Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 98: Atlas/ Marvel Horror

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 83

June 1955 

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Astonishing 39

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Strange Courage!" (a: Ross Andru & Mike Esposito) ★★

"When Lands the Saucer" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel) ★

"The Horse That Was" (a: John Forte) ★★

"Welcome, Martians!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★1/2

"The Rainmaker" (a: Doug Wildey) ★★★

Lacking the courage to ask for a promotion or tell co-worker Betty that he loves her, Lennie sighs and settles for second best constantly. While visiting a drug store for headache pills, Lennie discovers that the pharmacist on duty is a friend of his from the service. They get to talking and Lennie's problem with self-confidence is brought up. Lennie had saved Ernie's life and now Ernie wants to pay the favor back by prescribing a new drug that "works on the glands directly… gives a man courage!" As he's leaving the building, it suddenly occurs to Lennie that he had heard Ernie had died of his wounds. Odd!

Lennie takes the drug when he gets back to work and, sure enough, a new man emerges. He storms into his boss's office and demands a promotion and then practically assaults Betty in the hallway. The next day, he goes back to the pharmacy to thank Ernie and is informed that his friend never worked there and the store was closed that day. Very odd!

"The Strange Courage" is another of the kinder and gentler Astonishing stories that 1955 was forced to offer. When Lennie is shoved aside in both the promotion and romance department by gruff co-worker Don, our hero doesn't travel to Africa to consult a witch doctor or chop his competition up with an axe; he uses a mellower form of leveling the playing field. No one gets hurt.

Amateurish Forgione/Abel art is not the only problem with "When Lands the Saucer," a quasi-comedic farce about an alien named Zot who lands on Earth to pave the way for an invasion. Zot falls in love with hillbilly girl Mamie and decides he likes the farmin' life. With an excruciatingly unfunny script and ugly art, this is one best skipped.

Precocious pre-teen Perry believes his rocking horse can take him on voyages "over the clouds and the highest mountains" but his older brother, Gerald, has had enough of the baby talk. Then one day, while Perry is upstairs playing and Gerald is downstairs working on his homework, the house catches fire, and he attempts to rescue his little brother. The smoke is too thick, and he tells Perry he'll have to make it out on his own. To Gerald's amazement, Perry appears behind him in the garden with his rocking horse. The horse's tail is singed! "The Horse That Was" may be saddled with another of Atlas's ludicrous "Was/Wasn't" titles but the story itself is a harmless, charming fantasy revolving around an ageless plot hook: the inanimate object that somehow takes on a life of its own.

In "Welcome, Martians," Mr. Primus is upset that no one will take him seriously in his contention that men from outer space will soon be landing on Earth and they must have a proper greeting. When a local reporter presses the man on his reasoning, Primus admits that he himself is a Martian and he received no fanfare when he landed.

A crippling drought has hit a small town, killing livestock and burning up crops in no time. A man walks into town and promises he can provide the rain necessary for a rejuvenation. He asks for no pay up front and begins work on a machine just outside town. Not long after the completion of the huge gizmo, the heavens open up and it begins to pour. The drought is over.

The town council meets, and all agree the rain is a coincidence and the stranger should not be paid. When the man is told of the decision, he leaves town, and the rain continues. And continues. And continues. After several weeks of non-stop downpours, the flooding threatens to wash away the entire town and the council meets again. They decide to find "The Rainmaker!" and pay him, hoping the act will cease the flooding.

When they find the man, they apologize for their greed and lack of gratitude. They will pay the man whatever he wants if he can help them. The stranger explains that he never wanted any payment other than a simple "thank you" and waves his hands at the sky. The rain stops and he walks away. Easily the best story this issue, "The Rainmaker!" is a satisfying little preachy, very reminiscent of the type EC would publish now and then. Doug Wildey's art further puts me in the mind of EC Comics; it's stark and atmospheric rather than cartoony or gaudy. Wildey's Atlas-era western funny books are in need of a deep dive someday.-Peter

Journey Into Unknown Worlds 35

Cover by Sol Brodsky

"The Masters!" (a: Mort Drucker) ★★

"The Magic Touch" (a: Paul Reinman) ★★★

"The Man in the Mirror" (a: Jack Katz) ★★

"Johnny's Flying Saucer" (a: Angelo Torres & Frank Frazetta) ★★★

"There Are Such Things" (a: Tony DiPreta) ★★

The orders are to destroy any intelligent humanoid species on Earth and these outer space men take their job seriously. But first, the alien trio must gather evidence to see if there is an intelligent form of humanoid life on Earth. They land in a New England forest and approach a small house they assume is inhabited. A dog bolts out the front door and the aliens are fascinated by the creature, assuming it must be the dominant life form. When a man exits the house and lays a bowl of food in front of the canine, the spacemen board their vehicle and head for home, confident that humanoids are subservient on this planet. "The Masters" is an amusing sci-fi fable with just okay Drucker work. I imagine if these aliens landed in 2022, they'd find the same thing: no intelligent humanoid life.

Steve and Mamie Baker aren't rich, but they're happy. One day, a beggar comes to the door selling trinkets for food money. Steve, being a kind-hearted fool, gives the tramp all his savings for a small China teapot. Mamie sighs and admits she's got the nicest husband in the world. When the couple sit down to use their new teapot, they're astounded to see it spitting out hundred dollar bills. The more they take out, the more the pot keeps spewing.

Soon, the Bakers have moved out of their small house and into an estate, accruing rich new friends and fabulously expensive clothes. Mamie is in heaven but Steve senses the fun has gone out of his marriage, so he smashes the teapot and the money stops flowing. The Bakers move back into their small home and reacquaint themselves with their poor neighbors. Life is good again. Then Mamie takes down her old teapot and the thing is full of hundred dollar bills!

"The Magic Touch" is a quaint little fantasy with a heart of gold and a wonderful twist climax. Why has Mamie suddenly got the magic touch? Why is it only their teapots that hit the jackpot? Who was the beggar at the door? These questions and more are left unanswered and yet the story leaves you with a smile on your face.

Every time Meredith Moore stands in front of his mirror to shave, he sees an alien face looking back at him. Turns out he's looking into "a space dimension adjacent to ours" (whatever that means) at the same time a creature from another star is shaving. "The Man in the Mirror" is harmless fluff with decent Jack Katz graphics. In "Johnny's Flying Saucer," a little boy finds a UFO while raking the leaves on his lawn and the discovery causes a mini-panic amongst the townsfolk. When talk of an invasion works its way through the tense crowd, Johnny admits he wished the UFO to come to Earth so he wouldn't have to do his chores, but now he wishes it gone. The craft disappears. Much like "The Magic Touch," "Johnny's Flying Saucer" doesn't make much sense but it's a very pleasing four pages. The dynamic duo of Torres and Frazetta give the strip a decidedly EC-esque vibe.

Little Johnny lies dying in a hospital bed and the only things that keep him going are his visits from "the angel of the theater," Marcia Barratt, and big league manager, Ted Rawls. The manager must go out of town for the week but promises Johnny he'll be back for the boy's birthday. When the day comes and Rawls doesn't show, Johnny slips into a coma. Marcia calls Colin, one of her actor friends, and asks him to dress up like the skipper and put on a show. The act not only rates an Oscar, but Johnny comes out of his coma and makes a dramatic recovery. Later, Colin enters the room and apologizes for being late; he's ready to put on his baseball uniform! The finale of "There Are Such Things!" must have been done a couple dozen times in the 1950s so, to us Monday morning quarterbacks, it's not much of a surprise. What is a surprise, to me at least, is how poor the art of Tony DiPreta has become in just the last few months. I wonder if, with the coming of the Comics Code, DiPreta's work was "brightened up," as the shadows that made his work so attractive pre-code are all but gone now.-Peter

Marvel Tales 135

Cover by Sol Brodsky

"Mr. Dugan's Dragon" (a: Mort Drucker) ★★★

"Joe's Jalopy!" (a: Dick Ayers) ★★

"The One They Spared!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★1/2

"Wings on His Feet!" (a: Mac Pakula) ★

"Worlds Apart!" (a: John Tartaglione) ★

Ken Dugan may be a test pilot who flies faster than the speed of sound, but his son Timmy is more impressed with the dragon he sees in his book about knights from days of yore. When Ken is up in the plane and breaks the sound barrier, he finds that his instruments are acting strangely and he can't contact the tower, so he decides to land.

On the ground, he sees a castle, and a knight on horseback rams the side of his plane with a lance, calling the plane a dragon! Ken takes off again and all is back to normal. When he lands, he realizes that he crossed the time barrier and went back to the days of knights on horseback.

"Mr. Dugan's Dragon" features outstanding art by Mort Drucker, who transforms a mundane tale into something worth a look. Too bad he didn't draw the rest of this issue!

"Joe's Jalopy!" is all that Joe owns outright, so when his wife Bea says the bill collector is at the door, Joe is distraught. He sends the man away empty-handed and is told he'll get no more oil till he pays his overdue bill. Joe gets in his car and heads for work, but the jalopy finds its way back home. Good thing, since Joe receives a call from a radio quiz show and wins a $5000 jackpot!

A hokey story with the usual sub-par art by Dick Ayers, "Joe's Jalopy" is one used car that should be traded in.

In "The One They Spared," Earthmen land their rocket ship on Mars, steal jewels from the room of a sleeping Martian, and are chased through the streets by bat-eared aliens. They are spared when the Martians see that one of them holds a pet pussycat; apparently, the cat is descended from an earlier cat on Mars and the inhabitants of both planets have a soft spot for pets.

At least I think that's what the end means. This is bottom of the barrel stuff!

"Wings on His Feet!" is even worse. It concerns Len, a high school sprinter who sprains his ankle but puts on a magic pair of socks and wins the race. Turns out the socks belong to the god Mercury, who just happened to leave them in the high school locker room. No, it doesn't make any sense to me, either.

Of equally low quality is the final entry, "Worlds Apart!" A future scientist named Skyro travels back in time by means of a time machine to the mid-1950s, where he learns that the emotionless future is no match for the soft curves and wet lips of a blonde he meets at a fair.

Other than the lead story by Mort Drucker, Marvel Tales 135 deserved to be recycled!-Jack

Mystery Tales 30

Cover by Carl Burgos and Sol Brodsky (?)

"The Boy Who Could Fly!" (a: Dick Ayers & Ernie Bache) ★★1/2

"The Warning!" (a: Don Heck) ★★

"The Lady Vanished" (a: John Forte)

(r: Weird Wonder Tales #8) ★1/2

"Too Late!" (a: Sid Greene) ★1/2

"From Out of Nowhere" (a: Pete Tumlinson) ★

Homer Troy admires a hawk as it soars above his family's farm. Wishing he could fly like a bird, he flaps his wings and takes off! A week later, Thaddeus Bigg, famed circus showman, drives by Homer's farm and sees the boy take flight. Bigg quickly gets Homer's parents to sign a contract, and it's off to the circus.

Once word gets out about the flying boy, members of the public are skeptical and insist that Homer is a fraud. The big day comes for his debut, and suddenly he can't fly anymore! A psychiatrist explains that Homer has lost his faith, and with it, his ability to soar. Homer returns home, happy to spend his days catching fish.

The combination of Ayers pencils and Bache inks makes for five pages that are nice to look at, in a humorous, cartoony sort of way, but the story ends with a thud instead of a twist. There's not much mystery to "The Boy Who Could Fly!" and there's certainly no terror.

A meteor heading for a big city suddenly veers off course and crashes in a park, injuring no one. Professor Ralph Field, an astronomer, examines the rock and sees germs, meaning that there is life wherever the meteor came from. He realizes that meteors never hit humans and posits that they are warnings from another planet to stay out of space. No one believes him, but when the first rocket ship into space is hit by a meteor and crashes, everyone realizes he was right.

Is the central assumption of "The Warning!" true? Has no one ever been injured by a falling meteor? Oddly enough, the Internet (which doesn't lie) tells us that the only person ever hit by a meteorite suffered that (non-fatal) accident on November 30, 1954. Did the uncredited writer of this story see that news clipping and come up with this? It certainly is odd timing.

Viola Adams never missed a day of work at the office in 23 years, so her nasty co-workers decide to make her cry for no reason. When they ask what she'd do if she received a Valentine's Day card from a man, Viola responds that she'd be in seventh heaven. They send her a card and she disappears. Where is she? Sitting on a cloud in seventh heaven!

Is Viola dead? Did the cruelty of her colleagues drive her to suicide? Who knows? She just ends up on that cloud in the last panel. Apparently, all that lonely women wanted in 1956 was a smidgen of attention from a man--even an imaginary one. That's enough to lift them out of their humdrum existence! I'm noticing a trend in Atlas stories--endings that make little sense and land with a thud.

Delivery man Lem Hawkins can't leave a package at the Ajax Prospecting Company. On its door is a sign that the firm has moved to Mars. Lem's boss insists that he deliver the package, so Lem takes a rocket ship to Mars, only to discover that the firm has moved to Venus.

Last of all is the preachy "From Out of Nowhere," in which a mysterious information booth suddenly appears in the middle of a busy department store. The unseen man in the booth dispenses good advice that makes people rethink their plans. At a gathering of top scientists, one man suggests that some outside agency steps in whenever mankind is near the breaking point. The other scientists laugh at him, but suddenly the information booth appears in their midst. End of story! Is God the man in the booth? Your guess is as good as mine.-Jack

Strange Tales 36

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Man Who Turned Off the Sun!" (a: Vic Carrabotta) ★★

"The Girl Who Wouldn't Speak!" (a: Joe Maneely) ★★★

"The Discovery!" (a: Bob Powell) ★1/2

"The Bell That Wouldn't Stop" (a: Bill Benulis) ★

"The Secret Weapon" (a: John Forte) ★

Henry is a scientist who invents a "nuclear vapor" designed to create a haze over American cities, all the better to avoid those Commie missiles. As the sun disappears and America panics, Henry smiles, knowing he's a success. Then he gets home, and his overbearing wife tells him he's a loser who will never amount to anything. "The Man Who Turned Off the Sun" includes some very questionable science (just how far does this "shield" extend?) but makes for a breezy read and a half-hearted chuckle when Mrs. Henry berates her smaller spouse.

Novelist Emory Hastings makes light of the faithful fans who become involved in the characters he brings to life. Then Emory creates Elizabeth, a beautiful woman he falls in love with despite the fact that her existence lies solely in his ink. Or does it? "The Girl Who Wouldn't Speak!" is not exactly groundbreaking when it comes to its plot hook, but it is involving and contains some fabulous Maneely work. Mere months before, Hastings would have been portrayed as an evil man, but post-code he's just a guy who sees the light in the end. No violence, no victims.

In "The Discovery," baseball scout Mike Sloan stumbles upon the greatest arm he's ever seen in hillbilly Ernie Watkins. It's only a matter of time before Ernie is pitching in the World Series and he's an ace. There's just one part of baseball his team neglected to teach him about… running after he hits an inside-the-park home run. Your guess is as good as mine as to why a humorous sports story with no fantastic elements (and scratchy, unattractive art by Bob Powell) was placed in a magazine called Strange Tales. This would have fit more comfortably in Riot or Snafu.

In the small town of San Luisa, the church bell begins ringing on its own. All the people gather around the church when suddenly a huge earthquake strikes, destroying just about everything outside the town square. Who was responsible for ringing "The Bell That Wouldn't Stop?" A disposable Ripley's Believe It or Not rip-off. Not even the usually reliable Bill Benulis shows up for this one.

Four scientists come to the drought-stricken town of Wabash and are immediately greeted by insolence and bad manners. Their leader, Dillon, is told to pack his bags and be out of Wabash by sundown. Eventually, the town's mayor calls the President (of the United States!) and is told that "The Secret Weapon" that will solve all their problems is right there in Wabash. The natives head over to the lab to confront the scientists and are told that Dillon will be packing his bags unless he's given an apology. You see, Dillon is really a robot and he's the government's "secret weapon!" Meandering and silly with a truly unexpected twist. Unexpected, that is, because it's so ridiculous.-Peter

Uncanny Tales 32

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Fat Man!" (a: Jay Scott Pike) ★1/2

"Those Who... Change!" (a: John Forte) ★1/2

"Illusion" (a: Bill Everett) ★★1/2

"The Poor Relation" (a: Sy Moskowitz) ★

"Mr. Jones" (a: Paul Reinman) ★★★

Duggan is "The Fat Man!" and his misery about his weight leads him to be miserable to others. When he hears that a druggist from whom he's trying to collect a debt has been tinkering with a weight loss formula, Duggan steals it and drinks some, only to find that he's losing weight at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, he looks just as hefty as ever! The druggist has no cure for the experimental formula, so Duggan floats off into the sky, light as a feather.

No surprise at the end, no explanation of what happened, and essentially no reaction by the druggist, who just throws out his apparatus. Like so many Atlas stories, this one plods along for five pages and then just ends.

Earthmen on a mission to Venus see that their equipment is mysteriously duplicating itself. They discover that it's all the work of a Venusian named Ury, who duplicates what he sees because he thinks flattery is a sign of friendship. In the end, he reveals that Venusians have visited Earth before and some of them became famous: Napolean, Julius Caesar, Shakespeare...

"Those Who... Change!" and the story that follows it are credited in the GCD to writer Paul S. Newman, not to be confused with the future Butch Cassidy. Based on the quality of the scripts, he should've remained anonymous, like the writers of the rest of the Atlas stories.

A psychiatrist watches a Thought-Image Viewer to observe the dreams of his patient. He sees commuters rushing to and fro, followed by large groups of people rounded up and forced to do hard labor in concentration camps. He sees an atomic bomb demolish a city. He turns off the machine, determined to rid his patient of his ridiculous belief in fantasy creatures that have only four limbs, and we see that the doctor has four arms and one eye!

The pictures on the TV in "Illusion" are interesting in that they wordlessly convey the progression of WWII and its horrors. Bill Everett does a good job of depicting both the realistic visions and the one-eyed aliens. In a way, this is a horror story, but of a different sort.

Aunt Sophie is "The Poor Relation." Her nephew Wilbur and his wife are about to consign her to the Poor House when they discover a newspaper that she receives in the mail that says she just won $500K in the Irish Sweepstakes. They begin to treat her with kindness and let her run up a big tab at the department store, only to be devastated when she reveals that she sent away for a newspaper with a fake headline!

At least there's a surprise ending in this story, even if it's a dopey one. The art by Sy Moskowitz is wooden.

The best is saved for last in this issue with "Mr. Jones," illustrated by Paul Reinman. Jones is a visitor from another planet who can't convince anyone that he's not just a crackpot from Earth. In the end, both he and his spaceship disintegrate. The scientists on his home planet have been monitoring his progress and remark with surprise that they were wrong: it takes seven hours for things to disintegrate in Earth's atmosphere and they had thought it would be immediate!

I got a kick out of this twist ending, since poor Mr. Jones had no idea of his fate and the scientists on his home planet knew he was doomed. Reinman did a lot of good work over the decades, and this is a well-drawn tale.-Jack

Next Week...

Just Another Day in the life of

1961 Batman and Robin!