a video of the sun exploding and Earth facing an ice age. 

The smart thing to do would be to hide the extinction of mankind from the extinguishees, but the military has never been accused of making astute decisions, so word gets leaked. Prof. Garth awakens from his long sleep and is told what's happened. The egghead, lying in his hospital bed, chuckles and admits his machine has a few kinks to be worked out. It's showing a video of the past rather than the future! A final panel explains that once mankind was given hope, we began loving our neighbor and inviting the commies over for dinner. 

A small planet continually pops up in the skies when a calamity occurs. A falling statue in India threatens to crush hundreds until the little ball rescues them. An ocean liner strikes an iceberg and, before it can sink, it is teleported to a safe shore by the beaming little planet. Several more accidents are halted thanks to this visitor from space. But why is it here? Because, as we're told in the finale, it's "The Little Lost Planet"! Like "Trapped Between Two Worlds!," the script is a bit wonky and at times makes little to no sense, but I really dig what Ditko is doing with his layouts. Large panels are invaded by smaller ones, which can be crowded out by other small ones. Like Bernie Krigstein, Ditko was throwing the formula right out the break room window and doing whatever the hell he wanted, inspiring future artists such as Jim Steranko in the process. 

Last and definitely least this issue is "I Am the Scourge of Atlantis!," wherein the population of the sunken city decide it's high time to invade the surface world, but when they get there they see something so horrible they tuck tail and run. The awful sight? A toddler on the beach. You see, Atlantis was a really tiny nation when it sunk. This clunker signals the return of Dick Ayers, who'd been on sabbatical since 1957 and who will see lots of work between now and the sunset of Atlas.-Peter

World of Fantasy #16

Cover by Carl Burgos and Bob Forgione (?)

"Nightmare Planet" (a: Joe Sinnott)

(r: Strange Tales Annual #2) ★★

"Arise, Oh Geni..." (a: Steve Ditko)

(r: Vault of Evil #15) ★★

"Worlds Within Worlds!" (a: Carl Burgos)

(r: Strange Tales Annual #2) ★1/2

"Beware the Future!" (a: Al Williamson) ★1/2

"Prison 2000 A.D." (a: Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule)

(r: Strange Tales Annual #2) ★★

Through his telescope, a scientist observes a "Nightmare Planet" hurtling toward Earth! It's 2000 times bigger than the sun and populated by giant soldiers. Colonel Ken Travers is sent into space with a dozen men in order to find out what the aliens' intentions are. He arrives on the huge planet, sees that everything and everyone seems to be standing still, and realizes that time passes more slowly there. Ken returns to Earth to share the good news that the aliens won't even notice our planet, since it's so small and they'll pass by it before they're even aware it's there.

We've seen this twist before. The only novel thing about the latest version is that Joe Sinnott's art is smooth and competent, though it's nothing special.

A history teacher named Claude Hicks, who has terrible hay fever, finds the famous lamp among ancient ruins and releases the genie, who announces that he is all-powerful and has no intention of being Claude's slave. The genie quickly catches Claude's hay fever and is made so miserable by his own sneezing and coughing that he begs Claude to return him to the lamp. Claude throws it down a deep water hole so the genie will never again be freed. The story is terrible, but "Arise, Oh Geni..." features gorgeous art by Steve Ditko, so at least it's nice to look at.

In 2590, scientist Paul Stratton is certain that there are "Worlds Within Worlds!" and that a universe can exist in a drop of water. Despite his efforts to magnify tiny things, no one believes him. Unbeknownst to Paul, in the drop of water is a tiny world, where another scientist is ridiculed for his theory that there could be a bigger world out there somewhere. Every last thing in this story is predictable, right down to the snoozer of a finish. Carl Burgos's art is adequate.

Luther Zorn invents a time machine in 1965 but tells his wife it must be kept a secret, since knowledge of the future would cause mankind's downfall. Emma nags him until he goes public and soon he sends government officials into the future, where all of the world's problems have been solved. This news causes people of Luther's time to stop trying, since they think the golden future is guaranteed. Luther sends himself and Emma fifty years into the future, leaving the machine set to be destroyed after they leave. What do they find in the altered future? Who knows? I really have no idea what the end of this story means. It seems like Luther decided that mankind would just have to find out about the future when it arrives. At least Al Williamson's art is decent, though nowhere near his best.

In the year 2000, crimes are rare, so when John Fox commits one he is captured and sent to "Prison 2000 A.D." Quickly escaping, he hops on a rocket ship and flies to Vestas 203 in the asteroid belt, where he uses his wits to survive. One day a group of miners arrive and establish a colony. John is unmoved when they tell him that a ten year old boy wandered off, but when he encounters the boy in danger and helps him, John is welcomed into the colony, where he becomes happy and productive. In reality, John has been in prison the whole time and his adventures were put into his mind; he'll serve his six-year sentence in this way and emerge a better man.

I prefer Ditko's art to Kirby's, but this is a satisfying story with an ending I didn't expect.-Jack

Next Week...
More Giant Monster Madness
From "The King"

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 174: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Fantasy Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 159

January 1959

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Journey Into Mystery #50

Cover by Joe Sinnott

"Worlds at War!" (a: Jack Davis) ★★

"Three Who Vanished" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

"Uneasy Lies the Head!" (a: Carl Burgos) ★1/2

"Adrift in Space!" (a: Don Heck) ★★

"The Green Fog!" (a: Matt Baker & Vince Colletta) ★1/2

In the year 1983, Martians land in a rural area and touch off a panic. The visitors request a meeting with the heads of government of the two factions on Earth, the Democrats and the Stinkin' Commies, and they are granted their wish, pronto. At the gathering, the Martian leader explains that the rest of outer space is plum tired of Earthling wars and violent antics; at some point, it is feared, humans will bring their aggression to other planets. That's a no-no.

So, informs the leader, Earth has one month to prepare for total annihilation at the hands of an even greater menace: Mars! The news startles all of Earth and the U.N. convenes a meeting, at which every nation agrees to put its differences aside and build a spacecraft to visit Mars and plead our case. In record time, that ship is built and an international crew is assembled. Blast off! When the boys land on Mars, they are in for a big surprise. Rather than armed forces, they are greeted with open arms and a wink and a nod; hey, that war stuff was just talk in order to get Earth to give up their hatreds and unite. C'mon people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together... and all that. Our crew heads back to Earth to give out the good news and peace becomes as common as mediocre Atlas funny books.

If this had been a few years before, in the paradise known as Pre-Code, that corny last panel would have been followed by an Army General excitedly predicting that, since Mars has no weapons, they'll be a pushover if we invade. Alas, no twist ending for "Worlds at War!" Just Hallmark Movie schmaltz and a heaping helping from The Day the Earth Stood Still. It's good to see Jack Davis's classic style around these parts again, even though it's short-lived. He'll have two stories published this month and then disappear again for four years. Jack does some interesting experimenting with the panel borders, enlarging some of the scenes to one-third page. 

Three men vanish at the same time under very odd circumstances. What's up? I'll tell you. Turns out these three men were casing Earth for an invasion from the "Supreme World" and they're back to give their reports to the Supreme Leader. After receiving the intel, the Leader informs the trio that they've done a heck of a job and now it's time to invade. Problem is, one of the men has become quite fond of Earth and doesn't want to see it become a slave planet, so he sabotages the Central Power and zaps himself back on Earth, confident that his new neighbors are safe. The script is nothing to get excited about (though certainly better than the opener), but Steve Ditko's art is dazzling, a teaser for what's to come in the 1960s. As with Jack Davis and "Worlds at War!," there are some detours from the usual panel framework; nothing as startling as Krigstein, but still much more freedom than was the norm. 

In the lifeless "Uneasy Lies the Head!," an assassin attempts to kill the "Leader", the all-knowing, supremely intelligent being who's ruled over Earth since the eradication of such trivial positions as the President of the United States. The thwarted attempt nevertheless raises several questions about the Leader and the "renowned" Dr. Zena aims to get to the bottom of who or what the Leader actually is. Spoiler Alert (for those who've never read an Atlas comic strip): he's a robot!

Billy is the most enthusiastic cadet on the Space Patrol, but Sgt. Devlin can't understand why the kid keeps reading those silly science fiction books. One day, the Sarge grabs Billy and throws him in a space jet and they go to investigate a strange SOS deep in space. It's during that mission that Devlin is glad the kid reads those dopey space opera stories. Don Heck's pencils at this point were still pretty darn good (this was way before he had to pick up the pace and turn in some sloppy superhero work) and the script for "Adrift in Space!" is at least readable, but the final panel, which explains everything that just happened in the previous page's panels, is pure Stan. Gotta make sure these kids don't scratch their heads in confusion and give up on Atlas science fiction.

Last up is "The Green Fog!," which chronicles the return of Dag Thale from the first solo flight in space. The festivities come to a grinding halt when a nasty green fog follows Dag out of his spaceship. The fog drifts and covers the globe, causing mass panic and calls for the head of Dag Thale. A few days later, the mist rises and Earth is much greener. It was a miracle brought to the dying soils of our world. Sigh.-Peter

Tales of Suspense #1

Cover by Don Heck

"The Strangers from Space!" ★★1/2

(a: Al Williamson, Roy Krenkel, & Gray Morrow) 

"I Dared Explore the Unknown Emptiness!" 

(a: Don Heck) ★★1/2

"The Day I Left My Body!" (a: John Buscema) ★

"He Fled in the Night" (a: Uncredited) ★

(r: Kull the Destroyer #13)

"Prisoner of the Satellites!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★

By the year 2000, Earth will have posts on the moon and Mars and the solar system seems to be Earth's play toy. Then a strange ship is spotted near Mars and by the time it lands on Earth, panic has set in. Fearful that the visitors are here to conquer our world, the military readies its mightiest weapons. The door to the ship opens and what appears to be a typical earthling emerges and explains it is here to begin trade negotiations. A heavy sigh is let out and, by the time the ship has rocketed into space, Earth knows it has found a new friend. Inside the ship, an ugly BEM turns off the machine that enabled it to look human and hopes that when it returns in 300 years, earthlings will be less suspicious creatures. 

"The Strangers from Space!" is yet another variation on the "we have to open our arms and welcome even the ones with tentacles and six eyes" morality tale that had become a staple of the Atlas sf story of the late 1950s. The difference here, obviously, is the detailed graphic work of  Williamson, Krenkel, and Morrow (the latter two  are name-checked in a couple of winks at the readers), which elevates (at least art-wise) this above most of the other pap being shoveled at the reader. It definitely feels like we've transitioned into a new era for Atlas genre titles. Like Journey Into Mystery, Strange Tales, and Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense would continue pumping out sf yarns until the superhero craze hit in the early 1960s and then ToS would become the home of Iron Man and Captain America until those two got their own titles.

"I Dared Explore the Unknown Emptiness!" adds to my hunch that something has changed. The story, about an Earth space crew searching the galaxy for another livable planet due to our foolish overpopulation, while simple, is definitely aimed a little higher than the usual eight-year-old mentality. In the end, the tale is way too preachy and silly (the ship's captain decides, after visiting several hostile planets, that the people of Earth will "somehow correct" the errors made in the past without positing a way in which to head down that course), but I appreciate the effort and Don Heck's visuals are snazzy.

Wells is serving a long sentence for second-degree murder when he decides he ain't cut out for life in a cell, so he tries to escape (armed with a butter knife) and is shot in the head for his troubles. Well, this is Atlas after all, so the bullet only "creases" him, but the upside is that his spirit leaves his body and is free to roam. So, what should Wells do with this sudden spiritual freedom? Rob another candy store? Get revenge on the jurists who convicted him? No, this convict is a little bit smarter. 

When Wells spies big-shot lawyer Martin Shaw in one of his fellow inmates' cells, he uses his mind to push Shaw into reopening his case and freeing him. Wells's spirit finally reunites with his wounded body and Shaw visits his cell, agreeing to represent him in a new case. Wells finds he still has the power to influence other minds so rather than, say, influence the warden to open the gate for him, he continues to push and push harder for Shaw to win the case in court. But the joke's on Wells; he pushes so hard that Shaw becomes exhausted and muffs the trial. Wells is found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to death. Finally, a happy ending to one of these things! 

In the early 18th century, a simple clerk at a banking firm has daydreams about being so much more. Maybe a caveman fighting a Wooly Mammoth or a knight fighting a dragon. Something more than just these dadburned ledgers. In a fit, our protagonist quits his job and joins the crew of a sailing vessel, still dreaming of a life of adventure. In the end, we discover his name is Robinson Crusoe. Meh. "He Fled in the Night" sinks under its lifeless script and bland artwork.

Mark Coren finds himself a "Prisoner of the Satellites!" when his body is trapped in a constantly moving vortex of meteor fragments. What Mark doesn't know is that his conundrum is the work of outer space villains, preparing an invasion of Earth. Coren begins shrinking fast but, thanks to the brainwork of Earth's scientists, his shrinkage and the alien attack are thwarted at precisely the same time. Earth is safe... for now. Be careful what you wish for, Atlas science fiction fans. Here's a script that might be a little too complicated for a young audience since I had to read it twice to get the gist of what was happening. The text is definitely hard sf (The action of the orbiting fragments has set up a force which moulds the matter of Mark's body into a more solid compact unit!) and Ditko's art gives the piece the cosmic vibe the artist would become famous for during his Doctor Strange run. Mark doesn't use his sudden little person status to rob liquor stores so why should I complain?-Peter

Tales to Astonish #1

Cover by Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule

"We Found the Ninth Wonder of the World!" ★★

(a: Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule)

(r: Weird Wonder Tales #4)

"I Know the Secret of the Poltergeist!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

(r: Strange Tales Annual #1, Uncanny Tales #6)

"I Was the First Man to Set Foot on... the Mystery Planet!" ★

(a: Carl Burgos)

(r: Weird Wonder Tales #4)

"I Foiled an Enemy Invasion!" (a: Jack Davis) ★1/2

Dr. Parker disappeared in a hidden corner of the world a decade ago and now Professor Briggs and the crew of Captain Kane's ship are out on the waters looking for him. They catch a four foot starfish and a twelve foot lobster and know they're onto something. A giant moving object the size of an island rams their ship and the crew takes to the lifeboats while Briggs and Kane survive by lashing together two oil barrels and floating to a nearby island.

On the island they find that natives have built an enormous wall and tied Parker to a post in front of it. Briggs and Kane soon join Parker, who admits that his serum causes creatures to experience uncontrolled growth. A turtle the size of a building bursts through the wall and the trio manage to free themselves and leave the island by means of a convenient motor boat that Parker kept handy for just such an occasion. On the water, they observe Experiment XYZ, Parker's first subject, which is a turtle the size of a mountain. The men realize that "We Found the Ninth Wonder of the World!"

It's good to see Kirby's pencils, but this story is a mashup of King Kong and Wild Kingdom. There's no real suspense and little point to the conclusion, where the men see a really big turtle. The closest thing to a sense of danger occurs in Kane's mind when he imagines bringing the big turtle back to civilization but realizes it would wreak havoc in a large city.

A young couple buy a house, not worrying about rumors that it's haunted. Objects start to jump around and they contact an investigator of the supernatural who tells them, "I Know the Secret of the Poltergeist!" He does a thorough check of the house and assures them that everything has a rational explanation, but he buys it from the young couple for further study. After they leave, he removes his mask and reveals that he is a poltergeist!

Ditko is at his peak here and the investigator looks a lot like Dr. Strange, with grey hair at the temples. As is often the case with Atlas stories, not a lot happens and the artist has to try to make things interesting with kooky events in the panels. The final. large panel, where the poltergeist pulls off his mask and is joined by the others who have been haunting the house, is great.

In the year 2095, two men are using robot labor to build an underground city when a mysterious, electric-ridden planet approaches the Earth and causes all the robots to malfunction. Tom, one of the duo, hates robots but is excited to see that the new planet has caused radioactive oil to pour down on Earth. He sets off in a spaceship to visit the new planet and secure the oil rights; when he lands, he can say that "I Was the First Man to Set Foot on... The Mystery Planet!"

He meets kind, tall, bald people who tell him that oil is their staff of life. Insisting on making a deal, Tom excitedly jumps into a pool of oil and oily arms envelop him; one of the creatures rescues him and is consumed by the pool. Another reveals that they're all telepathic robots who know he hates them and they banish him from their planet, sending him back to Earth.

I know Carl Burgos is one of the pioneers of comics, but his art here is nearly as bad as the incoherent story. Tom goes on and on about how much he hates robots, so any reader paying attention and not asleep knows that the folks on the mystery planet have to be robots.

A reporter named Mark Briton is driving around in 2008 when he begins to see billboards popping up everywhere that feature a photo of what appears to be an alien soldier holding a gun and a strange message: "The Ten Uous Are coming!" He soon realizes that they are harbingers of an alien attack and he is able to say, "I Foiled an Enemy Invasion!" after all the billboards are rounded up and the tenuous, two-dimensional soldiers step out of the pictures and surrender.

I can only assume that the page rates were so low that Jack Davis did not put a lot of effort into this story, which is as weak as the rest of the tales in this issue. The first appearance of Tales to Astonish is certainly different from the sludge we've been seeing from Atlas for quite a while now, but it still suffers from poor scripts and hasty art. The Ditko pages are the highlight.-Jack

Next Week...
Despite what Harlan Said, We Discover
This Guy Was a Heck of an Artist!

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 173: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Fantasy Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 158

November-December 1958

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Journey Into Mystery #49

Cover by Joe Maneely

"City of Giants" (a: John Forte) ★

"The Doctor Wears a Mask" (a: Alfonso Greene) ★1/2

"The World-Destroyers!" (a: Matt Fox) ★★

"The Little Green Man" (a: Sol Brodsky) ★★

"Morgan's Mad Machine!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★★1/2

"The Room with Two Billion Cards" (a: Sid Check) ★★

After a 15-month lay-off, Journey Into Mystery returns to a depleted line-up. The question is: will it bring quality or just keep its head above water like the two remaining titles?

While working on a formula for "some sort of perfume," evil, greedy chemist Eric Wolton accidentally whips up a green vapor that makes him giant. The gears start working in that twisted (but pretty smart) brain and Eric hits on the idea of vaporizing the rest of Bromburg and transforming them into giants. Once that feat is accomplished, the mad perfumer runs around under the feet of his neighbors and robs all the jewelry stores and banks of Bromburg. The giant city council holds a meeting to solve the problem of the "City of Giants." Another loony home-taught chemist resorts to nefarious deeds in order to line his pockets. When will these eggheads learn that crime does not pay in the post-code era?

Two "eminent sociologists" visit the rural town of Compton, hoping to find an answer to the burning question: why does this burg have the lowest crime rate of any city in America? To help the men in their research, the town historian relates the sad, twisted story of Doctor Wallace, a GP who arrives in town one day and immediately sets off a furor. You see, "The Doctor Wears a Mask." Yes, the man is never seen without his odd facial disguise, but hey, as far as medicine goes, no one can beat him. In fact, the town is downright astonished by the fact that the doc practically shows up at emergencies before the excitement starts.

After several severe accidents and building fires occur, the town rabble rousers use their McCarthy-era arithmetic and demand the doctor's head on a stick. After all, there has to be some reason he's always first on the scene. When they confront the physician, they demand he remove his mask and, when he does, they get the surprise of their lives. The doc is an alien sent from (in his own words) "out there" to help humankind. But this medicine man has had enough. Humans are stupid, stupid, stupid, and he's hitting the vapor trail. Having learned a lesson, the town votes out its mayor and other corrupt officials and... well, you know the rest. A town without crime. Another of the Stan Lee-esque message stories about loving your neighbor and not giving in to paranoia, delivered at a time when Stan was also okaying anti stinkin' Commie comics. 

In "The World-Destroyers!," three aliens arrive on Earth to detonate a bomb that will lay waste to mankind but make a simple blunder that proves costly. There's no reason given for the invaders' mission (perhaps our warring ways make the rest of the universe nervous?), but the simple plot is obviously second fiddle to the great art by Matt Fox. Stockbroker Marcus Gabel finds "The Little Green Man" in a curio shop while vacationing with his wife in Hong Kong and, fascinated by the little mandarin, he quickly snaps it up and takes it back to the States with him. Immediately, Marcus sees a change in how he views the business world and his decisions reap a fortune, but success comes with a  high price. His wife hates the change in him (she notes how he's starting look just like the jade statue) and his friends begin to shun him. Is the statue using some kind of supernatural force to transform Gabel from a mild-mannered stockbroker into Gordon Gecko? We've seen this plot (and umpteen variations) before, but the pace is quick and Brodsky's simple but efficient art is a plus.

Two con men stumble onto the sure thing: a goofy old inventor who's come up with a gizmo that turns rocks into gold. They think they're swindling the geezer but they end up tutored in the long run. "Morgan's Mad Machine!" elicited at least two chuckles from this grizzled old funny book vet and the climactic reveal is handled cleverly. It might be my imagination, but Ed Winiarski's pencils actually seem to be getting better. Last up this time is "The Room with Two Billion Cards," in which a washed-up actor discovers that all the world is, indeed, a stage. This one is slow-paced but almost won me over with its dark final panel.-Peter

Strange Tales #66

Cover by Joe Maneely

"The Ghost Came C.O.D." (a: Reed Crandall) ★1/2

"The Replacement!" (a: Alfonso Greene) ★

"The Voice of Fido!" (a: Werner Roth) ★

"It Waits Under the Sea!" (a: Al Eadah) ★★1/2

"The Eerie Experiment!" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★

"He Wore a Black Beard" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★★1/2

Antique store proprietor/con man Eban Goad has the perfect money-making scheme: he scans the obits for freshly interred corpses and sends faux invoices to the estates. Most of his victims don't hesitate to send him a check to avoid late fees, but Eban sends one notice too many and the dead man shows up at the antique shop to contest his bill. Oh, don't worry, CCA, this guy's not a zombie, but a Martian in disguise! "The Ghost Came C.O.D." sees the great Reed Crandall wasting his skills on a flimsy script.

On the run from the law and wearing a very "loud, checked jacket," killer Jack Hartley ducks into the bedroom of a dying man and steals his coat, thus assuring him of a clean getaway. Rummaging through the pockets of the coat, the criminal is astonished to find a plane ticket and heads quickly to the airport. After a brief skirmish with the pilot, the hood muscles his way on board but notices that there's no one else on the plane. The jet takes off and the cops later find Hartley's broken body in a field. Turns out Hartley took the dying man's place on a plane to Heaven, but St. Peter doesn't allow the living through the pearly gates. Or something like that. So dumb it's almost amusing, "The Replacement!" leaves so many questions unanswered and then, to compound the problem, tries to explain its plot hook in a lame, four-panel exposition that really does bring out the giggles.

In the all too predictable "The Voice of Fido!," Hank Walton wants to follow in his old man's footsteps as a new generation of ventriloquist but, instead of a wooden dummy, Hank wants to use his dog. No problem, Pop says, and sure enough Hank is an immediate hit. Then Fido starts spouting ad-libs. Sure, Pop is in the audience, but the old man admits it ain't him, so who's responsible for the new jokes? They both look at Fido and shrug. 

He's a genius and a really smart guy, but the Super-Secret Adventurers Club laughs and scoffs at Felix Bradin's notion that his little mini sub can cruise around the world under water for six months. Only one man believes in him, ultra-rich Harry Spahn! Harry promises to finance the entire trip, provided Felix takes Harry with him. Short on dough and figuring he could use the company, Felix quickly agrees but, as the days approach and Harry takes on a boss man's attitude, Felix regrets his decision.

On launch day, Felix gets up really early and jumps in the vessel, motoring away before Harry has his Omelette de la mère Poulard. Giggling, Felix can't wait until the world finds out he's conquered the undersea world. Then his curiosity gets the best of him and he explores a really weird cavern. Miles in, the cave door closes and Felix is trapped, hoping he can survive in this unknown realm on six months' worth of granola bars, Playboy magazines, and no porta-potty. As we leave a clearly disheartened Felix Bradin, we discover the steel plate cavern door is the ocean entrance to Marineland and (don't worry, CCA) the attraction will open in thirty days. Felix will be saved. "It Waits Under the Sea!" is goofy fun; we're expecting Harry Spahn to reappear, seeking revenge for the slight, but that never happens. Instead, we're given that last panel twist, one that's actually worth the wait.

In this issue's reminder that the Russkies are dirty rotten stinkin' rats, two 1977 teens run "The Eerie Experiment!" and use a special Ham radio to contact the Feds twenty years in the past to warn of a secret Commie meeting. The day is saved, but don't try to keep up with the complicated Carl Wessler (I know, I know, when have I ever used those three words together in a sentence) script. 

Okay, keep up, because I won't be repeating myself. Wally Rogers is insanely jealous of his friend and co-worker, Ralph Blaine, for stealing the company limelight with a secret project Ralph is working on that will change the course of history. Wally hatches an elaborate plot to frame his buddy for embezzlement but can't figure out a way to establish an alibi for himself in the process. Luckily, at that moment, a stranger appears in Wally's room and explains that he's from the future, out for a joy ride in his time travel machine. 

The lightbulb goes on over Wally's head and he talks the visitor into helping him with his criminal deed. But the forces of good always trump those of evil and Wally gets what's coming to him in the end. "He Wore a Black Beard" has a very complicated plot (that's two examples just in this issue of Carl Wessler taxing his brain) and the super surprising twist (sarcasm) is built upon the smile out loud assumptions that Wally wouldn't know Ralph was working on a time machine and, even funnier, wouldn't recognize his old pal with a mustache and beard. Still, that final panel of Wally running the whole scenario through his head is classic.-Peter

Strange Worlds #1

Cover by Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule

"I Discovered the Secret of the Flying Saucers!" ★★1/2

(a: Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule)

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #32)

"I Captured the Abominable Snowman!" ★★1/2

(a: Steve Ditko)

(r: Strange Tales Annual #2 & Journey Into Mystery #13)

"I Am Robot!" (a: Uncredited) ★★

(r: Strange Tales Annual #2)

"I Am the Last Man on Earth!" (a: Don Heck) ★★

Why does everyone laugh when a man tells them that "I Discovered the Secret of the Flying Saucers!"? He recalls being fascinated by the subject as he grew up, yet his investigation revealed nothing certain. One day, in a remote forest, he witnessed a flying saucer land! A voice entered his thoughts and explained that it came from another solar system and its civilization was far beyond our own. Overpopulation led to space exploration, which led to an unintended landing on Earth. The alien will leave tonight, as soon as it regains its strength, and asks the man to tell no one about it until it's gone. In exchange, the man asks to see what the alien looks like, and the alien responds that it is the spaceship! Of course, after it's gone, no one believes the man's story.

This certainly feels like a milestone at Atlas Comics. The story is seven pages long and features Kirby pencils and many of the things we'll come to expect from him: inventive page designs, splash and half-splash pages, and detailed depictions of machinery. The story is not particularly novel and the big twist, that the spaceship is the alien, is handled well but followed by a pointless page of the man telling everyone what he saw in vain. Still, the story gives me hope that Atlas might try something new.

Hoping to be able to announce to the world that "I Captured the Abominable Snowman!," a greedy man steals equipment and plans from a scientific expedition and sets off alone. He finds a Lama monastery and forces an aged lama to take him to meet the Yeti. The creature approaches the lama, who transforms it into a human. The greedy explorer then learns that he must take the place of the Yeti until the next selfish man comes along.

Ditko's art is the highlight of this story, which follows a familiar pattern. The aged lama foreshadows Ditko's depiction of the Ancient One and the artist creates suspense on page four with a trio of panels that show the explorer in increasingly close shots as he awaits the Yeti's arrival.

Thorne, a scientist in the year 2468, creates a robot sensitive enough to handle a delicate object, yet strong enough to punch through a wall. This new robot can also speak and think! Thorne agrees to let the robot spend six months in his home taking care of his infant son, and if all goes well, thousands of the robots will be produced. Thorne's wife is fearful of the mechanical man, but the inventor reassures her. One day, the parents leave their son alone with the robot to test it. While they're gone, space aliens land and grab the little boy. The robot fights them off and they leave, but he is damaged in the battle. He pitches off a cliff and is found in wreckage at the bottom after Thorne returns. Everyone thinks the robot went berserk and plunged to its doom, and Thorne agrees that no more units will be produced. No one knows that it saved the child and the human race.

"I Am Robot" does not benefit from art by Kirby or Ditko; in fact, the GCD is unable to identify the artist, and I can't, either. The story is narrated by the robot but is not particularly engaging.

In the year 2035, a spaceship from Earth lands on the planet Xernes and  spacemen discover that humans could live almost 500 years before reaching old age. On Earth, people are so excited that they spend the next decade in a mass exodus to the new planet, destroying all their property before they leave. In the end, the last man and woman (named Adam and Eve) agree to start rebuilding Earth civilization.

Don Heck's art is impressive on "I Am the Last Man on Earth!" but the story is drawn out and pointless. It seems that Adam and Eve (groan) think the rest of civilization should not have given up the happy, peaceful life they had built on this planet. It didn't make much sense to me. This first issue of Strange Worlds is interesting in that it is more geared toward science fiction than the Atlas fantasy titles and it features three of the artists who would soon make Marvel a successful comic company. It'll be interesting to watch the title develop.-Jack

World of Fantasy #15

Cover by Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule

"The Secret of Stephen Durham" (a: Kurt Schaffenberger) ★★

(r: Journey Into Mystery #17)

"He Stole 50 Years" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★★

"Mystery of the Mountain" (a: Christopher Rule) ★

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #38)

"Strange Doings in Cell 4-B!" (a: Joe Certa) ★1/2

(r: Vault of Evil #19)

"The Uncanny Keys" (a: Richard Doxsee) ★

(r: Vault of Evil #16) 

"The Sinister Supermen" (a: Sam Kweskin) ★

Clark Wendall wonders, what is "The Secret of Stephen Durham"? They are close pals and research scientists, whose fathers had great adventures together, but lately, Stephen has been jumpier than ever. Clark peruses his father's diary and reads of an escape from an Aztec death trap and a close call with a giant octopus. During a lecture about how an object traveling at the speed of light will not be subject to aging, Steve jumps up and suggests that he and Clark head to Mexico.

They visit the same places where their fathers barely avoided death, and Clark wonders how Steve seems to know about these events without having read his father's diary. Back at home, Clark follows Steve and witnesses him entering a chamber where he travels at the speed of light. Clark suddenly realizes that Steve is really his father, who has kept himself young.

This has to be a Wessler script, since it has some interesting events along the way but is overly complicated and ends with a revelation that isn't very interesting or surprising. At least Kurt Schaffenberger turns in a professional job on the art.

A newspaper publisher named Slade prints lies and uses blackmail to silence complaints. He forces a scientist named Carlin to show him the Electronic Cavalcader, which brings to life events of the next fifty years. Slade spends the night watching all of the amazing things that will happen in the decades to come, unaware that, in the end, he will have aged fifty years and all his notes will be too yellowed and faded to read.

I was pleasantly surprised by "He Stole 50 Years." in which we learn that there will be a revolution in the Soviet Union in 1967 and that the Eastern Bloc will be free by 1969, atomic power plants and atom-driven planes will follow, and deadly diseases will be cured. Interplanetary travel will occur in 2000, and a woman will be president by then. It's a shame that none of this came to pass, at least not in the positive, lasting way portrayed here. I especially liked the last panel, which shows a suddenly aged Slade.

Two state troopers are puzzled by "The Mystery of the Mountain," which consists of silent explosions at Mount Rushmore in the middle of the night. A professor from D.C. is called in and posits that the explosions are coming from a parallel dimension, whose inhabitants are honoring one of their great men. Sure enough, the bust of an unknown spaceman appears next to that of George Washington. A pointless story with listless art, this one is unsettling in light of the current president's desire to see his own face join the others.

A brawny prisoner named Porter discovers that his elderly cellmate, Pop, can make things appear just by wishing. Porter decides that the "Strange Doings in Cell 4-B!" can be used to his advantage, and he forces Pop to wish for three guns and a car. The jail break is going well until the guns and car suddenly disappear and Porter and his pals are captured. To their dismay, they learn that Pop died of old age and, when he passed away, the things he wished for disappeared.

Joe Certa's art is solid if a bit on the cartoony side--Pop reminds me of Uncle Marvel from the Captain Marvel comics.

Shelton's uncle sends him out to get a copy made of the key to his safe. Shelton visits a locksmith where he sees the proprietor in a room filled with treasure! The man explains that it's due to "The Uncanny Keys," which are magical and which he received from a gypsy. Shelton grabs the key ring and finds that each key reveals a different room when put into the keyhole of any door. After finding himself in rooms filled with silver and gold, followed by a South Sea island, Shelton turns one key too many and finds himself in a prison cell with no keys. He realizes that the last key was a jail key!

Of all the Atlas artists, Richard Doxsee may be the most disappointing, since he's gone from terrific to terrible in a short span of time. The worst thing about this story is that the panels that are supposed to show the rooms filled with treasure barely show anything.

A sailing ship and its crew are mysteriously drawn toward an island by "The Sinister Supermen," criminals who were hiding out there in a cave when an H-bomb test accelerated their evolution to the point where they were all brain and little protoplasm. Having proved their unlimited power to themselves, they let the sailors leave and only the force of nature prevents the ship from being drawn into a whirlpool. The island and its inhabitants sink out of sight.

It's always hard to identify the worst story of a post, but this has to be it. The art is so weak that, in the panels where the supermen first appear, I first thought a kid had taken a marker and scribbled random lines on the page. After a few moments of study, I realized that those lines were actually supposed to be the outline of an arm and hand with a pointing finger.-Jack

Next Week...
The Era of Ditko and Kirby
Officially Begins...
But Will They Bring 
Quality With Them?