EC Comics! It's An Entertaining Comic! Issue 68

The EC Reign Month by Month 1950-1956
68: October 1955 Part I

Davis

Impact 4

"The Lonely One" ★★★
Story by Jack Oleck?
Art by Jack Davis

"Fall in Winter" ★★
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by Graham Ingels

"The Bitter End" ★
Story by Al Feldstein?
Art by Reed Crandall

"Country Doctor" ★★1/2
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by George Evans

Benson can't stand Miller and makes his life in a soldier's suit a living hell. What's the beef? Well, Miller is Jewish and Benson is a bigot. He prods Miller at every turn, calls him "yellow" and, at one point, beats the hell out of him. But Miller just keeps doing his job. Things reach a head when Benson finds out that Miller will be getting his corporal stripes; this infuriates the hot-head and he decides he's going to play a nasty prank on his victim. Benson grabs hold of a "dummy grenade" (one that soldiers practice with) and tosses it among Miller and his comrades, screaming "Live grenade!" Benson expects the younger man to turn tail and run but, instead, the kid throws himself on the TNT pineapple, earning the respect of the others in his platoon. Now it's time for Benson to be "The Lonely One."

"The Lonely One"

"The Lonely One"

Well, it took four issues but Al finally decided to throw in a Two-Fisted Tale among the soap opera whatzits and it's not too bad at all; certainly better than most of the war stories that stunk up the last batch of TFTs. It's confusing throughout the story to discern exactly where the prejudice stems from, since Benson's hatred is focused on a kid named Miller, probably one of the most innocuous names around, but thanks to a little research I found an interesting bit about the story in an interview with Bill Gaines that ran in The Comics Journal. Gaines insists that the name was made purposely "bland" so that the story could pass without interference from the Comics Code, an organization that was upholding moral values by eliminating any traces of Jews or Blacks in funny books. This wasn't the first run-in with the numbskulls at the CCA and it wouldn't be the last. Extra star for not ending it with Benson seeing the light and buying Miller a . . . Miller.

"Fall in Winter"

Why is Theodore Hamilton standing on the ledge of a high-rise building, threatening to jump? Through flashbacks, we discover that Theodore has had a rotten day. First, after thirty years of dedicated service, his boss, Mr. Abernathy, lays him off. There's no way his wife, Ruth, will accept the news with anything less than a screaming fit. Then, as Theodore is attempting to board his bus to go home, a woman ahead of him in line drops her purse. Without a second thought, he picks up the purse just as the woman turns and screams "Purse snatcher!" The cops arrive and Theodore panics, racing away with the purse still in hand. The police chase him into the building and onto the ledge where he now stands, but Theodore loses his nerve and begins to inch his way back to the window when he loses his footing and falls. Luckily, the fire department has arrived in time and catches the falling man in their net. The bus driver shows up to dispute the woman's claims and Mr. Abernathy seems to appear in a puff of smoke to deliver the good news: he'll be keeping Theodore on after all. It's a wonderful life! "Fall in Winter" begins as an involving human interest story (something we don't see much of in the New Direction titles); I wanted to know why this old man was up there on the ledge. But then, unfortunately, Carl Wessler decided he was writing a Hollywood B-picture instead and threw in some silly histrionics and outlandish last-second saves. Graham's style is slowly sliding into a post-Crypt tranquility; his characters look a little more human now that he doesn't have to worry about ghouls and swamp witches. Even his women (well, aside from the crazy bus lady) look a little softer.

"The Bitter End"

Nicholas Bullard is an embarrassment to his father, Gerard, who only wants Nicky to follow in the old man's shoes and become a multi-million dollar businessman. Nicky would rather be an artsy-fartsy, sensitive mama's boy (where have we heard this before?), so he rebels every chance he gets. Why, Nicky won't even date fabulous Sheila Cochrane, heir to the Cochrane millions, and instead becomes involved with a simple diner waitress. Pshaw! to that. Gerard pulls strings and has Nicky sent to New Guinea on a one-year business trek but, after all his letters to his son go unanswered, he has a change of heart and has him shipped home. To his surprise, Nicky's diner girl, Iris, shows up at Gerard's door, with baby in tow, to inform him that his son died while in New Guinea. Iris vows that Gerard will never see his grandson again. I kept waiting for "the Psychiatrist" to show up to tell Gerard what he was doing wrong and tell Nick that he's really telling his father, with his actions, that the family tree needs to be pulled down. It's not some of Reed Crandall's best work either; it's a rather hum-drum affair.

"Country Doctor"

On this cold and snowy night, "Country Doctor" Joseph Brown is called out for two emergencies: farmer Eddie has had a run-in with his tractor, and young couple Fred and Alice are expecting their first child. Fred insists that Dr. Brown hurry as his wife is in pain but Brown deems farmer Eddie to be the more serious of the two. Several times while mending Ed's crushed leg, Brown receives pleading calls from Fred but tells the man to calm down, babies are born every day. Eventually Dr. Brown gets to the young couple's house but, unfortunately, it's too late: Alice and the baby are both dead. He sobs as Eddie's son, Chet, takes him home in their sleigh through the snow and Chet feels really guilty that Dr. Brown's daughter, Alice, died while the doc was helping his father. This is a tough one. I liked the little-town atmosphere of "Country Doctor" and, of course, the George Evans illustrations, but the twist is a cheap one, thrown in because there just has to be an O. Henry to wrap up an EC story, right?  I think the story would have had more of an Impact had it left well enough alone. The Doc would have been wracked with guilt regardless and that final panel, where Brown pretty much lays the guilt on Chet's doorstep ("I . . . choke . . . I promised to take a look in at your father, Chet . . .") is an odd turn. -Peter

Jack- This is a very strong issue for a New Direction comic. Davis is very good at drawing war stories and, though the Korean War was over and had stopped appearing as a location for EC tales some time ago, "The Lonely One" is not a bad little offering. It took me a minute to figure out that Miller was Jewish, which shows that Gaines was wise to pick such a bland name, but the cover telegraphed what should have been a more unexpected ending. I liked the Woolrichian sense of dread at the start of "Fall in Winter" and was surprised that attempted suicide paid off so handsomely; I also liked Ingels's smoother artwork. I was stunned to read your criticism of Crandall's work in "The Bitter End," since I was marveling at the magazine-quality illustrations on every page. I think it's some of Crandall's best EC work. Of course, George Evans is no slouch, either, and rivals Crandall for my favorite EC artist of 1955. I did not see the end of "Country Doctor" coming in advance but I sure liked the visuals.

Davis

Incredible Science Fiction 31

"You, Rocket"★★1/2
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Wally Wood

"Fulfillment"★★1/2
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Bernie Krigstein

"Time to Leave"★★★
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Roy Krenkel and Al Williamson

"Has-Been"★★★
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Wally Wood

Peter suggests another
new blog to Jack
("You, Rocket")

After rocket engineer Allan Crane is killed in a rocket car accident, nearby scientists harvest his brain to use for an audacious project--they will link it to a spaceship and thus avoid the necessity of putting a man in space, something that has so far failed due to the fact that the astronauts went insane when confronted with the vast reaches of space. Allan's brain is trained to pilot a ship and he becomes convinced of his own power and importance. Launch day comes and the ship takes off, but when he sees the vast void Allan's brain turns the ship around, crying "Mama" like an infant and heading back to Earth.

Wally Wood was my favorite EC artist when it came to science fiction stories, but Jack Oleck is not my favorite writer of these tales. "You, Rocket" plods along as if it's going somewhere and seems vaguely like a Bradbury ripoff until the final panel which, oddly enough, does not clue the reader in that it's "the end." I turned the page thinking there was more only to find that that was it. Not a sign of a great finish.

Carter's pose recalls the early EC
work of Al Feldstein in this panel
from "Time to Leave"

Ancient Egyptians worship the image of the god Ra. Many years before, a disabled space ship landed on an unfamiliar planet. The skipper of the ship was a meek man and his wife a shrew; he enjoyed the primitive planet but she couldn't wait to leave. She nagged him until he used the ship's blasters illegally to destroy the jungle around it so that a rescue ship could find them easily. Soon, the rescue ship arrived and repaired the disabled ship; as it took off, a primitive man on the planet observed  the skipper in his oxygen ask. Back to ancient Egypt and now we see that the image of Ra resembles the space ship captain in his oxygen mask.

The good news is that Bernie Krigstein can drew a pretty sweet gal, even if she is a nagging beast. The bad news is that Jack Oleck falls back on one of the oldest tropes of bad science fiction, that being the idea that ancient astronauts visited our planet long ago and the reality of their existence became legend over time. "Fulfillment" is a poor excuse for a science fiction story but Krigstein's work is better than what I've seen from him in quite awhile.

In the year 2954, a man named Garvin calmly welcomes another "Prim," or time traveler; this time, it's Dr. Arnold Carter from North America in 1955. Garvin tells Carter that he'll show him around the city but he's sure that Carter will want to rush back home. Carter argues but, as he witnesses the emotionless perfection of the future city, he is repelled and when it's "Time to Leave" he is surprised that Garvin wants to join him.

A nice wordless panel by Wood
("Has-Been")

Better than the first two stories but still seeming long at six pages, "Time to Leave" seems like an anti-Communist screed with gorgeous art by Krenkel and Williamson. The future city has men and women who all dress alike and everyone has the same amount of money. Dance shows are performed by robots. It really doesn't seem as bad as all that, but Carter can't wait to get back to sloppy, emotional 1955.

A space ship captain worries that he's a "Has-Been," too old to fight in outer space battles due to a slowing of his reflexes. This appears to be borne out when he misses a shot during a confrontation with another ship, and he thinks back to his own father's lament that he was too old to fight in space. Working his way onto the force, the young man made the cut for space flight and worked his way up to captain. Now he's past his prime and his second-in-command must intervene to save their ship. Back home and decommissioned, his father welcomes home the captain--who has reached the ripe old age of fifteen.

Huh? I guess Oleck's point here is that things happen so fast in the space race that only the very young have the reflexes to keep up and by their mid-teens they are too slow. The story is pedestrian and, as in all of Oleck's stories this issue, the surprise ending doesn't quite work. At least Wood is on his game, as usual.-Jack

Krigstein delivers "Fulfillment"

Peter: For the most part, this is a pretty good issue of Incredible Science-Fiction, fairly well-written and gorgeously illustrated (how can you find fault in a funny book that serves you up two Woods?), and yet all the stories smack of retread. All four seem very similar to plots we've enjoyed in the past (especially "You, Rocket!" and "Time to Leave"), with tiny tweaks. The best of the bunch, to me, is "Fulfillment," which takes one of the aforementioned EC cliches (the brow-beaten, spineless husband and his shrewish wife) and actually does something interesting with it. The twist in the tail is very effective! Was it just me or did Jack Oleck try to sneak something by the CCA in "Time to Leave," something that would have had Wertham writing another chapter in his infamous diatribe? When Dr. Carter asks why you can't tell the men from the women, the Control replies, "Is there some reason why you should?" Oh, my, subtle homosexuality forced into the suggestive brain of little Tommy! Oh, and why does the Control, after meeting and touring with dozens of other time travelers, suddenly decide that Carter is right, this future is not too great after all? Which begs another question from me: why did EC give up on horror comics after the CCA axe fell? Why not at least try out a few issues of a CCA-approved Tales from the Crypt ("Crypt" was not an outlawed word, after all) and see what happened? Yeah, I know, it probably would have run into trouble eventually (like this title will) and been shut down but the experiment (from a Monday-morning quarterback point of view) would have been fascinating.

Kamen

Psychoanalysis 4

"Freddy Carter: Case No. 101 - Male (Session 4)" ★★
Story by Dan Keyes
Art by Jack Kamen

"Mark Stone: Case No. 103 - Male (Session 4)"  ★
"Mark Stone: Case No. 103 - Male (Final Sessions)"  1/2★
Story by Robert Bernstein
Art by Jack Kamen

Young Freddy Carter shows up for his final session of psychoanalysis with his therapist and unloads on the doc. Seems Freddy's parents have been acting up again. Pop tells Freddy if he doesn't pass his math and engineering finals, he's an embarrassing failure as a son and should seriously think about giving up on life. Mom keeps right on coddling her baby, thinking it's so cute when Freddy tricks his dad into thinking he's studying his geometry workbook when he's really hiding his collection of Emily Dickinson inside. What's a kid to do? More importantly, what's a head-shrinker to do?

If I gotta read this crap, then so do you!

Well, it's been a long time coming but "the Psychiatrist" ushers Mr. and Mrs. Carter into his office and rips them both new ones, scolding them for their behavior and for screwing up this wonderful boy's life. Magically, the veil is lifted and both parents not only agree to go easy on their only child but also to seek professional help themselves! Therapy completed! I'm not sure why but I was able to make it through this particular chapter in the Freddy Carter saga much easier than the previous three. Maybe it's because it's so darned ridiculous and dated. Mr. Carter is so mean-spirited and vicious to his son, I was wondering why editor Feldstein didn't steal Graham Ingels away from Piracy for an afternoon's work. A much better ending (and one that would have fit very well into Ghastly's oeuvre) would have been Freddy burying his therapist's letter opener in the back of Pop's skull.

Is this Freddy or Mark?

My first reaction to the splash page for the latest entry in the "Mark Stone" whining epic is that Freddy Carter got home, changed his suit, and realized he forgot the murder weapon in the doc's office and had to go back but, no, it's a slimmer, more svelte Mark Stone (chalk it up to my not being able to tell the difference between one Kamen character and another) arriving for his fourth session. And a doozy of a session it is, my friends. Mark is suddenly aggressive towards his mental savior but the reasoning is a bit skewed. Seems Mark has been having horrible dreams about his mother running off to Bermuda and leaving him fish in a pan but that's only a metaphor for what's really bothering him: "the Psychiatrist" has told Mark that he's taking a week off and going fishing in Cuba (hmmm . . . fish . . . Cuba . . . Bermuda . . . yeah, this psych stuff is pretty easy) and that terrifies the previously-obese TV writer. According to his therapist, Mark has been transferring all his hates and fears about authority, abandonment, and emotion to his therapist and that's not a good thing. Oh, whoops, our session is over.

No, that's not Mark!

A month later (after a session not illustrated), Mark Stone returns for his final session and he seems to be loaded with anxiety again, but this time it's about the impending cessation of his therapy. He can't get on an airplane without thinking it's going down, he badgers his new girlfriend to marry him, he won't get into the elevator because it's going to crash . . . okay, maybe this head-shrinking stuff isn't that easy. But thank goodness, we have writer Robert Bernstein to sort out the muck. Mark was pressuring Laura to wed him because, without therapy, he saw no future and she provided something stable. Oops, the session is over but his therapist smiles and assures Mark that, yep, maybe he's screwed up enough to come back for three more sessions.

Perhaps my favorite panel
ever published in an EC Comic!

And let's all give a standing ovation to Bill Gaines for pulling the plug on this turkey before we had to endure any more of those meetings. I would assume by the quick wrap-up at the finale of both "Freddy Carter" and "Mark Stone" (I say quick wrap-up but I had to slog through 18 pages of "Stone") that Feldstein knew the jig was up for this New Direction title after only four issues (despite the fact that there must have been at least thirteen loyal readers left). Criticizing Jack Kamen's art after all this time is like shooting the proverbial fish in a barrel but, seriously, can anyone tell me that anything Kamen has done in this series shows any bit of excitement or style? Look at the panels and the only way you can tell the difference between Kamen's characters is that some of them wear dresses and some not. Well, this is the first EC book that I've waved good riddance to but, sadly, it won't be the last. -Peter. 

Jack- It quickly became apparent to me that the real reason Freddy's parents were ending his sessions with the shrink was that the comic was being canceled. The first story is a hoot, from Freddy's Dad calling him a "novel-reading sissy" to a hilarious scene where the shrink dresses down the parents. Mark Stone demonstrates the usefulness of psychoanalysis as a tool for rapid weight loss, but the shrink's insistence on having a question and answer session with his patient seems laughable. By the end of this issue, I felt sorry for Jack Kamen for having to figure out how to draw panels to go along with the endless blather. It was the exciting three-panel sequence where the Psychiatrist cleans his glasses that made me realize it could not have been easy to illustrate this mess. Still, the bizarre idea of doing this comic at all kind of held my interest.

Next Week . . .
Can they really call these cool cats . . .
the Losers?

EC Comics! It's An Entertaining Comic! Issue 65

The EC Reign Month by Month 1950-1956
65: August 1955 Part I

Davis

Incredible Science Fiction 30

"Clean Start"★★★
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Wally Wood

"Marbles"★★
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Bernie Krigstein

"Conditioned Reflex"★★
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Joe Orlando

"Barrier"★★
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Jack Davis

All the aliens in the universal Federation agree that, while the Earth is getting close to the point in its development that it will need to join the Federation, mankind is too violent to fit in. Brx and Lth travel to the third planet from the sun to do two things: wipe out all human life and give mankind a "Clean Start" by going back to the moment when the species turned from peace to violence and guiding them down the right path. Unfortunately, the aliens travel through time and find that man has always been a warlike animal. They decide that it's hopeless and they will have to take one male and one female and start over. Brx and Lth disguise themselves as a man and a woman and bring back what they think are specimens of the human race. Unfortunately, they discover that they've brought back each other!

The staff of bare*bones e-zine gets together.
("Clean Start")

This was kind of a silly story along the lines of "we had to destroy the Earth in order to save it" until that final twist, which I admit caught me by surprise and made me let out a guffaw. Whoops! Guess that's it for the human race! I presume the aliens of the Federation weren't too broken up about it.

The Rocket ship X-17 is the first ship to be launched into space with men aboard, but the reports that come back are a surprise, since the crew say that all of the planets are no bigger in space than they look from Earth! The crew picks up Uranus, which is the size of a volley ball, plays ring toss with Saturn's rings, and plays "Marbles" with the stars. Unfortunately, the scientists on Earth realize that space travel has driven the crew insane.

A pretty dumb story, this one has decent art by Krigstein that looks to be in the style of mid-'50s science fiction paperback covers (the ship looks like the one on the cover of The Lights in the Sky Are Stars). The final panel joke, where a crew member sobs that he has lost his marbles, falls flat.

Obviously he's an alien.
("Conditioned Reflex")

A scientist makes a presentation regarding a far-off planet he calls Thor, which had an atmosphere made mostly of methane and which suddenly burst into flame. Why? He does not know that the tentacled inhabitants of Thor had sent one of their own, disguised as a human, to gather information before they could attack and obliterate Earth. The alien named Quor is accepted into a farming family and learns their customs, which include smoking a cigarette to relax when he gets tense. On returning to Thor, he is ready to present his findings to the council of leaders when he finds himself tense and nervous. He lights a cigarette and the methane gas atmosphere explodes into flame.

We always knew that smoking was bad for you! "Conditioned Reflex" is a long shaggy dog story to get to a so-so punch line, but for once the Orlando artwork seems only moderately annoying. He's better at drawing aliens than humans, I guess.

Jack Davis drew this panel???
("Barrier")

The Western Alliance sends its first spaceship hurtling toward Luna, hoping to beat the Eastern Alliance there in order to set up a base, but the ship crashes into an invisible "Barrier" and is destroyed. A second ship discovers the barrier and can't blast through it. Meanwhile, the Eastern Alliance is having the same problem. The two sides join forces and build a ship that succeeds in blasting a hole in the barrier, but when it passes through it sees a ship from outer space and turns around to head back to Earth. Realizing that the aliens have caged us, the military men ask what form of life would cage another. Then, the scientist points to a nearby monkey in a cage.

I don't think Jack Davis would be in my top ten choices of artist to illustrate a science fiction story. It doesn't help that "Barrier" continues the tired theme that Jack Oleck beats to death in this disappointing issue. Man is violent, Man should be confined to Earth. We get it.-Jack

Peter: Incredible Science-Fiction is the third (or fourth, actually) and final title change for EC's SF line, taking over from the seven issues published as Weird Science-Fantasy (which, in turn, took over from the 22 issues each published as Weird Science and Weird Fantasy) but not changing much else format-wise. The highlight this issue is the fabulous "Marbles," with its cinematic Krigstein art and its smart script that keeps you guessing right up to its grim climax. It's one of the best science fiction tales we've seen in an EC funny book in many a moon. Even though "Clean Start" is not graced with Wally's best work, I thought the climax was a genuinely surprising jolt. Never saw it coming and it left a very big grin on my face, remembering that Jack Oleck, now and then, could actually pull off the O. Henry without telecasting it pages before. "Conditioned Reflex" and "Barrier" are cut from the same cloth as "Clean Start": we Earthlings are a warring species and always will be. It's only natural other planets would want to shut us down. Three such tales in one issue is a little much.

"Marbles"

Bernie!

Davis

Impact 3

"Life Sentence"★★
Story by Al Feldstein(?)
Art by Reed Crandall

"The Debt"★★★
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by Jack Davis

"Totally Blind"★★
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by Jack Kamen

"The Good Fairy"★★★
Story by Al Feldstein(?)
Art by Graham Ingels

A real method actor!
("Life Sentence")

Paul's father is found dead in his hovel but Paul feels no sorrow for him. Pastor Edwards tells Paul that, years before, Paul's father was devastated when Paul's brother died of typhoid. Paul's father went off to attend a hardware convention but came back early, a changed man. He soon left his family and moved into a house on the other side of town. Paul and his mother struggled to survive and Paul grew to hate the man who abandoned them. Paul's mother died at 38 and Paul never forgave his father. Pastor Edwards reveals that he found a newspaper clipping in the dead man's pocket that explains the bizarre behavior. Paul's father had not known he was a typhoid carrier who caused the death not only of his son but of at least 15 people at the hardware convention. He came home and imposed a "Life Sentence" on himself to protect everyone else and to keep the world from knowing that he was at fault. Paul has to rethink his father's actions.

I'm still not feeling very sympathetic for Paul's father. I don't really understand how he was helping his family by keeping his illness a secret. Only in the '50s could this make sense.

"The Debt"

Wealthy banker George Ryder meets Joe Wiler as Joe is released from prison after eight years. Joe's son Ted had been a wild teenager, stealing cars and running with a bad crowd, but Joe kept sticking up for him and getting him out of trouble. Joe even got Ted a job at Ryder's bank, where Joe worked, but after a few months it was discovered that $5000 was missing. Joe took the rap for Ted and was sent to the big house. When he finally gets out, he sees that Ted has settled down and is raising a family. Ryder has a heart attack and confesses that he embezzled the money! Ted was honest after all.

Awww!
("Totally Blind")

Much better than the first story, "The Debt" has a neat twist and--unlike this month's science fiction comic--Jack Davis's art fits the mood perfectly. I did not expect Ted to turn out to be a decent guy. Joe did the right thing sticking up for him. The only false note is the last panel, when Joe attacks Ryder's dead body. The act doesn't fit Joe's personality as established throughout the narrative.

Mildred Wilson has a nice figure but an ugly face, so she never gets a man until "Totally Blind" Jim Shipley moves into the apartment next door. He falls for Mildred's great personality so, when she hears that a doctor can cure his vision for $1000, she agonizes but finally does the right thing and scrapes together the money. A fall down the stairs cures Jim for free and he tells Mildred he still loves her for her personality.

Whew! I needed my Kamen fix or the month. At least it's not a whole issue of it! I don't know if I could take that.

Mean old Sam Crowder is not thrilled when a poor little girl sets up a lemonade stand right in front of his candy store. The cop on the beat tells Sam to lay off and soon everyone on the block is buying from the ragamuffin and ignoring Sam. Things only get better for the gal when her lemonade pitcher is mysteriously filled overnight! Everyone wonders who could "The Good Fairy" be, but wouldn't they all be surprised to learn it's Sam? He has to do this act of kindness at night when no one is watching so he doesn't ruin his reputation as an old skinflint.

Awww!
("The Good Fairy")

Ghastly's art is really good this time out, and the story is not bad, though I can't help thinking that if it were a couple of years earlier, Sam's head would end up in the lemonade pitcher in the last panel! The New Direction EC comics are all sunshine and butterflies.
-Jack

Peter: "Life Sentence" is the usual "I saw the light in the end" nonsense, saved only by Reed Crandall (who has swooped in and saved many a maudlin script). "The Debt," on its surface is another of EC's studies of the ever-growing burden put on the parent of a 1950s' JD. I saw the twist coming a mile away but had a good long chuckle from those final panels. Joe's calm demeanor as he hears his dying boss's confession; his swivel to Ted with a father's pride in his eyes; and then, the crazed throttle, like in some Abbott and Costello routine. "Totally Blind," in the end, is sentimental pap worthy of the Hallmark Channel but I did like the way that Carl played with our expectations of an EC funny book story. The second Jim brought up the mysterious Dr. Svenson and his $1000 miracle operation, I was on to this con man. But then, nope, that wasn't it at all, was it? And when Jim fell down those stairs, I assumed he was getting a bit of EC retribution and was now really blind. But, nope, not that either! Extra star for fooling me twice. Graham Ingels proves there's still petrol left in the tank with what appears to be a Tale from the Crypt, but "The Good Fairy" ends with a monumental cheat. There's no rationale behind the old man's surliness nor his filling the girl's lemonade pitcher every night other than to give us a twist in the tail. Well, you can call me a grump but I don't buy it. Oh and, at first glance on the newsstand, that cover is more sleazy than anything that ever graced a Tales from the Crypt or caught Wertham's attention. You know the story behind the old man's gaze after reading "The Good Fairy," but it sure looks like he's licking his chops over some under-aged cutie, don't it? How the heck did it pass inspection?

Kamen

Psychoanalysis 3

"Freddy Carter. Case No. 101 - Male (Session 3)" ★
"Ellen Lyman. Case No. 102 - Female (Session 3)" ★
Stories by Dan Keyes
Art by Jack Kamen

"Mark Stone. Case No. 103 - Male (Session 3)" 0
Story by Robert Bernstein
Art by Jack Kamen

The last time we encountered Freddy Carter, the 15-year-old hypochondriac had revealed that his asthma was a put-on for attention, and that he'd stolen his best friend's watch "to hurt his parents in retaliation for pulling his personality in two different directions." Entering his office for Freddy's third session, the psychoanalyst notices the precocious teenager perusing the sports page but when the doc brings up the young man's choice in reading, Freddy goes all "Bwana Devil" on him. It just so happens that when Freddy opened the newspaper, it was on the sports page. That doesn't mean he likes sports.

"Oh, but on the contrary," explains our favorite shrink, "You love sports but so does your father and you hate your father. And the reason you hate your father is because he's always bragging about his college sports days and how successful he was at running the ol' pigskin down the field. And you're a mama's boy and your parents are always arguing about your lack of sports prowess and how that embarrasses your father and how Ma wants you to learn how to play the piano like that fine Liberace boy down the street. The piano is not a feminine instrument. No siree." Freddy counters with the time he played high school football and broke his leg and how Pop told him he was a little girl for getting hurt and Ma told her sweet little boy that he was all she had in this world and why did she ever marry that jackass? The doc snickers and nods. "Well, you better grow up and stop being a little sissy hiding under mommy's petticoat," says the shrink, "but that's all the time we have for today." Freddy smiles (the boy is cured yet again) and asks the doc if he can take the sports page home with him.

Ellen sees through the facade and discovers
she's actually trapped within a really bad funny book

If you recall, we left Ellen Lyman completely cured after a lifetime of migraine headaches that actually masked her hatred of her (admittedly prettier) sister, Ruth, but as our hero, the Analyst, discovers, Ellen's even more screwed up than we figured. It all started back in the summer after she graduated high school and went to stay at her Uncle Mike's farm; that's when she met handsome pig farmer, Ted. This strapping bruiser asks her to the hoedown but Ellie declines, citing her two left feet. Ted, never one to leave things at "No!," plants a kiss on the shy young blonde and tells her she's soft an' purty just like the buttermilk biscuits his Ma makes for the county fair.

Ellen flees and finds solace in her bedroom, crying into her pillow, allowing how Ted couldn't possibly think she's pretty as she's the ugliest girl she knows. Then she tells the doc about the weird nightmare she has where she gets dressed up in a ball gown in a house of mirrors and Ted visits her and tells Ellen she's actually as ugly as that old sinkhole he and Pa found behind the outhouse (and you can tell Ted is a really mean guy because he gets those bulbous eyes Jack Kamen gives to all his baddies). The psych nods and snickers, explaining that Ellen actually enjoys having these feelings of homeliness and remember how dreams always play a part in our deep subconscious and that her conscious mind is censoring her true feelings and that all this guilt and self-loathing can be diagnosed as neurotic behavior. If Ellen wants true happiness, she shouldn't deny herself that true happiness. Like the sun rising on a new day, the clouds are lifted from Ellen's vision and she tells the doctor that she is, indeed, fully cured! Case #102 is officially closed.

After abandoning hope of finding interesting
panels, Enfantino just grabs one at random

And, finally, we revisit Mark Stone, a Hollywood writer whose overeating may be the cause of his anxiety attacks. Or it may be the fact that he's an embarrassed son of an immigrant in a land of bigots. As we zoom in on Mark (not too close, though, as he's a whopper), he's having a conversation with America's hardest working psychiatrist . . . The Psychiatrist . . . who quizzes Mark on the wallet he'd left behind after last issue's session. Oddly, the billfold contains no pictures and that tells the shrink that Mark Stone is a very lonely man, a man with no direction . . . with no purpose. Mark allows that he's "given up on the accomplishment of satisfaction!" (Whatever the hell that means.) The doc says a man of Mark's prestige must have a lady love and Mark brags he's got several but he quickly becomes bored with them and dumps them like a bundle of unsold Panics. This intrigues the over-paid head shrinker and he has the overweight scribe lie on the couch and use stream of consciousness to reveal his thoughts on women. As suspected, there's a deep-seated hatred of the opposite sex highlighted by a dream Mark continues to have about a female car cornering him in a deserted alley and calling him by name before transforming into a beat-up jalopy. (Whatever the hell that means.) The doc smirks and nods and tells Mark that, of course, the automobile symbolizes Mark's mother and therefore all women! That explains Stone's contempt, cruelty, hostility, and fear towards women. Just then, Mark jumps up and admits he has a picture of a girl in a secret compartment in his wallet! "I know," laughs the doc, "But your time is up!"

Oy, my head hurts after reading this psychobabble hogwash, and I would eat pickled Freddy gonads to see the issue-by-issue sales figures for Psychoanalysis. Surely, the numbers dwindled to nothing by the end (which is, thank Odin, only one more issue away); what kid, or right-minded adult, would waste time with this cliched nonsense? The dialogue is more wooden than Captain Storm's leg; the only one left smiling after this one must have been Jack Kamen, who continued to line his stencils up and pump these strips out without having to strain his brain on minor things like choreography or depth illusion. You know, the kind of thing that kept the other EC artists up at night. As a fascinating aside (just about the only fascinating tidbit I could come up with for Psychoanalysis), editor Al Feldstein had a boatload of problems with the then-new Comics Code Authority concerning the Mark Stone character. Evidently, the CCA had a problem with Stone's being a Jew and rejected Feldstein's use of the character's original Jewish name! The whole story can be found in the Von Bernewitz/Geissman volume, Tales of Terror! (Fantagraphics, 2000). -Peter

Jack: Peter, your summaries and comments were way more entertaining than slogging through Psychoanalysis #3! The psychiatrist is a pushy jerk and Freddy's Dad is kind of pathetic, too, with his room full of college trophies. These stories sure don't make me wish I lived in the 1950s! The Carters are one heck of a family. While we're on the subject of decoding, why does the Psychiatrist always have a pipe stuck in his mouth? Hmm? Oral fixation?

Reading the Ellen Lyman case after the Freddy Carter case made me start to worry that I was seeing aspects of myself in these characters and stories, but then I remembered the same thing happened when I took Psych 101 in college and I found out that everyone feels that way. At least, that's how I remember it. I'm glad Ellen is cured and can go to the concert with Paul.

In the Mark Stone case we learn that the Psychiatrist is also a snoop! Mind your own business, shrink! Mark is a creep and the (presumably Freudian) dream symbolism is ridiculous. Of course it's all Mom's fault! By the way, I kind of like Kamen's swipe from Hitchcock's famous dream sequence in Spellbound on the cover.

Next Week in Star Spangled #138 . . .
Has the Haunted Tank met its match?

And this Thursday . . .
Something Old is New Again

EC Comics! It's An Entertaining Comic! Issue 62

The EC Reign Month by Month 1950-1956
62: June 1955 Part I

Frazetta

Weird Science-Fantasy 29

"The Chosen One" ★★★
Story by Al Feldstein
Art by Wally Wood

"Vicious Circle" ★★
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by Al Williamson

"Genesis" ★★★1/2
Story by Al Feldstein
Art by Reed Crandall

"Adam Link in Business" ★★
Story by Eando Binder and Al Feldstein
Art by Joe Orlando

Professor Henry Fuller believes his young son is a mutant, a super-intelligent being created by Fuller's job as a professor, working on an atomic pile at Alamagordo (sic). His son, Bobby, walks at six months, speaks at a year, and seems to be able to read the newspaper at age two. Bobby can even read the mind of the puppy Henry brings him to try to warm up the little cold fish. But nothing seems to help the kid become a normal kid. Then, one night, a spaceship lands in Henry's yard and two aliens emerge to explain to Fuller they've come for the little freak. Henry explains that he loves his son and refuses to give him up but the aliens pass right by him and head upstairs. Henry gets his handgun but does nothing as the space travelers walk past him, bearing "The Chosen One." The next morning, Bobby wakes up and asks his dad what's become of Spot and dad just smiles, happy that it was the puppy, and not his boy, who's the super-freak. I gotta admit that, even though nine times out ten (especially with these later SF tales), I can spot the O. Henry a mile away, I never saw this one coming. Al does a great job hiding the twist until the last possible second without cheating at all (Henry's suspicions all come down to being a worry-wart, just like his wife said).

David mourns his dead friend, John, in a far future where man has become savage again and lives in caves. When David seeks the truth about John's execution by tribal leaders, he is told by a wise old man that John defied tribal laws that exist to prevent another Armageddon. After the old man narrates a long story of World War III and what destroyed mankind, David begins to understand; his pal was put to death for creating a machine and machines led to the end of life. The young man asks his mentor if he can see this machine and, soon, David sees his first wheel, a "Vicious Circle"! What seemed awfully fresh and clever five years before seems a tad more preachy and cliched by 1955. At least Carl reveals fairly quickly that we're looking at a future race of man rather than Neanderthals and Williamson's art is always perfect for this sub-genre.

Uh oh . . . does that mean these two
will . . . um . . .

Mankind has become sterile and its only hope is to immigrate to the radiation-free planet, Mars. One man travels to the red planet with other scouts and immediately falls in love with it, returning soon after with the first batch of immigrants. Unfortunately, after Mars is colonized, scientists discover that man is also sterile on other worlds and that life on Mars exists only because life forms split in two like amoebae. Faced with extinction, the vast majority of citizens head back to Earth to die off, leaving only one resident, our initial protagonist, who discovers, to his glee, that eventually even man would be affected by Mars's atmosphere and procreate. "Genesis" is a very literate and well-told story, one with a very bold finale and probably one of the last really good science fiction tales to come out of the EC factory. I can just imagine Wertham spitting out his gin and tonic after reading such an overtly homosexual climax.

Wonder-robot Adam Link is finally exonerated for the murder of his creator and allowed to live the carefree life of a genius. Bored and looking for something to do, the tin man opens a business consulting on scientific matters. All the money the business generates is donated to charity and life seems rosy until . . . gorgeous Kay Temple professes love for the man of nuts and bolts. Ordinarily, Adam would be popping his gyroscope in happiness but, it turns out, another man has eyes for the babelicious Ms. Temple and that man is none other than his best friend (and the man who got Adam off Death Row), reporter Jack Hall. Heart-broken but knowing it's for the best, Link lets Kay down easy and then exits stage left, off to a hidden sanctuary where no one can find him. The final issue of Weird Science-Fantasy brings the third and final Adam Link story, "Adam Link in Business," the best of the EC adaptations. Why is this one better than the previous two? Probably because its plot line is a bit outré and the script is more engaging. Why the adaptations stopped at the third one is anyone's guess but Joe and Otto will re-adapt the first three and contribute a further five to Warren's Creepy in the following decade. I'm not holding my breath that those versions will be any more captivating than these but we'll find out soon. As for Weird Science-Fantasy, the title was killed off after only seven issues, but EC SF continued with Incredible Science Fiction two months later. Not a bad issue to close the run. -Peter

Jack: You did not mention that fantastic Frazetta cover! It's good to see that Al Feldstein could still write such an effective story as "The Chosen One," in light of his crash and burn experience with Panic. Wally Wood's art in the science fiction books was always stunning and this story is no exception. Like you, Peter, I did not see the end coming. Williamson and Krenkel contribute more great art to "Vicious Circle," but Wessler's story seems like an attempt to imitate a Feldstein script and the twist did not excite me. The bar was set so high for art in the first two stories that Crandall's work in "Genesis" seems a tad rough and it's hard to imagine the fear of atomic energy and its consequences that seems to have gripped the American public in the 1950s. "Adam Link in Business" seems to come from a simpler time, a pre-atomic age of science fiction where stories like this were more common. Link reminds me of Superman (whose first appearance pre-dated that of Adam Link in the pulps) and the love story is far-fetched. Joe Orlando's art doesn't help and in some places, resembles his terrible work for Panic.

Davis

Impact 2

"Mother Knows Best" 1/2★
Story by Al Feldstein (?)
Art by Reed Crandall

"Divorce" 0 (yes, zero!)
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by Jack Davis

"The Suit"★★
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by Graham Ingels

"Paid in Full" ★★
Story by Al Feldstein (?)
Art by Joe Orlando

Laura Hart has never been able to get along with her domineering, disapproving mother. Ever since she was little, her mother has chided her for her choices, be they hair styles or, later in life, men. Now, after hitting rock bottom and considering suicide, Laura has decided to see a shrink and, by the time the session has ended, Laura is cured and discovers her mother has always loved her and wants the best for her. Of course, it helps that Laura's head shrinker (off panel to us dimwits for the entire story until the last panel) is, suprize suprize suprize!, her mother! Save Reed Crandall's usual vital visuals, "Mother Knows Best" is a really dumb waste of time. Never mind that it's entirely unethical for a mother to see her kid as a patient, why would Laura agree to be dissected by the very person who has provided her with her suicidal vibes? Did Al (or whoever wrote this soap opera trash) think that hiding Dr. Mom off-panel would fool the reader? It's evident by the third panel what's going on here and the smell-o-vision rises from the page. It's not bad enough we're subjected to an entire title filled with psychoanalysis but we have to have overflow as well? Yecccch!

Poor little Jackie gets to go to Miami but where's his dad? Mom's acting all funny and stuff and then drags Jackie to a big building with a guy sitting behind a big desk wearing a big robe and . . . hey, there's Dad! But Mom pulls him away and then Mom and Dad go stand up in front of this guy known as "the judge" and say all kinds of nasty stuff to each other. Then Jackie goes with his Mom and Dad and the judge and a couple of stuffy old farts in suits to a back room where the judge tells Jackie that Mom and Dad don't love each other any more and they're getting a "Divorce"! It's all too much for a little boy like Jackie, so he runs away and hops a freight train to Jacksonville (well, he doesn't know he's going to Jax, silly, but that's where it takes him) until the train police save him from the pervy bum on board the boxcar. Then Jackie gets chased by a wild dog, has to drink water from a polluted creek, gets scared by lots of eyes in the forest, and gets run over by a truck. All's well, though, when Jackie wakes up and Mom and Dad are there to tell him they've made a big mistake and gotten back together for their little boy. Mom flashes her new diamond ring and Dad shows Jackie the new agreement that Mom signed to keep her away from Dad's pension. There are happy endings in the EC Universe! Psychoanalysis proved that EC could scrape the bottom of the barrel just as well as the other septic tank publishers and "Divorce" carries on that New Direction. Seriously, what could have been going through the minds of EC fans in 1955, after the previous half-decade of stunningly high quality, when they picked up Impact #2 and read the first two tales of nonsense after experiencing "Master Race" in the first issue?

Tailor Alfred Durley is a conscientious craftsman who takes pride in his work but, problem is, work is scarce these days. So, when Ralph and Karen Curtis come into Durley's shop with Karen's father, Julius, to have a suit fitted, Alfred sees this as a chance to spread the word that a Durley suit is one to be proud to own. The tailor sets about to make his finest achievement and when it's done, he has a neighborhood boy deliver it. At the last second, Durley realizes he hasn't sewn his label into the suit and rushes to the Curtis residence, only to find that "The Suit" was designed to be worn on Julius's corpse. The couple knew the old man's days were numbered and wanted him to look good in his final outfit. Though there's not a big surprise in the finale, it's refreshing to get a story with no villains, no hidden agenda, just a decently-told tale with some nice "Graham" graphics. Durley is a nice old man who only wants to craft his masterpiece in hopes that the job will open new doors for his business.

Martha Wilson has lost her husband, Walter, to pneumonia, but she has to listen to her shrewish sister, Helen, drone on about how the man ruined Martha's life by becoming a doctor and administering help to the poor. Martha continually pooh-poohs Helen's admonishment and explains that love was all that was needed for a wonderful life. They didn't need a car, they didn't need a nice house, they didn't need jewels or expensive clothes. In the end, all they needed was . . . the antibiotics that might have saved Walter's life, I guess. When Martha takes Helen out to Walter's pauper's grave, the snooty sis learns just how much the "trash" of the neighborhood loved Dr. Wilson when she sees his headstone. Another Elia Kazan-influenced six-pager filled with soap opera melodrama and corny dialogue that is saved a bit by its genuinely touching final panel. Yes, even a stodgy old grump like me can be touched now and then. Don't try giving me a whole issue of this stuff, though. -Peter

Jack: A terrible comic book! Even Reed Crandall can't be expected to bring "Mother Knows Best" to life--how many panels can the guy draw where a woman lies on an analyst's couch? "Divorce" is even worse and has no suspense at all. It was a relief to see Ghastly's art in the third story, though I guessed the finale by page three and I didn't buy for a second that skinny old Julius had a 38 1/2 inch waist, as Durley measures it. Finally, "Paid in Full" has no surprises and I found the ending hopelessly corny. I just don't enjoy Joe Orlando's art at this point in his career.

Kamen

Psychoanalysis 2

"Case 101 - Freddy Carter (Session 2)"★
"Case 102 - Ellen Lyman (Session 2)"★1/2
Story by Dan Keyes
Art by Jack Kamen

"Case 103 - Mark Stone (Session 2)★1/2
Story by Robert Bernstein
Art by Jack Kamen

"Freddy Carter" stole a watch from his pal Billy and then made sure he was caught. Why? To get back at his parents, of course! Freddy was sent to the psychiatrist, who saw through his psychosomatic asthma attack and told him that he would help him. The shrink helps Freddy realize that his behavior was a ploy for sympathy and he just needs to grow up.

The psychiatrist gets physical with Freddy

The second issue of Psychoanalysis is not off to a good start, with overly wordy panels and a nearly complete lack of conflict, action, plot--you name it. The shrink, who is not given a name, is a bit unorthodox (if you ask me) and grabs and yells at Freddy to straighten him out. Oddly enough, it seems that Freddy's father was right and Freddy is a big baby whose asthma attacks are fake, even if Freddy doesn't realize it. Maybe he just needed more tough love.

"Ellen Lyman" is the next patient. She recalls an episode from childhood when her father yelled at her for spilling ink on his desk at work. Then there was the time she overheard her parents arguing about money. And how about the time she fell in the lake? It seems that Ellen has always reacted to emotionally upsetting situations by unconsciously causing accidents that brought her attention. Oh, and she was also unwittingly sensing that her parents were not getting along, so she had accidents to draw them together in their concern for her.

No she hasn't!

This shrink is a real know-it-all. It's almost as if he knows the hidden reasons for everything before his patients do and can't wait to tell them! This story gets an extra half-star because Ellen is kind of cute with those glasses.

Why is "Mark Stone" sixty pounds overweight and dealing with stomach ulcers? The psychiatrist says that there must be some hidden reason. Mark recalls that his mother encouraged him to eat when he was a boy. Now, when things get tough, Mark eats to recall his happy childhood. But was it all that happy? Mark admits he was ashamed of his immigrant parents and his mother's foreign accent. Mark eats to atone for being embarrassed by his parents, hoping to please his mother now in the way she enjoyed when he was a boy.

Mark also has nightmares that stem back to a hunting accident in which he thinks he may have killed a stranger in the woods and then run away. The psychiatrist explains that Mark was really trying to kill his father (who had died two years before) in an Oedipal fit.

Got all that? Unlike the first two stories by Dan Keyes, Robert Bernstein's tale of tubby Mark Stone has more twists and turns than an amusement park ride. That doesn't make it interesting or entertaining, it's just hard to keep up!-Jack

Mark Stone's problem? He's fat!

Peter: Just in case you thought the first issue was all a bad dream, #2 proves otherwise. What's particularly amusing about this title is that "the psychiatrist" rips each of his patients a new one but, by each story's end, the poor fools love the guy and are seemingly cured. But the fact that the three stooges return for more sessions next issue indicates that either "the psychiatrist" is a quack or our hapless protagonists have lots of toys in their attics. The only upside to Psychoanalysis is that it draws Jack Kamen away from the other titles. In the end, #2 is number two. Oh, and by the way, you're not seeing things. That's a comics code seal on this and Impact #2; this was the first month that the CCA invaded EC Land. The invasion would not last very long before the rebels fought back.

So . . . it was my mother who ruined me with
her constant loving?

Next Week!
Will we finally learn the true identity of . . .
The Pirate?!

Time to get excited!