Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 148: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Horror Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 133

January 1957 Part II

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Marvel Tales #154

Cover by John Severin

"Something in the Sea!" (a: Paul Reinman) ★★1/2

"I Live in Fear" (a: Bob Powell) ★★

"The Mystery of the Black Box" (a: Jay Scott Pike) ★1/2

"The Hidden Man!" (a: Dave Berg) ★★★

"The Stranger's Suitcase!" (a: Bill Walton) ★

"The Black Raven" (a: Syd Shores) ★★★

Seaman Allen Bale patiently listens to an old sea salt relate a fantastic tale about a voyage the old timer once took. On that trip, the ship he was on, the Sea Hawk, crashed into a gigantic iceberg. Studying the damage to his bow, Bale was amazed to see a giant eye in the iceberg. Soon, it swam away and the tar was amazed to see that the chunk of ice was actually a white whale. 

No one on board would believe him and the owner of the boat deemed him too dangerous to let sail. So he sits on a dock and tells his fantastic tale to anyone who will stop and listen. Bale scoffs at the sailor's story and walks away. Weeks later, a similar incident occurs on the boat that Bale is sailing on; sure enough, a giant white whale attacks the ship but only he sees it. Bale is called a loon and heads for the dock to apologize to the old man for mocking him, only to discover that he is the old man.

"Something in the Sea!" is a little hazy at the climax (it doesn't really add up) but at least something different was given a try and the atmospheric Reinman graphics make the journey worth it.  

A brilliant scientist tests out his new invisibility gizmo on his best friend, Jerry, a reporter. Smelling a good story or two, the newsman heads out into the population to invade privacy as no other reporter can. But Jerry soon screams "I Live in Fear!" when he discovers a secret race of invisible men who are out to get him. Another average SF tale enlivened by the artists' bullpen, this time Bob Powell, who brings a smart, sophisticated, throwback style to just about anything he does. Anyone desiring a big dose of Powell should check out the IDW hardcover, Bob Powell's Terror, chock-full of the artist's incredible work for Harvey. You can read the drooling, stark raving mad ravings by Jose Cruz and I about Bob Powell's Harvey stories here. And (unabashed promo) look out for our book-length study of the Harvey horror comics sometime next year.

Veteran criminal Nick Barto has just shot a man and is on the run from the cops. He hides out in his attic, where he finds a mysterious black box. The cops break in the door just as Nick is dropping his weapon in, and they make the collar. They take the violent criminal down to the precinct and present their lieutenant with the box and the goon. The boss opens the box and... no gun! At that very moment, 150 years in the past, Roland Barton, Nick's great-great-great cousin twice removed, steals a load of jewels and takes them home, where his wife scolds him and calls the police. Roland drops his bounty into a mysterious black box and comes away with a very peculiar pistol, one that he immediately knows doesn't need to be reloaded, uses 240-grain loads, and fires at a velocity of 1750 fps. Where did it come from?

Roland's wife takes the heater out of his hands and, for some reason, drops it back into the box, telling her hubby he's going to take his punishment like a man. Years in the future, the handgun drops out of the black box and the cuffs are placed on Nick Barto's wrists. What is "The Mystery of the Black Box!"? More lazy writing from pulpmeister Wessler, utilizing a prop that should probably be placed on ice for a while. Does it just seem like there's a black box story every month? I did emit a few chuckles at Carl's dreadfully purple prose: Neither Nick Barton nor the police knew of the box's unbreakable connection with the past! Nor did they know that the past was part of an endless time cycle that goes on forever in the universe! Jay Scott Pike is not at his peak.

Wessler fares much better with "The Hidden Man!," a complex, enjoyable little espionage romp featuring Stan's favorite bad guys, the stinking commies! The head of the underground, Ivar Pulescu, must be located and put to death before civilians rise up against their stinking government. Two agents, Rimak and Lota, are put in charge and each one independently hits the streets for information. Lota visits a local genius scientist who temporarily changes the agent's face to that of Pulescu, all the better to ingratiate himself to the political enemy's best friends and catch the criminal himself. When Lota finally tracks down and arrests Pulescu, of course it turns out to be Rimak, who visited the same brilliant scientist! Guess who Pulescu was? "The Hidden Man!" can get a bit complicated (much like the John Travolta/Nicolas Cage thriller, Face/Off) but I'll take complicated over cliche any day. And how many good commie yarns were to be found in the pages of Atlas in 1957? Probably one. Suitably noir-ish Berg work.

A mysterious man pays an engineer a boatload of money to build him the world's fastest roller-coaster. When the ride is finished, the mystery man hops on for the first ride and when the ride is over, the man has disappeared. Suddenly, a man from the bank arrives to let the engineer know that the money taken from "The Stranger's Suitcase!" is from the fourth dimension. And the guy on the thousand dollar bill looks just like Larry David. More time traveling? Three pages of utter filler. 

Last up is "The Black Raven," an engaging, humorous tale of three dopey criminals who steal the titular idol in order to find the fabled, priceless Kaffir diamond. Myth has it that the bird will point in the direction of the gem and point it does. Through several mishaps and dangerous animal attacks, the trio find themselves in Africa. Two of the goons drop out and head home, leaving the final thief to face a pride of lions on one side and a snake pit on the other. Believing the statue to be evil, he throws it into the pit, hoping the spell will be broken and the lions will look for dinner elsewhere. Sure enough, the proud beasts turn tail and wander off. The goon turns to the pit and sees the remnants of the bird surrounded by asps, the gem lying amidst the broken pieces. Never saw that coming, and that's the very definition of a successful Atlas fable.-Peter

Mystery Tales #49

Cover by Bill Everett

"The Double Man!" (a: Goerge Roussos) ★★1/2

"By the Light of the Moon!" (a: Bernard Baily) ★

"Something in the Fog" (a: Dick Ayers) ★1/2

"Midnight on the Moors" (a: Pete Morisi) ★

"The Tiger's Fangs!" (a: Syd Shores) ★1/2

"Time Without End" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★

First off, before I begin my lengthy diatribe about soft, safe horror comics of 1957, let me direct your eyeballs to that fabulous Bill Everett cover. It's gotta be the best Post-Code cover we've encountered yet, one that, for just a few seconds, makes us forget we're not in pre-code 1954.

Occult enthusiast Paul Jasons spends all his bread on witchcraft books, hoping to find that one spell that will lead to an easy life. He finds an old tome in a local Goodwill shop and enthuses about its contents to his best friend, George. Paul believes the book will help him create a double of himself, a clone who will do all the tedious day-to-day work for him. George poo-poos the idea and tells his friend he needs some rest and a good psychiatrist.

That night, Paul goes home and heads to the basement, where his butler has kindly drawn a five-pointed star on the ground and lit all kinds of aromatic candles. The stage is set. The next morning, Paul arrives at the office only to be turned away by his secretary, who informs him that, yes, he's the spittin' image of her boss, but Mr. Jasons is in his office right now. "Security!" Later, that night, Paul is barred from entering his home by his butler, who gives his boss the same spiel as the steno. Only one place to turn and that's George, who informs his buddy that he just spoke to the real Paul Jasons on the phone. Dazed, Paul stumbles and falls down a staircase, awakening in a hospital bed to find it was all a misunderstanding. The "other" Paul was a confidence man who had overheard the two friends talking at the restaurant and took advantage of the situation. George burns the evil volume, though, just in case! "The Double Man!" was a pretty good Weird Tales-esque horror story right up until that milquetoast reveal reminded us we're in 1957 Atlas, not 1954. Still, George Roussos contributes some dark, Lovecraftian vibes and that basement scene legitimately surprised me. How could Wertham and his cronies not have put witchcraft on the no-no list?

In the dopey "By the Light of the Moon!" attention-eager Lucas Morse fabricates a tale about UFOs and alien monsters and becomes an overnight hero. When a local newsman unearths the truth and reports the hoax, Morse goes back to being a "nobody." Very soon after, he witnesses a troop of aliens rising from the sea and heads to the cops who, naturally, don't believe him and toss him in lockup. "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" gets yet another drab retelling. 

A "certain important businessman" is about to land at a fog-bound airport when he looks out the window and sees "Something in the Fog," a strange apparition waving a red lamp. Understanding this must mean danger, he has the pilot pull up and, sure enough, the men look below to see they narrowly avoided landing on top of another plane. "Phshooooo, that was close!" On his way into the city, our "important businessman" runs into the signalman twice and both times narrowly avoids death. In the climax, we discover the businessman owns a television network and, when he arrives at home, he receives a call from one of his producers, informing him that the play that was to be broadcast, about a man with a red lantern who waves off danger, somehow didn't get aired. The bigwig smiles and tells his employee everything will be fine. 

American tourist Walter Price, staying in Ireland, mocks the local leprechaun legends but learns the little guys might just be real when he spends a "Midnight on the Moors." Primitive script and primitive art make this three-pager easily skipped over. Well, you can skip over it but I have a sworn duty to uphold. Don't say you weren't warned. All his life, tiger-tamer Hugo has lived a sham. Revered for his bravery with the big cats, only Hugo knows the tigers in his act are robots! You see, Hugo is really a coward but a genius wimp, able to craft a ferocious beast out of cogs and wires. But the beast master soon learns that he actually might have a bit of nerve in him when a real live tiger escapes a local zoo and Hugo discovers the real thing amongst his toys! "The Tiger's Fangs!" is harmless pablum, built upon the ol' switcheroo prank, with adequate Shores art.  

On his way to his cell, new con Blackie attempts an escape by ducking into the nearest door. Unfortunately for this ding-a-ling, the door leads to high voltage equipment and, thanks to a "kinetic-electron force," Blackie is zapped into the 17th Century. Everyone seems to know the bewildered dolt but he decides he needs to get out of there pronto before his cover is blown. He takes shelter in a castle and attempts to rob the owner of his silverware. As he's fleeing, the "Electron-Voltex-Nimrod" takes hold of him and... just like that... Blackie is in the 18th Century. Same scenario plays out and Blackie finds himself in the 19th Century... and so on. "Time Without End" seems endless.-Peter

Mystic #55

Cover by Bill Everett

"Out of the Fog!" (a: Don Heck) ★★

"The Empty Cell! (a: Ted Galindo) ★★

"The Man Everybody Feared!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★1/2

"What Happened to Alice Prim?" (a: Doug Wildey) ★1/2

"Whirlpool!" (a: Bob Powell) ★1/2

"The Folks Who Faded Away" (a: John Forte) ★

Professor Merlin thinks that if magicians in ancient times were as powerful as legends say, they would have been kings. He receives a telegram from London that proof has been uncovered of a powerful magician in the time of King Arthur, so he hops in a private plane and flies across the ocean. The plane catches fire and he bails out, his parachute dropping through thick fog and emerging in the time of Arthur, where his knowledge of 20th century technology causes him to be seen as a great magician. Sadly, he can't master any of the more common skills, like refining copper or making gunpowder, so he is relegated to being the king's magician.

"Out of the Fog!" features the usual above-average art by Don Heck and the usual poor color separation we see in these Atlas comics, which often distracts from the art. The story is predictable right from the start.

Where did the five men in cell 13A go? "The Empty Cell!" has Warden Roe baffled! Little does he know that, the night before, one of the men revealed that he was a visitor from Uranus, sent to Earth to bring back people to populate the planet. The other four convicts agreed and Yon, the man from Uranus, flew them to his home planet in his spaceship. Though Uranus is like paradise, the convicts soon grow bored and revert to their criminal ways, so the king sends them back to their cell on Earth.

I really like Ted Galindo's art here and wish he had more to work with. The Lambiek Comiclopedia tells me that Roy Lichtenstein used panels drawn by Galindo for romance comics to create several paintings.

"The Man Everybody Feared!" is a scientist named Grant who is working on a terrible weapon he calls Compound X. Grant is certain it will bring him great riches, yet the people in every town he moves to drive him out. That all changes when he moves to Sandsville, where no one seems to have heard of him or his experiments. He meets and falls for pretty Eva Lewis, but when he reveals the truth to her she tells him to get out before it's too late, as do all the rest of the townsfolk. That night, Compound X accidentally leaks out and kills everyone in town except Grant, who even finds Eva's body, stiff, staring, and lifeless. He flees Sandsville, vowing to work for mankind's benefit. Shortly after dawn, the town is blown up by an A-bomb test and it turns out it was filled with plastic model people.

Here we go again! Not only am I certain we've seen this twist before, but the story makes no sense. If all of the people in Sandsville were lifelike dummies all along, why didn't Grant realize it? A twist works only when it logically follows what came before.

"What Happened to Alice Prim?" Why does the middle-aged spinster hate and fear men? She says it's because the one man she loved, a sailor, dumped her twenty years ago, and she doesn't believe the rumors that he met with an accident at sea. A fortune teller predicts that she will meet a tall, dark man and that will be her end! Soon a tall, dark man appears at her door and she runs in fear, until he catches up to her and reveals that he's the sailor from long ago. He lost his memory and just now got it back. They march to the altar and the fortune teller's prediction comes true--no more "Miss" Prim!

Once again, the big surprise at the end is predictable to anyone with half a brain and Doug Wildey phones in the graphics.

Big Mike Bowie is a macho braggart whose canoe goes over a waterfall and into a "Whirlpool!" He emerges in the hidden City of the Brave, where only men brave enough to go through the whirlpool live. On a tour of the city, Mike drools when he sees a pile of gold; when he tries to steal it, he's tried and sent back to our world by means of the whirlpool. Sadly, he discovers that he's in an endless loop and will keep repeating the same actions.

Thank goodness Bob Powell drew this dreck so our eyes can get a brief respite from the Atlas assault.

Four men rocket down a snowy slope in a new bobsled until a sharp curve lands them in a large mountain town where strange events occur. A man points a gun at one of the sledders and suddenly disappears. A jewelry store fades to nothingness as a sledder picks up a necklace. And the whole town fades away in the face of an avalanche! Only sledder Al Grover is satisfied because he's got a date with pretty Grace Vance. The quartet get back in the bobsled and finish their run. Al realizes that they were going so fast that they surpassed time and all the events and places were not really there. All except Grace, that is, who hops in the bobsled with Al.

It feels like we are inhabiting some circle of Dante's Inferno where we are forced to read stories by Carl Wessler over and over without end. "The Folks Who Faded Away" doesn't even try to make sense and I wonder what John Forte was thinking when he drew four pages to try to illustrate it. Probably something along the lines of, "another ten bucks in my pocket."-Jack

Next Week...
Not a Hoax...
Not a Dream...
Not Another Stupid Robot...
Batman Dies a Thousand Times!