Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 185: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Fantasy Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 170

March-April 1960

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Journey Into Mystery #57

Cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"Orogo!! The Nightmare from Outer Space!!" 

(a: Don Heck & Jack Kirby) ★1/2

(r: Fantasy Masterpieces 2)(r: Where Monsters Dwell #12)

"The Earth-Crawlers!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #12)

"The Metal Monster" (a: Paul Reinman) ★

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #12)

"The Martian Who Stole My Body!" ★1/2

(a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers)

(r: Fear #7)

"Orogo!! The Nightmare from Outer Space!!" arrives on Earth looking for laborers to bring back with him in his gargantuan spaceship. No one can avert their gaze from Orogo's hypnotic eye and soon the giant is nudging thousands of earthlings aboard his vessel. Only one man can stand up to the mighty Orogo; ironically, it's an old man who spends his time sitting on a park bench and staring off into space. It's 100% predictable why the elderly gent is not swayed by Orogo's pulsating orb, but the secret is played out over six pages. My favorite panel is when Orogo is defied and his entire metallic body shuts down; it looks like he's throwing a tantrum!

Would-be inventor Henry Salt has a nagging wife who wants her hubby to whip up a gizmo that will make them rich. Henry insists he's working on something that will make the world a better place to live. "Pshaw!" exclaims the old ball and chain, "Get to work on making my life easier!" Shrugging off his first impulse to bury a hatchet in the old crow's head, Henry continues his work.

Meanwhile, in Africa, disgraced voodoo witch doctor Tutaku escapes from prison and swears vengeance on all mankind. He heads back to his hut, grabs his magic potion, and stands triumphantly on a cliff overlooking the valley. He dumps the formula out over the land but then, in an unfortunate accident, he is killed by his own secret potion. Down in the valley, the vegetation goes wild, growing to mammoth proportions and absorbing all the water around it. Scientists decree that the world will end soon as a dry and arid wasteland if something isn't done.

Coincidentally, back at Henry Salt's place, the quasi-scientist is demonstrating to a prospective buyer the incredible function of his new invention: a machine that can stop rain from falling in certain areas. What are the chances? Henry's attention is diverted to a nearby TV screen and he learns about the troubles in Africa. After contacting the State Department, Henry is rushed to the "dark continent" by the military and saves the world! Hurrah! I can only thank Henry for having the wherewithal to work on such a niche gizmo or we would all have succumbed to "The Earth-Crawlers!" sooner or later. What would the benefits of such a machine be? I was completely caught up in this silly yarn thanks to the imaginative script and Ditko gloss.

Construction foreman Mason accepts a job in Europe to build a road through an ancient forest but runs afoul of a group of gypsies who place a curse on him. Shortly thereafter, Mason is attacked and stalked by his own bulldozer. Salvation arrives in the form of one of the gypsies who elicits a promise from the construction boss to detour his road away from the forest. A really dumb and suspenseless fantasy yarn with ho-hum graphics from the declining Paul Reinman. It's obvious that when Stan and his brother/writing partner Larry Leiber were cooking up "The Metal Monster!" they thought it perfectly fine to "borrow" from Theodore Sturgeon's "Killdozer!" (a story that would, ironically, pop up fourteen years later in an authorized adaptation in Worlds Unknown #6).

The day is not going great for John Warren. First, his Dalmatian, the uniquely named "Spot," won't behave and then John runs into a rogue Martian (here on Earth avoiding persecution on his home planet) who switches places with our hapless hero. John is stuck inside a gigantic red-orange body and can't make his neighbors see the truth. After all is said and done, the authorities take his word for it when Spot starts licking his gargantuan feet. You can't fool a dog! John gets the Martian to switch bodies and the world is safe again. Well, who knows, since the sequel, "The Martian Returns!," debuts next issue. "The Martian Who Stole My Body!" follows the Lee/Kirby (or is it really just Kirby/Kirby?) formula to a tee; pert near every gigantic menace from here on out will sport swimming trunks to preserve their modesty.-Peter

Tales of Suspense #8

Cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"Monstro... the Menace from the Murky Depths!" ★★1/2

(a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers)

"The Story of Sammy Snork!" (a: Bill Everett) ★

"I Am the Changing Man!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★

"The Runaway Planet!" (a: Doug Wildey) ★

"It Walks by Night!" (a: Don Heck) ★★

The stinkin' commies are up to no good again, this time testing atomic weapons and exposing the sea's creatures to radioactivity. Thus is born "Monstro... the Menace from the Murky Depths!," a gargantuan octopus who slinks his way into a commie port and begins destroying everything around it. In an awkward show of good faith, the American government allows Professor Faraday to fly behind the Iron Curtain to study and hopefully defeat the newly-monikered Monstro!

Faraday dives down into the sea to get a better look at the monster and evidently sees something no one else can see. He surfaces and explains to the stinkin' Red military officials that within 24 hours Monstro will disappear. Taking this as a show of cowardice, the Reds give Faraday a less than appreciative boot in the ass on his way out of town. Sure enough, the next day, the giant octopus disappears and Faraday explains to his Washington boss that he immediately recognized that Monstro had been exposed to a huge dose of radioactivity due to atomic testing and the side effects would only last a day. Chuckling, Faraday turns to the window and hopes that this will be a lesson for the commies: it's not good to mess with atomic weapons (well, unless you're the U.S., I guess).

"Monstro..." isn't more brilliant than "Orogo" or "Mummex" or "Gorgolla," but I really like the Kirby/Ayers vision this time out. Sure, Monstro never shows more than four or five of his deadly tentacles and he's got a funny set of peepers, but he's one of the more dynamic giants we've seen so far. 

By 1960, the three-page sf/f tale had become virtually extinct in the Atlas titles, yet in this issue we have two, neither of which is noteworthy. First up is "The Story of Sammy Snork!," wherein the titular bank robber stows away on a carnival ride purporting to be a Martian spaceship. Guess what? You're not going to believe it but... yep... it's a real spaceship! Sammy goes to Mars and becomes an exhibit in a zoo. Never saw that ending coming. In "The Runaway Planet!," brilliant and really smart Professor Hauptmann insists the planet that's heading for a collision with Earth will never hit. The Prof is sure that God has more of a plan for us than extinction by accident. He's kinda right. What these two short-shorts have in common is some nice art and cliche-riddled writing. Both also look like they may be "vault" stories, which would explain their length.

Ozak is sent from the planet Deth to scout an invasion plan for Earth. Ozak's greatest asset is that he can assimilate any shape or form so he impersonates television reporters and newscasters in order to spread disinformation and sow the seeds of anarchy. Unfortunately for "The Changing Man!," his awesome ability becomes his Achille's heel and his plot is derailed. The reveal is pretty silly, but Ditko (who would create a "Changing Man" character several years later for DC) does his best to keep us turning pages. 

Last up is "It Walks By Night!," wherein we discover that by 1999 mankind has become fat and lazy and depends on robots for all activities. Then, when the robots rebel against their human masters, androids are declared illegal, rounded up, and destroyed. But one lone scientist swims against the tide, building what he considers to be a bigger, stronger robot, ignoring the fact that if he's caught he'll be executed. His plan is discovered when he's testing his new toy out in the woods and the authorities converge on him, destroying the machine and cornering the genius on a high cliff. Opting for death by fall rather than firing squad, our hero (?) takes the dive. Later, after the cops have left, the man rises from the water with a bit of his metal skin showing through. Oh my God, he's a robot too! To be continued next issue. That last panel, of course, is full-on cheat, since we're given no clues throughout that this guy is anything but a brilliant but flawed scientist. Heck's design for the Robot: Mach II in "It Walks..." is just a little too close to that of "Orogo" in JIM #57. This is the second tale this month with a sequel on the horizon.-Peter

Tales to Astonish #8

Cover by Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko

"I Dared Defy the Floating Head!" (a: Paul Reinman) ★

(r: Where Creatures Roam #2)

"I Live Again!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★

(r: Where Creatures Roam #3)

"I-Am-The-Genie!" (a: Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko) ★★

(r: Fear #1)

"Mummex---King of the Mummies!" (a: Don Heck) ★★

(r: Fear #1)

On a hot summer day in 1965 in New York City, a huge, green, floating head appears in the sky and announces that it is the harbinger of an invasion force from the planet, Aqua Mentorus. Air force jets open fire but the head disappears and reappears over Long Island. The head explains that it can travel by thought alone and also cause destruction, something it demonstrates by willing an empty warehouse to blow up.

Fortunately, a teenager named Bruce quickly deduces that the head is just a projection and its booming voice is coming from loudspeakers. The cops arrest a group of criminals in Central Park who had planned to force an evacuation of the city so they could loot it. The mayor thanks Bruce for teaching everyone the lesson of not panicking in the face of danger.

"I Dared Defy the Floating Head!" is not a good start to this issue. The art by Paul Reinman is below average and the premise is idiotic. Why would New Yorkers not figure out that the head was being projected and the voice was coming from speakers? It's more likely that they would've ignored it.

One of the statues (presumably Evil) from last issue's "I Spent Midnight with the Thing on Bald Mountain!" announces that "I Live Again!" and climbs back up the mountain to find an empty castle. It goes on a rampage, destroying everything in its path. The living statue hops a ship to America and reaches Florida, where it enters a dark place that it thinks it can wait, undisturbed, before wreaking more havoc. Oops! The statue is on a rocket ship that takes off for outer space, never to return.

Well, I guess that's that. There was no sign of the Good statute that also fell off the mountain in the prior story. This story is at least as bad as the one about the floating head and Ditko, whose art is usually good, isn't even trying. If it weren't signed, I'd wonder if someone else drew it.

While he's in prison, Freddie Sykes passes the time by reading fairy tales. His favorite story is the one about the genie, so when he's released, Freddie heads to the library and does some research. He reads about an old gypsy who tossed a bottle with a genie in a swamp, so he heads south, locates the bottle, pulls the cork, and out comes a giant genie!

Freddie demands a solid gold castle, which the genie provides. He asks for a winged horse and gets one. Freddie's demands grow more outrageous: he tells the genie to make the Atlantic Ocean disappear and to blot out the sun. Finally, Freddie decides that he wants to trade places with the genie. The genie agrees, but what Freddie didn't realize is that, once he's a genie, he has to obey orders! The former genie confines the evil Freddie to a bottle and leaves him to ponder his fate.

The story in "I-Am-The-Genie!" is run of the mill but the art is interesting in that it's about 80% Ditko and 20% Kirby. There's the standard Kirby panel at the bottom of page five where a crowd of onlookers gaze up in horror, and the panel in the middle of page six showing the genie's face is pure Kirby, but the rest of the story is much more Ditko than Kirby, and I prefer that.

Paul Fleming's archaeological trip to Egypt takes a surprising turn when "Mummex---King of the Mummies!" suddenly rises from the desert sand. The huge mummy wanders around, looking for something in one pyramid after another before heading to Cairo. He pulls the roof off of a museum and looks inside before giving up and returning to the desert. Fleming discovers that Mummex had a spaceship buried in the sand--he was an alien from another planet and he departed from Earth!

On the planet Andromeda, Mummex--whose real name is Rakka-takes off his mummy bandages, which protected his body during space travel, and announces that he was unable to find any stranded spacemen on Earth. It turns out he's with the Galactic Missing Persons Bureau!

I feel like a broken record. Don Heck's art is pretty nice but the story is dopey. There is never any sense of menace from the enormous mummy, which just lumbers around looking for something and then departs. The revelation that it's an alien is worthy of a big groan.-Jack

Strange Tales #74

Cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"Gorgolla! The Living Gargoyle!!" (a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers) ★★

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #1) (r: Astonishing Tales #22) (r: Where Monsters Dwell #35)

"Beware the Hands of Hundu!" (a: Don Heck) ★1/2

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #35)

"I Was Trapped in the Nightmare World" (a: Paul Reinman) ★1/2

"When the Totem Walks!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★

(r: Weird Wonder Tales #10)

David Hartnell's summer assignment for his architecture class is to research the origin of gargoyles. He travels to Tibet and finds a remote valley with a gigantic stone wall. Behind the wall, David discovers "Gorgolla! The Living Gargoyle!!" The giant stone creature picks David up and nearly talks him to sleep, explaining how all the gargoyles on Earth are actually (surprise, surprise) aliens who traveled here from the faraway planet of Stonus Five and are waiting on buildings for the right time to attack the human race.

Gorgolla explains the awful events that will follow and, despite David's pleas, the creature sends out the signal for the gargoyles to stop hanging out atop buildings and start attacking. To the giant gargoyle's dismay, gargoyles arrive from all over the Earth and attack Gorgolla! Why did they turn on their leader? The gargoyles helpfully explain to David that they watched humans and learned of love and charity, which beats their slave status on Stonus Five. They're happy to serve as guardians of the human race. David goes back to class at summer's end and tells the prof that he was unable to learn the origin of gargoyles, deciding that the story of Gorgolla should be kept secret.

At seven pages, this may be the longest story we've read yet. It's not bad, and the inks by Dick Ayers really bring out all of Kirby's artistic quirks. The gargoyles really look similar to the sort of creatures we'll see in a few years in the superhero comics.

Hundu's paintings bring him fame and fortune, but nothing brings him any closer to Anne, the woman he loves, since she's in love with a writer named Mark Walker. When Anne sends Hundu a telegram that she's marrying Mark, the artist loses his temper and lashes out at the old man who cleans his studio. Mark decides to take a trip to Europe to forget his sorrow. In Germany, he sees an old gypsy man and convinces the fellow to sit for a portrait. The old gypsy gets sick before the portrait is finished and gives Hundu a box of oil paints that will make any picture he creates come true!

Hundu discovers that the paints work and uses them to create a picture of his rival, Mark, in prison on Death Row. After starting on a self-portrait of himself as dictator of the world, Hundu leaves his studio for the night. While he's gone, the old cleaner accidentally knocks the painting out the window and it falls three floors to the ground. As a result, Hundu lies broken on the floor, unable to reach the magic paint. Once it is all washed down the drain, everything Hundu magically created disappears, and Mark and Anne live happily ever after.

"Beware the Hands of Hundu" doesn't even try to make sense. The first thing Hundu paints is a silly hat on a picture of himself, in order to confirm that he was a fool for dealing with the gypsy, but the next thing he paints (of course) is a treasure chest filled with jewels. He then paints Mark on death row, followed by a picture of the Empire State Building upside down! In the end, if the paint's disappearance makes everything go back to normal, why is Hundu still injured? This is not one of Don Heck's better efforts.

Mr. Brown has a theory that people have similar dreams because there is a dream world that everyone visits while they sleep. He goes to sleep and enters the dream world, where he encounters ghostly figures and strange things. In the end, the ghostly figures reveal that they are afraid of him and consider him a nightmare creature. He awakens and wonders if life is but a dream.

"I Was Trapped in the Nightmare World" is slightly better than watching paint dry, but not by much. It's too bad this wasn't assigned to Ditko, who would have made the dream world more interesting.

Hunk and Bull escape from prison one night and make their way to a small Indian village by dawn, where they hold the natives at gunpoint and demand food. The convicts decide that they will have to kill all the Indians to eliminate them as witnesses, so an old man asks a large totem pole to come to life. That night, Hunk and Bull discover that, "When the Totem Walks!," it's coming after them! Bullets don't stop it, so the cons head back to the prison, thinking they'll be safe, but the totem pole bends the bars on the prison window and... continued next issue!

It's a little far-fetched to think of a large totem pole chasing anyone--it does more of a hop or a teeter-totter than a walk--but Ditko pulls it off and the story is reasonably enjoyable. Will we start to see more continued stories now?-Jack

On Thursday...
Peter Openly
Invites Derision

And Next Week...
Beware of...
RRO!!!