Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 136: Marvel/Atlas Horror & Science Fiction Comics!

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 121

October 1956 Part I

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Astonishing #54

Cover by Bill Everett

"The Old Man's Secret!" (a: John Giunta) ★★★

(r: Journey Into Mystery #16)

"Nightmare at Noon!" (a: Angelo Torres) ★★

(r: Worlds Unknown #1)

"Man with Wings!" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel) ★

"No Trespassing!" (a: Hy Fleishman) ★1/2

"The World of Flame!" (a: Chuck Miller) ★

(r: Amazing Adventures #26)

"When the Walls Close In!" (a: Bob Brown) ★★1/2

(r: Uncanny Tales #9)

Larner travels to the peaks of Tibet and into a hidden valley to find an old man who supposedly knows the secret to eternal youth. He discovers the old-timer is being cared for by his son, a man who warns Larner to turn around and go back to civilization; he'll not learn anything from an old man who is too feeble to even talk. 

Larner manages to talk the younger man into letting him take the old man back to his world, where he can be cared for and studied by scientists. Realizing that what Larner says is true, the caregiver grants his wish and waves at the pair as they head back into the snow. Larner overcomes avalanches, freezing cold, and starvation but manages to make it back to the real world, only to discover that he'll never learn "The Old Man's Secret!" A literate script with decent art and an honest-to-gosh surprise ending make this one a cut above the rest. 

The striking work of Angelo Torres is all that keeps "Nightmare at Noon!" afloat. It's the simple tale of a man who owns an island and discovers pirates have landed ashore. They're keeping a beautiful maiden as hostage. Could this be the woman of his dreams?

A fighter pilot is plagued by dreams of an imperiled man with wings. Only our hero can save the man, but he must continually drop out of formation. We discover in the cliched ending that the pilot is actually Leonardo Da Vinci, dreaming up ways to take to the sky. The Forgione/Abel art is uninspired and drab, while the script (naturally, by Wessler) is a tuna sandwich left out of the fridge for three weeks.

An unusual beam of light appears on the estate of wealthy Luther Kane, drawing the locals to his land despite the "No Trespassing!" sign. When the people of the town bathe themselves in the light, their maladies disappear! With dreams of a gold mine dancing in his greedy brain, Kane puts up a barbed wire fence around his property and charges five grand a pop. The poor souls of Hooville cannot afford the ransom and Kane's property remains untouched. At that point, the Martians who have beamed the light on a small patch of Earth widen the scope and Kane's land becomes uninhabitable. The millionaire is reduced to begging for dimes on the city streets. Why did the small ray giveth miracles and the larger one taketh away? Search me. 

In the three-page "The World of Flame!" the crew of a sea-going vessel are transported to the sun, where they meet aliens who explain that a freak storm caused the ship to be sucked into their transport beam. The sailors all beg for a return to Earth, citing wives and bottles of beer, and are granted a return. There, they discuss the amazing dream they all shared, when the brightest bulb in the cabinet notes the entire crew is sun-burned despite the wintery climate. "This warn't no dream!" 

In the closer, veterinarian Whitney Chase is working on a new hormone theory with the help of elderly, brilliant scientist, Dr. Bardo, a shady guy with a very acute case of claustrophobia. Chase is certain he's stumbled across a hormone serum that will revolutionize the industry thanks to its... well, I have no idea what the thing does and neither does our unknown scripter, so let's just say it does something magical and leave it at that. Anyway, to complicate things further, Dr. Bardo is, in reality, a Nazi egghead named Franz Heinrich Hessler, who has been hiding from the Feds since his Nazi experiment days ended years before.

Hessler/Bardo tests Chase's formula on a boa constrictor and, sure enough, the snake... does something. Hessler is sure he can sell this formula to the highest bidder, buy his own island, and clone Hitler for future generations. The plan goes awry when Chase discovers his mentor's deception and tosses a serum at the old man. Suddenly, Hessler's claustrophobia grows to insane proportions. Why, I don't know. But it gives Chase a chance to call the authorities and listen in amazement as Bardo confesses he's actually Hessler and begs the cops to take him away from the closing walls. You see, a man's guilt always catches up with him in the end. "When the Walls Close In!" is over-plotted nonsense from the get-go but it sure is entertaining in its own stumbling way.-Peter

Journey Into Mystery #39

Cover by Bill Everett

"Behind the Mask" (a: Paul Reinman) ★★

"The Forbidden Room!" (a: Dick Ayers) ★

"I Lived Four Times!" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel) ★

"At the Edge of Nowhere!" (a: Al Hartley) ★

"He Can't Resist" (a: George Roussos) ★1/2

"The Executioner!" (a: Wally Wood) ★★★

A master mask-maker lets his pride get the best of him when confronted by an alien from another world who asks the man to make him the perfect disguise. Later, after the alien leaves with his new identity, the artist has a case of the guilts and heads out to stop the alien's plan... whatever it might be. There are the nice Paul Reinman graphics to look at while you're making your way through "Behind the Mask," but not much else. The reveal at the climax, that the mask-maker is living on Pluto and the alien is from Earth, is forecast from page one. The real twist here is that humans can breathe on Pluto without oxygen masks.

Separated from his cave tour companions, Ralph Gornov travels deep into a mountainside and discovers the lost city of Cavernia, a city banished from the surface world two centuries before. Leader Drombru explains to Gornov that, if the surface world were to learn of his hidden city, there would be war waged. Gornov eventually escapes and Drombru readies his population to invade the surface world with their tanks and other modern weapons. "The Forbidden Room!" is filled with unexplained mysteries. How was an entire city (skyscrapers and all) moved into the inside of a mountain? How do these outcasts have rocket launchers and missiles? But, most of all, why does Drombru dress and act like Napoleon? Carl Wessler was obviously too beat from trying to work the damned toaster in the Atlas break room to work out these puzzlers. Dick Ayers contributes his usual stiff, unremarkable work.

Stefan Orjanski is a Hungarian deserter who just wants to live a peaceful life and marry a woman like the lovely Nadja. The gorgeous gal admits she might know of a sorcerer who can help with Stefan's escape and, sure enough, the wizard helps the "coward" to assimilate himself into society with a new body. However, his cowardice eats him alive inside and, eventually, Stef gives himself up to the authorities. He is lined up before a firing squad and... just before he's ventilated, Stef is transported into another body. 

This magical occurrence happens several times before our hero finally approaches the wizard, swears he'll be a good soldier, and is granted his original body back. Turns out this is a service provided for the Hungarian army by the wizard and (his daughter) Nadja, a trick they've pulled twenty times before. Carl Wessler's political views seep into "I Lived Four Times!" Any man averse to picking up a gun and wading into combat is worthless and must be dealt with in the McCarthy era.

In the three-page "At the Edge of Nowhere!" an alien lands on Earth and is amazed at how belligerent and infantile our people can be. Just wait until he turns on the evening news!

Eric Lund invents a "thought communicator" gizmo but can't get anyone interested in marketing the breakthrough. When one banker insults Lund, "He Can't Resist" planting a criminal act into the man's mind. The banker will be compelled to rob a house of its valuables. Should be a no-brainer, right? Well... I continue to be entertained by the vast number of brilliant Atlas eggheads who turn to petty crime rather than big-scale thievery when the urge overtakes them.

Brilliant scientist Dr. Morey, a/k/a "The Executioner" for his crass attitude toward the men harmed during his spaceship tests, has created man's first satellite, ready to be launched and roam the galaxy. Major Cannon, tasked with overseeing the project, believes that Morey is a cold fish who cares not a whit for the pain and suffering his gizmos create. The pilot assigned to man the satellite, Fred Burton, promises his fiance that he'll be back in six months and they can be married, but space debris creates a structural problem with the satellite and the vessel explodes, killing young Burton. Morey opines that it's back to the drawing board and heads to his lab, while Cannon is left in disgust, directing oaths at the back of the dejected scientist. It's then that Cannon is informed that Fred Burton was actually Morey's son.

The twist is one that's been used many a time before so no one will be surprised by the reveal. Another thing that doesn't surprise is that Wally Wood rescues this issue from the birdcage single-handedly. If only Wood had more to work with than talking heads for much of the story's four pages. Still, it's a fabulous four pages of art and, if you didn't know better, you could mistake this for a story pulled from the pages of Weird Science. Wally's stay with us will be short (only five appearances total in the post-code Atlas titles), but I'm pretty sure he'll make a big impression.-Peter

Journey Into Unknown Worlds #50

Cover by Bill Everett

"The Fog!" (a: Paul Reinman) ★1/2

"I Entered the Forbidden Land!" (a: Herb Familton) ★1/2

"When the City Trembled" (a: Reed Crandall) ★★1/2

"Stranger Than Fiction!" (a: John Forte) ★1/2

"Quarantine" (a: Werner Roth) ★1/2

"Cyclops" (a: Jack Davis) ★★1/2

(r: Monsters Unleashed #3)

Wandering through "The Fog!" in present-day London, Halliday walks through an old-fashioned door and into the past, where he is arrested as a lunatic and imprisoned in Bedlam, the notorious asylum, by its master, Will Morrow. Halliday bides his time until he can escape. Morrow follows him and, soon enough, Halliday finds himself back in the present, where policemen arrest Morrow as a lunatic.

"When the City Trembled"

Paul Reinman's art is looking more and more creaky with each issue, as if he's getting tired of making an effort in service of poor scripts like this one.

Jeff believes in the legend of Shangri-La and Tom agrees to finance his expedition to look for it. In the Tibetan mountains, Jeff finds the fabled land and is welcomed, admitting to the head lama that he thinks the secret to eternal youth must be in the water. Jeff fills a jug and heads home to analyze it. He drinks a glassful right before reporters arrive to hear his announcement. "I Entered the Forbidden Land!" says Jeff, but the reporters are aghast at the aged face of the man before them--it turns out that drinking water from Shangri-La outside the borders of the land has the reverse effect.

I knew what was happening right away when we were presented only with views from behind as soon as Jeff drank the water. Familton's art is wooden, along the lines of John Forte, and the story goes nowhere.

"When the City Trembled"

When Lou Nevins, a traveling book salesman, shows up at the door of McGinty's Boarding House, where Doug Lenox resides, Mrs. McGinty is polite and attentive, but Doug tells the man to beat it, remarking that, "'in this world, it's every man for himself.'" Soon, an earthquake hits and, when Doug falls into a crevasse, Mrs. McGinty and Lou Nevins tell him to fend for himself. A tidal wave follows, with the same results. Finally, Doug changes his mind and rescues Nevins from the flood waters. Suddenly, they are all back at the boarding house and there is no evidence of an earthquake or a tidal wave. Mrs. McGinty buys a book and Nevins moves on to the house next door, where he continues trying to peddle his book on hypnotism.

In the hands of a lesser artist, "When the City Trembled" would be another flop, but this story is illustrated by the great Reed Crandall, who is only a few years out from his triumphs at EC. His work here is excellent and even includes a few panels with no or few words to get in the way. It's a treat for the eyes!

"Cyclops"

TV writer Chris Tully's scripts for the weekly show, Mobs and Mobsters, are eerily accurate. So accurate, in fact, that the real Red Benton and his mob of motorcycle-riding hoodlums want to know how Tully knows their every move. As Tully struggles to complete the script for the final episode, Benton and his gang find the writer and give chase; the writer leads the crooks to the stage of the TV studio, where Benton unknowingly confesses in front of a TV audience of fifty million people!

How does Tully know what Benton's gang is up to? "Stranger Than Fiction!" doesn't tell us, it just plods along to its uninspiring finale like many another tale by Carl Wessler.

In the future, no one gets sick, so when Carmichael is found to be ill, the leaders propose putting him under "Quarantine." He escapes and walks through the city streets, where everyone sees him and flees. Soon he is alone in the city and lonely, so he goes to the edge of town and surrenders to the authorities. They search him and find the source of his infection--a handgun that he stole from the museum. It seems he's infected with the deadly disease called violence.

"Cyclops"

We've seen this twist ending before and Werner Roth does nothing worthwhile with the premise in the three pages he's allotted.

The sailors on the S.S. Marshal, a destroyer that was hit by a torpedo and sank during WWII, wonder about the middle initial in the name of their captain, Miles U. Barret. Suggesting wryly that it stands for "Useful," they admit he's a good skipper. A submarine torpedoes the ship and it sinks; everyone aboard is rescued except for one lifeboat filled with sailors and the captain, which disappears. That boat ends up on an island, where the men find themselves trapped in the cave of the "Cyclops"! Reenacting the events of The Odyssey, they escape and agree that their official report will say it was all a mass hallucination brought on by shock. Just then, the captain reveals that his middle name is Ulysses!

Reed Crandall and Jack Davis both in an issue of an Atlas comic? Be still my heart! Davis turns in four pages of fun artwork and makes the most of a cliched story that ends with a surprise. If Atlas is destined to become the home of castoff artists from EC, count me in!-Jack

Marvel Tales #151

Cover by Bill Everett

"Barely Human" (a: Joe Orlando) ★1/2

"Secret Weapon!" (a: Paul Reinman) ★1/2

"A Phantom in the Sky!" (a: Jay Scott Pike) ★1/2

"Who Walks in the Ruins" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★

"It's Alive" (a: Bill Everett) ★1/2

"The Parasite!" (a: Werner Roth) ★1/2

Frequent stories about mountain climbers in the Himalayas encountering the abominable snowman lead anthropologist Alvin Murray to believe that the snowman is seeking his face when it gazes into the eyes of hikers. Murray recalls an expedition years ago when he uncovered a wooly mammoth and a primitive man encased in ice; he brought the man back to the U.S., thawed him out, and kept him in a cage to study. After taking the man back to the Himalayas, he escaped and Murray barely got away from the "Barely Human" creature. He vows to return to the snowy mountains to look for the prehistoric man, uncertain who will be hunting whom.

"A Phantom in the Sky!"

What is it with Atlas and the abominable snowman lately? Was it in the news around 1956? Joe Orlando is a decent artist, but so little happens in this story that it's hard to work up much interest.

People around the world were afraid of the armada of alien ships that was slowly heading toward Earth from outer space. Their fears were eased when a young scientist named Anthony Ludlow created a "Secret Weapon!" that made the invaders use their great strength to complete projects beneficial to earthlings and then leave with a message to spread throughout the galaxy that Earth should never again be invaded. Ludlow finishes the job by destroying the weapon so that it will never fall into the hands of a tyrant.

Is there anything as dull as a science fiction story where the invading aliens from outer space turn into good guys? Probably not, and we're seeing a slew of them. Paul Reinman's art continues to deteriorate slowly from its earlier peak.

"Who Walks in the Ruins"

A Nazi pilot named Lt. Vohlar sees a blimp flying in the sky and decides that capturing it would be his ticket to promotion. He follows it through a dimensional barrier and lands in a world where everyone is happy and no one grows old. He falls in love with pretty Johanna Ritter, who teaches him to fly the blimp; he leaves her and takes off alone in it, flying back through the dimensional barrier and landing in Nazi Germany. He is told that the blimp is an antique and, when he looks in a mirror, he sees that he has aged and is now an old man.

Good Lord, Carl Wessler can sure write a bad story, can't he? From the start, "A Phantom in the Sky!" makes no sense. Why would a Nazi pilot be excited to see a blimp during WWII? Not to mention the nonsense about the other dimension and the dopey finale where he discovers that inter-dimensional travel sure can age a guy.

"It's Alive"

Ken Murdock is a stamp collector who is obsessed with the Midas Stamp, convinced that if he finds it, he'll be rich. He travels to Cairo and steals the stamp from a sheik; escaping into the desert, he finds that all he touches turns to gold. The stamp blows away and is left lying on the ground by the members of a passing caravan, who conclude that Ken has lost his mind.

It's not easy to rate these stories since they are all so poor. I gave "Who Walks in the Ruins" a single star instead of a star and a half because the art is almost as bad as the writing.

Why did Captain Linden flee from a strange planet before completing his exploration? He explains that his mission was to find life on another world, but after two years and over fifty planets, he and his crew landed on one similar to Earth. They made their way through curious, bamboo-like growth and noted strange lines on the ground, but they found no sign of life until they began to hear loud thumps coming from below the surface. When they determined that a large crater had moved closer to their rocket ship, they blasted off into space and returned to Earth. Captain Linden later realized that, regarding the planet Vita, "It's Alive"--the bamboo stalks were hair, the odd lines were pores, and the crater was a mouth.

"The Parasite!"

Even Bill Everett can't save the latest iteration of the old "the planet was really a living being" story. At least it's only three pages long.

Ben is a clever young scientist who invents an unbreakable plastic, but his uncle, who owns the company, wants to take all of the credit. When Ben invents a metal that resists heat, his uncle insists that it belongs to him and announces to the world that he'll control the rights and that it can be used for space travel. Soon, "The Parasite!" disappears without a trace. Ben is not aware that aliens from outer space witnessed his uncle's announcement and whisked him away to their planet in order to protect the Earth and other worlds from the results of his greed.

At least Werner Roth manages to draw a cool, green alien, so this story isn't a complete waste of time. If the goal of this exercise is to find the gold among the dross, this issue of Marvel Tales yielded no gems.-Jack

Next Week...
Robin Saves the Day!

Batman in the 1960s Issue 46: July/August 1967

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

Various

Batman #193

"Ride, Bat-Hombre, Ride!"

Story by David Vern

Art by Dick Sprang & Charles Paris

(Reprinted from Batman #56, January 1950)

"The Armored Batman"

Story by Edmond Hamilton

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Stan Kaye

(Reprinted from Batman #111, October 1957)

"His Majesty, King Batman"

Story by Bill Finger

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Charles Paris

(Reprinted from Batman #96, December 1955)

"Holy Smoke"

Story by Bill Finger

Art by Jack Burnley & Charles Paris

(Reprinted from the Sunday strips, 1/7/45-2/18/45)

"Batman and the Vikings!" 

Story Uncredited

Art by Bob Kane and Charles Paris

(Reprinted from Batman #52, May 1949)

"Mayor Bruce Wayne!" 

Story by David Vern

Art by Dick Sprang & Charles Paris

(Reprinted from Detective Comics #179, January 1952)

"The Flying Batman"

Story by David Vern

Art by Bob Kane & Stan Kaye

(Reprinted from Batman #82, March 1954)

Definitely pre-code!

Jack-A mixed bag this time out, with the highlights being the two stories penciled by Dick Sprang: "Ride, Bat-Hombre, Ride!" from late 1949 and "Mayor Bruce Wayne!" from about two years later. Both feature clever, funny scripts by David Vern, especially "Bat-Hombre," where the Caped Crusader travels to Latin America to train a local hero to be Bat-Hombre and defeat a notorious criminal. Sprang's panel and page designs are always fun to look at and he is equally good at action and comedy.

The Sunday newspaper serial this time out has art that recalls the interior art in pulp magazines of the '40s, though Bill Finger's story isn't terribly interesting. The rest of the tales either have Bob Kane's primitive art or Sheldon Moldoff's imitation of Kane's work--"The Flying Batman" from 1954 is credited to Kane in the GCD but I think it may well be Moldoff.

Peter- The best thing about these 1940s and 1950s adventures is that Batman is usually put into some goofy situations (as opposed, you say, to fighting three-eyed Martians in Gotham Square) and there are some beauts here--the mustachioed Bat-Amigo or the full-armor-wearing Dark Knight (good trick swinging through the air in that get-up) are, to say the least, unique. The art, even the stuff delivered by Moldy, easily tops the work we're being subjected to in the 1960s titles. The revelation here is "Holy Smoke," which blew my doors wide open in art if not in prose. The syndicate pages have a style, choreography, and excitement to them (see left) that's completely missing in contemporary comics. My favorite sequence in this issue would have to be in "Batman and the Vikings," where Dick and Bruce, as if in an episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, discuss Bruce's look-alike Viking ancestor, capped off by that "This is the disgraced coward who..." reveal. Best chuckle I've had in years.

Infantino/Anderson

Detective Comics #365

"The House the Joker Built!"

Story by John Broome

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

The Joker unfurls his most dastardly and evil plot in Bat-history: undercutting Bat-Merchandise at Gracey's Department Store. No, seriously... I'm not pulling your leg... read on if you dare. Selling his Joker Tees at five for ninety-nine cents sends the burgeoning Bat-Marketplace into a spin. Who wants Bat-Tees at a buck a pop when you can wear the Master of Mirth across your chest for a fifth of the price?

Gracey's manager shoos off the Joker, but the damage is done and soon after we find the Dynamic Duo in Gordon's office (he's wearing one of the cheap Joker Tees by the way--no fool him) pondering the villain's ploy. It takes them four panels to come up with nothing (World's Greatest Detective, my foot) and the Caped Crusaders hit the streets to patrol.

That's where they see a Joker-Signal lighting up the skies. Proving that (despite what the critics say) he is the World's Greatest Detective, Batman surmises that the signal is either being sent from the Joker or to the Joker! The boys follow the signal to the Gotham Rare Metals Factory, where they interrupt a heist being perpetrated by Joker and some nattily-dressed goons. Our heroes engage in fisticuffs but are thrown off their game when Joker ejects an exploding button onto Batman's head. He then gasses them and escapes.

The next morning, Bruce and Dick discuss their botched attempt at catching their arch-enemy (forgetting that they always let him escape once or twice before slapping the cuffs on) and the conversation naturally turns once again to the cut-rate Joker clothing. Bruce slaps himself in the head and declares that their insane adversary must have a retail clothing outlet hidden somewhere. "Holy Men's Wearhouse, Batman, you're right!," exclaims Dick and the pair head out to grill one of their tipsters.

The rat informs Bats that the Joker is hiding his gear in the basement of the Old Gotham Hotel. The boys arrive just in time for the two for one Joker boxer shorts sale. They once again engage in fisticuffs but are blindsided by the Clown Prince of Crime's paper snakes, which wrap themselves around the heroes. Joker hoofs it into the next room, where we discover an elaborate TV camera and stage, including a huge Joker head. Turns out the insane trickster is running his own cable company, with mobsters paying big bucks to watch the Caped Crusaders get beaten up. The boys finally get loose from their snake entrapment and head into the Joker head for a battle royale. They emerge victorious and criminals around Gotham file a class action lawsuit against Joker, claiming bait and switch. 

Just when you thought the Batman scripts had brushed the bottom of the barrel, John Broome says "Hold my beer!" If not for the fact that Broome's script writing had never contained wit or irony, I would say this was the scribe's subtle way of poking his finger into the side of the Bat-merchandise armada that had swept the nation by Summer of '67. Nope, this is just a dumb plot with some truly rank art. If we still ranked our Best and Worst of the Year, this would be a shoo-in for top dog. The sooner we get through this camp phase, the better.-Peter

Jack-Wow! That cover! And then the disappointment of opening up to see that Moldoff drew yet another average Joker tale. The Joker's branded merchandise reminded me of a certain current U.S. president who slaps his face on everything and sells it at inflated prices. At least Joker T-shirts are cheap! The idea of a Joker TV show broadcast to crooks is a good one but the execution was lacking.

Batman #194

"The Blockbuster Goes Bat-Mad!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Chic Stone (?) Sheldon Moldoff (?) & Joe Giella

"The Problem of the Proxy Paintings!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

Who is the new employee at the Wayne Foundation? Why it's Mark "Blockbuster" Desmond, who's been cuddly as a kitten ever since a fistfight with Solomon Grundy knocked all the hate out of him. He takes some of his salary and goes to the toy section of a department store to buy a present for Dr. Sloane, a new member of the foundation's staff, but when the big guy sees a standee of Batman, "The Blockbuster Goes Bat-Mad!" and tears it to bits. He calms down when a pair of friendly policemen show up.

At Police HQ, a Wayne Foundation scientist questions BB and makes the mistake of mentioning Batman, with predictable results. BB bursts through a brick wall and goes looking for his enemy! Batman and Robin find him back in the toy department, where Batman tries to calm Blockbuster by taking off his mask, recalling that BB likes Bruce Wayne, who pulled him out of quicksand years ago. The move fails and fisticuffs follow. After knocking out both Batman and Robin, Blockbuster makes his way back to the quicksand bog, where he grows angry that Bruce Wayne/Batman isn't there to save him again. He manages to pull himself out. Batman rushes to the island and finds BB, who grabs his enemy and throws him in the quicksand. Batman emerges wearing a Solomon Grundy mask and Blockbuster pulls him out of the muck. Batman then throws BB into the quicksand and saves him again, thus associating Batman with happy times and curing BB's mental problem.

Once again, a stunning cover gives way to a terrible story. The GCD posits that either Moldoff or Chic Stone did the pencils and I'll admit they look a bit different than the usual Moldy panels. The character of Blockbuster is so silly and one-note that the stories generate little interest. The whole premise is a bit of pop psychology, and the sight of Batman bobbing up out of the quicksand wearing a Solomon Grundy mask is one I'd rather forget.

During a friendly bridge game at the home of armchair detective Martin Tellman, art expert Haverford Mimms tells Tellman that the paintings on his walls that he thinks are copies are really valuable originals! Only the Mystery Analysts can solve "The Problem of the Proxy Paintings!" Batman heads over to Tellman's house to examine the paintings and surprises a trio of crooks who are stealing them. Reginald Stonefellow admits that he secretly bought the originals for his friend Martin and replaced the copies without telling him; this was a secret reward for Tellman's having saved the life of Stonefellow's son over a decade before. But how did the crooks find out about the paintings?

Batman figures out that the owner of the Gotham Curio Shop noticed that the copies were sold to him right after the originals had been purchased, and he put two and two together. Batman disguises himself and two of the Analysts as the three crooks; they meet the curio shop owner in a park at midnight, ostensibly to give him the stolen paintings. The owner knows right away that these are not the crooks, however, and only some quick thinking by Batman prevents them all from being shot. In the end, Tellman donates the paintings to the Gotham City Museum of Art.

The best thing about this story is that Blockbuster is nowhere to be seen. The Mystery Analysts series is puzzling because it never seems to feature any particular analysis by anyone but Batman. The other members of the club are all stereotypes, including the annoying Kaye Daye, a mystery novelist who dresses like it's about 1948. Come to think of it, much of Moldoff's work looks stuck in an earlier decade. It sure doesn't look like 1967 America.-Jack

Peter- It could be argued that most of the 1960s Batman adventures follow a rote pattern, but the "Blockbuster" series never strays from its inane course: Blockbuster returns to beat Bats to death but, by strip's end, is converted to Bat-lover again. Why bother? To add the dismal graphics is like adding pigeon droppings to a plate of bat guano. The highlight, for me, is Batman emerging from the quicksand (not very efficient quicksand at that) with a note-perfect Grundy mask. Not much better is the second story, which at least has a mystery to hang its hat on. A bonus is that the exposition-heavy word balloons cover up most of the Moldoff/Giella scribbles. I would say you've reached a nadir when alien invasions and talking gorillas seem like good ideas right now.

Infantino/Anderson

Detective Comics #366

"The Round-Robin Death Threats"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Carmine Infantino & Sid Greene

Bruce Wayne receives an eerie letter in the mail; once he reads the contents, the missive bursts into flames. When Alfred queries his boss as to the thrust of said correspondence, Bruce can only mumble like an idiot. What sort of dastardly device has been implanted in the brain of the alter ego of the guy whose name is splashed across the cover of this here funny book?

A few panels later, we discover that the letter ordered Bruce (as Batman) to visit Commissioner Gordon at his plush Gotham condo and instruct him to turn on his short-wave radio at exactly nine o'clock. Batman (rightly) suspects that there might be something sinister afoot so he purposely heads out to find some criminals to beat on in order to miss the 9 PM deadline. 

Our hero stumbles into a heist and engages in slow-motion fisticuffs, but some inside deadly force takes over and escalates the battle. Like the Flash, Batman delivers blow after blow at lightning speed and then hops in the Batmobile to get to Gordon's for his 9 PM mission. He makes it just in time and orders Gordon to crank up the old short-wave and tune the dial to 1207. Gordon scoffs but ultimately heads for the box, where he...

Suddenly, we are thrust one hour into the past! Dick Grayson finishes his Introduction to Math assignment and is looking for trouble when Alfred, who didn't want to disturb the tyke, details the strange events that had just occurred (the burning letter, Bruce heading out the door with a glazed look in his eyes, etc.) and opines that perhaps they should investigate. Dick uses some tricks that his boss once taught him and reassembles the smoldering letter. "Holy zombie, Alfred! This might be the most dangerous mission I've ever been assigned!," exclaims the hyper toddler, as he bolts for the Batcave.

From there, he pilots the Bat-copter and arrives at Gordon's apartment just in time to intervene in the short-wave operation. A well-aimed Batarang triggers a concealed dart, which flies harmlessly from the machine. Batman has a lick and determines the weapon is treated with a rare poison. Just then, Gordon gets a glazed look in his eyes and begins mumbling like an idiot. "Where have I seen this behavior before?," queries the World's Greatest Detective. With no time to answer his own mystifying question, Batman grabs Robin and they both tail Gordon to a "shabby tenement house" (not in the neighborhood of Wayne Manor) owned by John Kobler. 

Gordon knocks on the door and then walks away. Using his brilliant brain, Batman surmises something dangerous in the action and breaks the door down before Kobler can answer. Sure enough, the shabby tenement doorknob is wired to deliver deadly electrical shocks. Had Kobler opened the door, he'd have been fried! As Batman is questioning Kobler, the man suddenly gets a glazed look in his eyes and mumbles like an idiot. "Hmmmm," says our hero as he scratches his chin. Kobler reaches for his phone; Robin allows the dazed man to dial but not to complete his call. Once Batman calls his connection down at Gotham Pac-Bell and traces the number, he discovers that it belongs to famed sports writer Fred Tinney!

The Dynamic Duo hop in the Batmobile and head to Tinney's "plush apartment" (evidently, sportswriting paid well in 1967), where Batman grabs the man's phone and dumps it in the bathtub. He deduces (somehow) that a deadly "intense sound-wave" would emanate from the device once it was answered, killing all within earshot. Suddenly, Tinney gets a glazed look in his eyes and starts mumbling like an idiot... Suspecting they've seen these symptoms before, Batman and Robin hop in their ride and follow the zombie-like figure of Tinney as he makes his way down the street.

Tinney suddenly ducks into a jewelry shop and finds a heist a-happenin. The Caped Crusaders put the KO on the criminals but discover that Tinney has disappeared. Where could his destination be? Back at Wayne Manor, Batman thought balloons that he's sure that Tinney will find himself drawn to the estate; the Dark Knight is positive that the next target is his alter ego, Bruce Wayne! Unable to alert Dick Grayson (due to the gas he inhaled that controls all his emotions... or something like that), Batman turns to us, the loyal reader, to share what he suspects is going on.

Years before, Batman arrested scientist-turned-criminal "Doc" Hastings for a robbery at Gotham Laboratories. The witnesses to the theft were Commissioner Gordon, Fred Tinney, John Kobler, and Bruce Wayne. Now, after serving seven years of hard labor in the dungeons of Gotham Prison, Hastings is out and seeking revenge. Unable to tell Robin exactly what's going on, Batman pens a last will and testament, leaving a clue for Robin should Hastings somehow get the better of the Caped Crusader. 

TO BE CONTINUED!

A two-parter was extremely rare in 1960s DC so "The Round-Robin Death Threats" gets a little more of my attention than the usual Bat-adventure. Of course, the fact that Carmine is at the helm of the graphics also adds a star to my rating (although Infantino has a bad habit of aping Andru/Esposito in those "bulging eyes" panels). So, how's the plot? It's okay, nothing special, but when compared with the previous issue's dross, it's elevated into near-Miller/Englehart territory. It is nice to see the Batman (and Robin, who almost steals the spotlight from the boss with his burnt letter trick) employ detective skills to rustle up clues. I love how Alfred waits until Dick is done with his homework to alert the kid that Bruce may be in mortal danger. Priorities!-Peter

Jack-Easily the best new story of the month, "The Round-Robin Death Threats" has dynamic art by Infantino and Greene, a grabber of a cover, and a cliffhanger ending! I'm sure we've had continued stories in the Batman comics before, but off the top of my head I can't recall the last one. The Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder work well in tandem here, making me wonder how Fox's scripts can be so hit or miss.

Next Week...
Wally Wood (briefly)
Visits the Atlas SF/Horror Titles!

The Hitchcock Project-Apex by John T. Kelley [7.24]

by Jack Seabrook

"For the female of the species is more deadly than the male."

--Rudyard Kipling, "The Female of the Species" (1911)

Kipling's assertion is supported by the events of "Apex," which aired on NBC on Tuesday, March 20, 1962, and which was based on the short story of the same title by James Workman, which was published in the March 1958 issue of The London Mystery Selection.

The short story begins with a brief scene in which Margo Cromer and Claude Bunsen express their love for each other and mutually promise to commit murder to eliminate the only impediment to their union. Later, Claude's wife Clara visits Margo and wonders where her husband has been. Margo is beautiful, Claude is handsome, and Clara is dowdy. Margo begins to make tea in the kitchen while conversing with Clara, who remains in the living room, when Margo spontaneously decides to switch from tea to coffee and empties a bottle of poison into Clara's cup. As Clara continues to express her concerns regarding Claude's whereabouts, Margo serves the poisoned drink.

Clara sips her coffee and tells Margo that she has discovered that Claude has another woman. After Margo washes out the cups and disposes of the empty bottle of poison, Clara begins to show signs of illness. Margo follows Clara back to her apartment, where, at Clara's request, she pretends to telephone a doctor while Clara quickly declines and dies. Margo rolls the sofa, bearing Clara's corpse, into the bedroom and closes the door. After a short visit to her own apartment, Margo returns to Clara's flat to make sure that everything is in order.

"Apex" was first
published here

There is a knock at the door and a stranger addresses Margo as Mrs. Bunsen; in order to avoid difficult questions, Margo says that she is Mrs. Bunsen. The man pushes his way in and throws her to the side so that she hits her head. He removes a picture from the wall, opens a safe, and removes jewels, papers, and money. Confirming that he has received payment, he tells Margo, thinking that she is Clara, that her husband is tired of her and hired him to kill her. As the stranger advances toward Margo, she realizes that Claude arranged to have his wife killed.

The key to "Apex" is found in the story's first, brief paragraphs, where Margo tells Claude, "'And if somebody has to die so I can get you, then they'll die.'" He gazes at her beautiful face and replies, "'If anybody has to do any murdering, it'll be me.'"  Unfortunately, Margo "wasn't listening to what he said. She was busy making her own plans." Most of the rest of the story concerns Clara's visit to Margo's apartment, where the women chat and Margo makes a spur of the moment decision to poison Clara. The women are contrasted and represent the stereotypical older, dowdy wife and the younger, beautiful lover. The final twist occurs because Margo outsmarts herself; by agreeing that she is Clara when questioned by the stranger, she seals her own fate.

"Apex" is defined as "the highest point or most successful part of something"; perhaps both Margo and Claude reach the apex of their plan to be together by arranging for Clara's death--unfortunately, their lack of communication has fatal consequences for both women.

Patricia Breslin as Margo

James Workman (1912-2001) who wrote the short story, was born in Scotland, grew up in England, and spent three years working as a policeman in London before moving to South Africa, where he worked in radio. He later moved to Australia, where he was both a stage actor and a radio writer. He wrote many novels between 1958 and 1968 and his works were adapted for TV from 1958 to 1978. He published short stories from 1958 to 1963, mostly writing as James Dark.

The TV version of "Apex" expands the character of Claude and adds several short scenes to highlight his double life and to underline the contrast between Margo and Clara. In the first scene, Claude and Margo appear to be a married couple, happily discussing home decor until he leaves, seemingly to go to the office. He exits Margo's apartment and pauses outside to light a cigarette before letting himself into another apartment across the courtyard. This is his home with Clara and it becomes clear to the viewer that he is leading a double life, with his wife and his lover conveniently located close to each other. In contrast to the young, pretty Margo, Clara is much older and less attractive; she questions Claude, asking if he is seeing another woman, and he lies as he toys with a golf club, foreshadowing the final scene.

In the next scene, Margo is fixing Clara's hair before a mirror in Margo's apartment, suggesting that she is making money as a hair stylist in contrast to the wealthy older woman. Clara tells Margo that she suspects Claude of seeing another woman, not realizing that the other woman is Margo. The two women have been neighbors for over a year and Clara reveals that she owns the company of which Claude is president. There is a dissolve to a shot of Claude and Margo kissing and she tells him that his wife suspects him of infidelity. Since a divorce would cost him everything, he promises to "'do it tonight,'" presumably referring to the murder of his wife.

That night, Claude sneaks into the apartment he shares with Clara, takes a large knife from the kitchen drawer, and quietly enters the bedroom, where his shadow passes over Clara's sleeping form, like the Angel of Death passing over the Israelites. Claude raises the knife to strike but realizes that he cannot go through with the murder. Back at Margo's apartment, he explains that he could not kill Clara and remarks that he will hire someone to commit the murder. Margo volunteers to do it herself but he resists and says that he will arrange it, but she says that if she leaves it to him, it may never get done.

The next day, Margo telephones Clara, who is lying, fully dressed, on her bed, worn out after a bad night's sleep. Margo offers to come over and make tea for Clara and, before she leaves, she takes a bottle of poison from a paper bag. Apparently not trusting Claude to get the job done, Margo has decided to take matters into her own hands. At Clara's apartment, Claude's wife tells Margo once again that she is concerned about her husband's whereabouts. Certain that he has another woman, she reports that he left his office at 10 a.m. and is not at his club.

In the kitchen, Margo prepares a cup of tea that is heavily laced with poison. Clara surprises her in the process and relates a nightmare that she had the night before in which Claude was trying to kill her; she does not know that it was no dream. Just then, Claude telephones and soon Clara is again lying on her bed, relieved to have learned that her husband is at the golf club. Margo serves her the deadly cup of tea and Clara remarks on how bitter it tastes. Margo encourages her to finish it, which she does, leading to sudden stomach pains. Clara asks Margo to call the doctor and Margo pretends to do so as Clara dies.

Mark Miller as Claude

After Margo washes out the teacup and returns it to the kitchen cabinet, she presses Clara's fingerprints onto the bottle of poison and places the bottle on Clara's nightstand in order to stage the scene as a suicide. Margo is walking to the front door when the doorbell rings. A man identifying himself as George Weeks calls from outside, addressing Margo as Mrs. Shorum (Clara's surname was Bunsen in the short story but it has been changed to Shorum for the TV show). He enters and tells Margo that her husband sent him to pick up an envelope from the desk. He tells her that he's a caddy at the golf club and picks up the same club that Claude had been playing with in the earlier scene. Margo finds the envelope in Claude's desk drawer and hands it to Weeks, who looks inside and confirms that it contains $2000. He admits that Claude paid him to kill his wife before lifting the golf club over his head and bludgeoning Margo.

In "Apex," is the female deadlier than the male? Comparing Margo and Claude, it would appear so, since he is unable to go through with the murder of his wife while she has no difficulty committing the crime. The wealthy, privileged Claude must hire someone from a lower socio-economic class to do the deed, and George Weeks tells Margo that, despite two years of college, the best job he could get was as a caddy. Much like many young American men of today, George is frustrated that the life he envisioned for himself has not worked out and he is willing to commit a violent act for money. In retrospect, Claude's telephone call to Clara set up the final scene, since Weeks tells Margo that Claude had called and said to expect him to come to pick up the envelope. Margo was unaware of the contents of that telephone call and finds herself in a no-win situation at the end, having just murdered Clara and knowing that if she admitted her true identity to the young man, she would be suspected of the killing. One could interpret George's use of a golf club to murder Margo as subtle social criticism, using a symbol of wealth to kill a woman who had earlier described herself as poor. "Apex" pits young against old and rich against poor in a contest that has no winners.

The teleplay was written by John T. Kelley (1921-1972), who wrote for TV from 1951 to 1971 and whose few movie credits include some dialogue for Planet of the Apes (1968). This was one of two scripts he wrote for Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Vivienne Segal as Clara

Patricia Breslin (1931-2011) portrays Margo as a cold, calculating woman, unlike the roles for which she is best remembered. She acted mostly on TV from 1950 to 1969 and was in five episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "O Youth and Beauty!" She was a regular on a series called The People's Choice (1955-1958) and on Peyton Place (1964-1965); she also made appearances on The Twilight Zone and Thriller. She was in a handful of films, including Homicidal (1961) and I Saw What You Did (1965), and she left acting in 1969 and married Art Modell, owner of the Cleveland Browns football team. She spent the rest of her life engaged in philanthropy.

Clara is played by Vivienne Segal (1897-1992), who began singing opera at age 15 and performed in the Ziegfeld Follies in the 1920s. She was often featured in Broadway shows from 1915 to 1953 and appeared in seven films from 1930 to 1934. She made four TV appearances between 1951 and 1966, two of which were on Alfred Hitchcock Presents; the other is "Hooked," where she also plays the older wife. She was married to Hubbell Robinson, who was an executive at CBS from 1947 to 1959 before leaving to produce TV shows, including Thriller.

George Kane as George Weeks

Mark Miller (1924-2022) plays Claude in his only role on the Hitchcock TV show. Born Claude Herbert Miller Jr., he acted mostly on TV from 1957 to 1982 and was a regular on two series, Guestward, Ho (1960-1961) and Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1965-1967) He was in one episode of  The Twilight Zone.

Finally, George Kane (1926-2006) plays George Weeks; he was on TV from 1951 to 1964 and appeared in one film, the adaptation of David Goodis's The Burglar (1957). He was on Thriller twice and he was in two other episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "Cop for a Day."

"Apex" is directed by Alan Crosland, Jr. (1918-2001), who started out as a film editor, working on features from 1944 to 1954 and on TV from 1955 to 1957, then began directing episodic television in 1956. He directed 16 half-hours and three hours of the Hitchcock series, including "The Woman Who Wanted to Live," as well as episodes of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. Crosland directed a handful of movies, but his main focus was on TV, and he directed his last show in 1986.

Watch "Apex" online here.

Sources:

"Apex." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 7, episode 24, NBC, 20 March 1962.

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

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

IMDb, www.imdb.com.

Stephensen-Payne, Phil. Galactic Central, www.philsp.com.

Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

Workman, James. "Apex." The London Mystery Selection no. 36, March 1958, pp. 89-95.

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "The Indestructible Mr. Weems" here!

"Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Musical" recently played on stage in Bath, England!

In two weeks: "Outlaw in Town," starring Ricardo Montalban!