Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 190: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Fantasy Comics!

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 175

November 1960

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Journey Into Mystery #62

Cover by Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko

"I Was a Slave of the Living Hulk!" (a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers) ★★

(r: Monsters on the Prowl #11)

"There is a Brain Behind the Fangs!" (a: Don Heck) ★★ 1/2

(r: Fear #6)

"I Can't Escape from the Creeping Things!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★

(r: Fear #8)

Joe Harper is busy minding his own business when his buddy Fred calls him up to tell him that his "machine" is on the fritz. Joe tells his wife he has to go out and help Fred but, of course, the old ball and chain doesn't believe him. Sigh. On his way to Fred's place, he passes by Old Blacktree Swamp and notices a giant silver something floating in the water. Joe hops out of his truck and investigates.

What he finds is a really big huge mammoth Hulk, a creature obviously from another world (the nearby smoldering wreckage of its spaceship is the first clue), on the cusp of death. Knowing that every living being (even a Hulk from another world) is precious, Joe drags the multi-ton beast to his pick-up and heads back to his workshop, where he hooks the thing up to his Electrofitastic Voltage Regulator™. A surge of electrical power enters the Hulk's body and the creature begins to stir.

Joe asks the visitor who he is and what he came to Earth for and the monster explains his name is Xemnu and that he escaped from a prison planet and crash-landed here en route to another galaxy. Too late, Joe realizes he probably shouldn't have resuscitated the Hulk without getting a few facts first. The Hulk guffaws and continues his plan for complete domination of the solar system and beyond. The monster has the power to hypnotize and intends to make the entire population a slave to his demands. With a full workforce at his beckon, Xemnu will soon have a replacement spaceship powerful enough to take him to Star System LOL of the Fifth Galaxy on the Left. The mad beast also admits to Joe that the ship will blast off with such force that the Earth will be destroyed.

The Hulk becomes a Titan!

Xemnu is grateful to Joe for bringing him back to life so he doesn't hypnotize him. That's where he makes his fatal blunder. His spaceship construction goes perfectly right up until the time he is about to blast off but Joe uses a little small town ingenuity to screw up the Hulk's plot and the creature is sent into space to circle the sun forever. The entire world becomes unhypnotized but Joe wisely avoids bragging. That is, until he sees his shrew of a wife again and can't help himself. This guy never learns!

The first of the multi-part epics that would become a foundation of the Atlas science fiction/fantasy titles, "I Was a Slave of the Living Hulk!" (an ironic title since Joe was the only free man on Earth under Hulk's reign) is a fun and completely dopey yarn. The extra pages do give a little more room for Stan to breathe but you can see at times that he really doesn't know what to do in those bonus pages. There's a whole lot of padding and information spread over multiple panels that usually would be dispensed in one single frame. As rote as these things can become (and they do), I still have a soft spot in my brain (some would say several such soft spots) for these "Marvel Monster Epics," having devoured Dwell, Prowl, and Roam as a wee lad. Xemnu's exile doesn't last the promised "forever" and we'll get a sequel in JIM #66. 

Speaking of which, when the time came to reprint "I Was a Slave of the Living Hulk!" in MOTP #11, there was another character in the Marvel Universe who had gained a bit of fame and, to avoid confusion for the Zombies, Xemnu was re-christened a "Titan" rather than a "Hulk." Rascally Roy Thomas, ever the comic book scholar, remembered the beast's JIM tales and wrote a sequel (acknowledging Xemnu's previous adventures!) featuring the Defenders for Marvel Feature #3. Yes, the New Hulk vs. the Old Hulk!

Frank Miller (no, not that Frank Miller) becomes convinced that dogs have evolved in intelligence just as much as man but they're putting on a show so that they can surprise their masters and rule the world someday. Frank brings his theory to his best friend, psychiatrist John Redfield, who scoffs at his buddy's exclamations and insists he can prove him wrong. John has Frank bring Fido, Frank's dog, to his office and proceeds to hypnotize him, asking the canine some very pointed questions. When the dog does nothing but roll over and play dead and bay at the moon, Frank is convinced that he was a little hasty in his proclamations. Nearby, Pharaoh, the shrink's pet cat, laughs at the two morons and gets back to its plan for world domination. "There is a Brain Behind The Fangs!" spotlights some really nice work by Don Heck (almost Colan-esque in spots) and sports a fun twist in its tail.

Silas Bleede makes his millions off the misfortunes of others (one might say he "bleedes" them dry) and, once retirement comes, he moves to a small European village where he buys a huge estate. The only blemish is a tall tree that blocks his view of the mountains so, despite protestations and warnings from his neighbors, Silas chops the damn thing down. That night, branches crawl through Silas's bedroom window and chase him all through his mansion. With nowhere to run, trapped in the basement, the befuddled gazillionaire exclaims "I Can't Escape from the Creeping Things!" and promises he will let the tree grow back and not interfere. The branches retreat and Silas admits defeat, returning to America. As usual, there's not much to the script but Steve Ditko manages to ramp up the chills, making the CCA-approved strip as close to creepy as he possibly can. All in all, a pretty decent issue.-Peter

Strange Tales #78

Cover by Jack Kirby & George Klein

"A Martian Walks Among Us!" 

(a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers) ★1/2

(Strange Tales Annual #1)(r: Where Monsters Dwell #3)

"The Fantastic Menace of Mento the Mighty" (a: Don Heck) ★

"The Gargoyle!" (a: Paul Reinman) ★

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #3)

"Dear Reader: What Would You Have Done If You 

Were the... Worm Man?" (a: Steve Ditko) ★1/2

(r: Tower of Shadows #6)

A scientist comes across a spaceship on a lone stretch of road and witnesses the occupant exit the UFO. Before he can escape, the man is captured by the alien and the thing takes the form of the scientist, explaining that he is from Mars and is scouting Earth for an invasion. He can take on the form of any human and intends to set the world up for the upcoming Armageddon. For some reason, the dim-witted Martian also reveals the only way to distinguish him from a human being is by using infrared rays.

Once the Martian's hold on the scientist has diminished, he tries to warn the authorities but is met with derision and pelted with tomatoes. Knowing he is the only man who can save the Earth from the Martian onslaught, he very quickly invents an infra-red device that can sniff out the chameleon and confronts him. After a terrible hand-to-hand battle, the Martian is killed and our protagonist drops his disguise, revealing that he is a Venusian protector of Earth. As long as there are commies, Stan will use Martians to subtly get his views across. That's the message of "A Martian Walks Among Us!" Seems a bit short-sighted of the Martian not to kill our unnamed hero when he has the chance. That twist, where we discover that the alien has been defeated by another race of aliens, is about used up, no? Laughably, once he disrobes, his body is completely different than his human disguise. Dig those scrawny legs!

In "The Fantastic Menace of Mento the Mighty," a well-meaning scientist becomes obsessed with the power of his brain, using it to move objects and create fearsome monsters. In the end, his creations prove his downfall. Here's an exception to the Atlas rule that anyone who stumbles upon a dominating skill will use that power to attain great wealth. Mento is a rich, bored, brilliant genius who becomes convinced he can do anything with a mere thought (when he looks at a woman in a cafe and she looks back at him!) and then launches his plan to rule the world for no particular reason.

The world's homeliest man sees a want ad for a local carnival requesting ugly men. With no other jobs available, our unattractive schlub answers the ad and discovers too late that the tent he enters is actually a spaceship that blasts off for parts unknown. Waking up at the end of the journey, he's taken to the queen, a real babe, who explains that she's bored with the attractive men on her planet and wants something different. Yep, the climax of "The Gargoyle!" is another variation on the old "beauty is only skin deep" twist. In "... (yadda yadda yadda) The Worm Man," a spy takes a pill and becomes very small in order to steal super-secret documents from a brilliant scientist. The agent's espionage is upended by the actions of a rat and he's faced with an impossible decision: call out for help or remain teensy weensy forever. Ditko but rushed Ditko.-Peter

Tales of Suspense #12

Cover by Jack Kirby & George Klein

"I Alone Know the Dread Secret of Gor-Kill, the Lurking Demon!" (a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers) ★1/2

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #1)

"I Must Find 'Those Who Lurk Below'" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★

(r: Fantasy Masterpieces #2)

"The Monster in My Cellar!" (a: Reed Crandall) ★★

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #4)

"I Met the Thing on Midnight Island!" (a: Don Heck) ★1/2

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #4)

A blob of gas from outer space lands in a body of water held back by the Krakow Dam and absorbs the water, becoming a fearsome water creature. The monster menaces a nearby town, crushing houses and flooding streets, but when the townsfolk follow it back to the dam it disappears. After this happens a few times, the town layabout, Hans Grubnik, figures out that the monster is composed of water. He steals some dynamite and blows up the monster before it can reach the ocean and become unstoppable; for his efforts, Hans is jailed for stealing explosives.

"I Alone Know the Dread Secret of Gor-Kill, the Lurking Demon!" is all wet. It's full of the usual Kirbyisms, like groups of people looking upward in horror with someone pointing. The inhabitants of the town are pretty dumb not to realize that the monster is made of water. I fail to understand how dynamiting water would do anything. Maybe Gor-Kill will return.

On a 19th-century penal colony on an island, a prisoner named Pierre is given a special task by the cruel guard, Kragok, who tells Pierre to clean up ancient ruins under the prison. Pierre discovers a book and begins to read "The Legend of the Earth Dwellers," about an ancient alien race that came to Earth but found it too hot. They built powerful machines to dig below the surface and built a city far below to live in peace.

Convinced the story is true, Pierre digs and digs until he finds one of the machines. Kragok laughs at Pierre, since he planted the book for the prisoner to find, but the jailer is shocked when the machine begins to work and Pierre disappears below the Earth! The prisoner is welcomed by the underground alien race and Kragok spends years digging in vain, searching for the land of peace and contentment.

Ditko's art is even better than usual on "I Must Find 'Those Who Lurk Below!'" In some panels it looks like Frazeztta's work. The story is okay and the end is unsatisfying, but the art is the real draw.

A writer of sci fi tales promises his editor a great monster tale, so he goes home, sits down at the typewriter, and begins to write a story as if it's really happening to him right now. Imagining a tall, reptilian, one-eyed creature in his basement, the writer is startled to hear a noise from below! He explores and finds the monster he created in his own basement! A locked door doesn't stop it, but when the writer realizes that the thing is a creation of his own mind, he thinks it back out of existence and vows never to write another monster saga.

It seems like it's been awhile since we've seen anything from Reed Crandall and I say welcome back! "The Monster in my Cellar!" breaks no ground and is predictable, but the great EC veteran's panels are always welcome.

A sailor named Rick Jordan finds a message in a bottle that reads, "Help--I'm stranded on Midnight Island"! Rick rushes to said island and explores it but finds only a big, apelike monster with fangs. Rick manages to escape back to his boat. The next day he tries again but finds only the monster on the island. At night, he sees a spaceship land on the island to take the monster away. Finally, dopey Rick realizes that the beast wrote the note.

Forget the story and enjoy Don Heck's sharp artwork, which looks like it could fit well onto the old Sunday adventure pages in a newspaper. Heck may not have possessed Kirby's natural comic book talent, but his draftsmanship was certainly more accomplished.-Jack

Tales to Astonish #13

Cover by Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko

"I Challenged... Groot! The Monster from Planet X!"

(a: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers) ★★

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #6)(Weird Wonder Tales  #19)

"I Found the Abominable Snowman!" (a: Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko) ★1/2

(r: Chamber of Darkness #7)

"My Friend Is... Not Quite Human!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #6)

"I Found the Hidden World!" (a: Don Heck) ★★

(r: Tower of Shadows #8)

A guy named Leslie and his whiny wife Alice are driving home from a party one night when they see something come out of the sky and land in the forest. A few days later, Alice reports that two of their trees are missing and a friend's wooden fence has disappeared! Leslie heads to the forest to investigate and finds a giant tree monster that attracts wooden objects to its body. Soon, the monster is heading for town; it announces that its name is Groot and it wants to take the town back to Planet X for experiments.

"I Challenged... Groot! The Monster From Planet X!" says Leslie, who tells the creature that he'll come up with a way to destroy it. Fire doesn't work--Groot is too tough to burn. As Groot wreaks havoc, Leslie is bent over a microscope in his lab, soon announcing "Eureka!" He sneaks up to Groot, lets out a bunch of termites, and before you know it, the monster from Planet X is finished.

Alice is a complete jerk! On the way back from the party she tells her husband that she wishes he were more manly and rugged like someone named George. When they see the spaceship crash, she's too tired to go take a look. When Leslie says he's going to the forest, she remarks that the walk will toughen up his muscles! When he's working in his lab to find a way to defeat Groot, she complains that he's weak and spineless. Only when he defeats the monster does she have a change of heart: "Oh, darling, forgive me! I've been such a fool! I'll never complain about you again! Never!" Yeah, right. Leslie should sprint back to the lab and invent something to get rid of Alice.

In a Calcutta dive, Big Carl Hanson overhears a man bragging about the rare and valuable photo of the Abominable Snowman that he got. Too bad the picture is said to be cursed! Big Carl basically mugs the guy in an alley after dark and takes the photo but then decides he'll cash in big time if he goes to the Himalayas and finds the real Snowman. Big Carl takes a train to the mountains, where every native to whom he shows the photo says it's cursed.

Not the brightest bulb, Big Carl hires a camel and a guide and goes up into the snowy mountains, searching for Bumble. Even the locals tell him to quit due to the curse. Does Big Carl listen? Nope. Eventually, it snows so much and his hair and beard grow so long that he himself becomes the Abominable Snowman pictured in the photo.

Even I remember the earlier version of this dumb story, from Strange Worlds #1 in December 1958, not even two years before. That version was drawn by Ditko and he inks this one. They should have left it alone.

A lonely sculptor named Gustav carves gargoyles to serve as figureheads on ships in France in the year 1799. One day, Napoleon and his men knock at the door; the general demands that the sculptor carve a wooden figure of Josephine, so Napoleon can be reminded of her when sailing. After some vociferous resistance, the sculptor agrees and carves a wooden figure of a beautiful woman. The statue comes to life at midnight on the eve of a full moon and Gustav is smitten. He delays giving the figure to Napoleon and visits a gypsy who gives him a potion that will turn him into wood so he can stand forever next to his beautiful statue. He stiffs the gypsy, which is never a good idea. At midnight, Gustav turns to wood and the female statue becomes flesh and blood, victim of a spell by the angry gypsy.

We all saw that one coming, didn't we? Still, Ditko's art is terrific in the ineptly titled "My Friend Is... Not Quite Human!" He's ready to start drawing Spider-Man very soon.

A scientist named Linus Whitehead posits that another world lives inside every TV set but dies before he can prove it. An ex-con named Joe who learned to repair TV sets while in prison decides to test the theory. After six months of experiments, he's visited by Frankie, another ex-con, who blames Joe for spoiling his plans to escape. Frankie turns on the experimental TV set to make noise to cover the gunshot when he blows Joe away, but before he can pull the trigger, Frankie is grabbed by a monster and pulled into the TV set! Joe is almost dragged in too but turns the box off just in time. Ever since that day, he wonders if he dreamed it.

I like Don Heck's art but he's not great at drawing weird dimensions or scary monsters, which is a problem when those are keys to the story's climax. The monsters in "I Found the Hidden World!" have pink fur and fangs and appear to be wearing shorts with suspenders. Not exactly the stuff of nightmares.-Jack

This Thursday...
Return With Us To An Ancient Time
When Mel Was Still Relevant!

And Next Thursday...
Shriek in Apathy at the
Sheer Inanity of Krang!

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 173: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Fantasy Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 158

November-December 1958

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Journey Into Mystery #49

Cover by Joe Maneely

"City of Giants" (a: John Forte) ★

"The Doctor Wears a Mask" (a: Alfonso Greene) ★1/2

"The World-Destroyers!" (a: Matt Fox) ★★

"The Little Green Man" (a: Sol Brodsky) ★★

"Morgan's Mad Machine!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★★1/2

"The Room with Two Billion Cards" (a: Sid Check) ★★

After a 15-month lay-off, Journey Into Mystery returns to a depleted line-up. The question is: will it bring quality or just keep its head above water like the two remaining titles?

While working on a formula for "some sort of perfume," evil, greedy chemist Eric Wolton accidentally whips up a green vapor that makes him giant. The gears start working in that twisted (but pretty smart) brain and Eric hits on the idea of vaporizing the rest of Bromburg and transforming them into giants. Once that feat is accomplished, the mad perfumer runs around under the feet of his neighbors and robs all the jewelry stores and banks of Bromburg. The giant city council holds a meeting to solve the problem of the "City of Giants." Another loony home-taught chemist resorts to nefarious deeds in order to line his pockets. When will these eggheads learn that crime does not pay in the post-code era?

Two "eminent sociologists" visit the rural town of Compton, hoping to find an answer to the burning question: why does this burg have the lowest crime rate of any city in America? To help the men in their research, the town historian relates the sad, twisted story of Doctor Wallace, a GP who arrives in town one day and immediately sets off a furor. You see, "The Doctor Wears a Mask." Yes, the man is never seen without his odd facial disguise, but hey, as far as medicine goes, no one can beat him. In fact, the town is downright astonished by the fact that the doc practically shows up at emergencies before the excitement starts.

After several severe accidents and building fires occur, the town rabble rousers use their McCarthy-era arithmetic and demand the doctor's head on a stick. After all, there has to be some reason he's always first on the scene. When they confront the physician, they demand he remove his mask and, when he does, they get the surprise of their lives. The doc is an alien sent from (in his own words) "out there" to help humankind. But this medicine man has had enough. Humans are stupid, stupid, stupid, and he's hitting the vapor trail. Having learned a lesson, the town votes out its mayor and other corrupt officials and... well, you know the rest. A town without crime. Another of the Stan Lee-esque message stories about loving your neighbor and not giving in to paranoia, delivered at a time when Stan was also okaying anti stinkin' Commie comics. 

In "The World-Destroyers!," three aliens arrive on Earth to detonate a bomb that will lay waste to mankind but make a simple blunder that proves costly. There's no reason given for the invaders' mission (perhaps our warring ways make the rest of the universe nervous?), but the simple plot is obviously second fiddle to the great art by Matt Fox. Stockbroker Marcus Gabel finds "The Little Green Man" in a curio shop while vacationing with his wife in Hong Kong and, fascinated by the little mandarin, he quickly snaps it up and takes it back to the States with him. Immediately, Marcus sees a change in how he views the business world and his decisions reap a fortune, but success comes with a  high price. His wife hates the change in him (she notes how he's starting look just like the jade statue) and his friends begin to shun him. Is the statue using some kind of supernatural force to transform Gabel from a mild-mannered stockbroker into Gordon Gecko? We've seen this plot (and umpteen variations) before, but the pace is quick and Brodsky's simple but efficient art is a plus.

Two con men stumble onto the sure thing: a goofy old inventor who's come up with a gizmo that turns rocks into gold. They think they're swindling the geezer but they end up tutored in the long run. "Morgan's Mad Machine!" elicited at least two chuckles from this grizzled old funny book vet and the climactic reveal is handled cleverly. It might be my imagination, but Ed Winiarski's pencils actually seem to be getting better. Last up this time is "The Room with Two Billion Cards," in which a washed-up actor discovers that all the world is, indeed, a stage. This one is slow-paced but almost won me over with its dark final panel.-Peter

Strange Tales #66

Cover by Joe Maneely

"The Ghost Came C.O.D." (a: Reed Crandall) ★1/2

"The Replacement!" (a: Alfonso Greene) ★

"The Voice of Fido!" (a: Werner Roth) ★

"It Waits Under the Sea!" (a: Al Eadah) ★★1/2

"The Eerie Experiment!" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★

"He Wore a Black Beard" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★★1/2

Antique store proprietor/con man Eban Goad has the perfect money-making scheme: he scans the obits for freshly interred corpses and sends faux invoices to the estates. Most of his victims don't hesitate to send him a check to avoid late fees, but Eban sends one notice too many and the dead man shows up at the antique shop to contest his bill. Oh, don't worry, CCA, this guy's not a zombie, but a Martian in disguise! "The Ghost Came C.O.D." sees the great Reed Crandall wasting his skills on a flimsy script.

On the run from the law and wearing a very "loud, checked jacket," killer Jack Hartley ducks into the bedroom of a dying man and steals his coat, thus assuring him of a clean getaway. Rummaging through the pockets of the coat, the criminal is astonished to find a plane ticket and heads quickly to the airport. After a brief skirmish with the pilot, the hood muscles his way on board but notices that there's no one else on the plane. The jet takes off and the cops later find Hartley's broken body in a field. Turns out Hartley took the dying man's place on a plane to Heaven, but St. Peter doesn't allow the living through the pearly gates. Or something like that. So dumb it's almost amusing, "The Replacement!" leaves so many questions unanswered and then, to compound the problem, tries to explain its plot hook in a lame, four-panel exposition that really does bring out the giggles.

In the all too predictable "The Voice of Fido!," Hank Walton wants to follow in his old man's footsteps as a new generation of ventriloquist but, instead of a wooden dummy, Hank wants to use his dog. No problem, Pop says, and sure enough Hank is an immediate hit. Then Fido starts spouting ad-libs. Sure, Pop is in the audience, but the old man admits it ain't him, so who's responsible for the new jokes? They both look at Fido and shrug. 

He's a genius and a really smart guy, but the Super-Secret Adventurers Club laughs and scoffs at Felix Bradin's notion that his little mini sub can cruise around the world under water for six months. Only one man believes in him, ultra-rich Harry Spahn! Harry promises to finance the entire trip, provided Felix takes Harry with him. Short on dough and figuring he could use the company, Felix quickly agrees but, as the days approach and Harry takes on a boss man's attitude, Felix regrets his decision.

On launch day, Felix gets up really early and jumps in the vessel, motoring away before Harry has his Omelette de la mère Poulard. Giggling, Felix can't wait until the world finds out he's conquered the undersea world. Then his curiosity gets the best of him and he explores a really weird cavern. Miles in, the cave door closes and Felix is trapped, hoping he can survive in this unknown realm on six months' worth of granola bars, Playboy magazines, and no porta-potty. As we leave a clearly disheartened Felix Bradin, we discover the steel plate cavern door is the ocean entrance to Marineland and (don't worry, CCA) the attraction will open in thirty days. Felix will be saved. "It Waits Under the Sea!" is goofy fun; we're expecting Harry Spahn to reappear, seeking revenge for the slight, but that never happens. Instead, we're given that last panel twist, one that's actually worth the wait.

In this issue's reminder that the Russkies are dirty rotten stinkin' rats, two 1977 teens run "The Eerie Experiment!" and use a special Ham radio to contact the Feds twenty years in the past to warn of a secret Commie meeting. The day is saved, but don't try to keep up with the complicated Carl Wessler (I know, I know, when have I ever used those three words together in a sentence) script. 

Okay, keep up, because I won't be repeating myself. Wally Rogers is insanely jealous of his friend and co-worker, Ralph Blaine, for stealing the company limelight with a secret project Ralph is working on that will change the course of history. Wally hatches an elaborate plot to frame his buddy for embezzlement but can't figure out a way to establish an alibi for himself in the process. Luckily, at that moment, a stranger appears in Wally's room and explains that he's from the future, out for a joy ride in his time travel machine. 

The lightbulb goes on over Wally's head and he talks the visitor into helping him with his criminal deed. But the forces of good always trump those of evil and Wally gets what's coming to him in the end. "He Wore a Black Beard" has a very complicated plot (that's two examples just in this issue of Carl Wessler taxing his brain) and the super surprising twist (sarcasm) is built upon the smile out loud assumptions that Wally wouldn't know Ralph was working on a time machine and, even funnier, wouldn't recognize his old pal with a mustache and beard. Still, that final panel of Wally running the whole scenario through his head is classic.-Peter

Strange Worlds #1

Cover by Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule

"I Discovered the Secret of the Flying Saucers!" ★★1/2

(a: Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule)

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #32)

"I Captured the Abominable Snowman!" ★★1/2

(a: Steve Ditko)

(r: Strange Tales Annual #2 & Journey Into Mystery #13)

"I Am Robot!" (a: Uncredited) ★★

(r: Strange Tales Annual #2)

"I Am the Last Man on Earth!" (a: Don Heck) ★★

Why does everyone laugh when a man tells them that "I Discovered the Secret of the Flying Saucers!"? He recalls being fascinated by the subject as he grew up, yet his investigation revealed nothing certain. One day, in a remote forest, he witnessed a flying saucer land! A voice entered his thoughts and explained that it came from another solar system and its civilization was far beyond our own. Overpopulation led to space exploration, which led to an unintended landing on Earth. The alien will leave tonight, as soon as it regains its strength, and asks the man to tell no one about it until it's gone. In exchange, the man asks to see what the alien looks like, and the alien responds that it is the spaceship! Of course, after it's gone, no one believes the man's story.

This certainly feels like a milestone at Atlas Comics. The story is seven pages long and features Kirby pencils and many of the things we'll come to expect from him: inventive page designs, splash and half-splash pages, and detailed depictions of machinery. The story is not particularly novel and the big twist, that the spaceship is the alien, is handled well but followed by a pointless page of the man telling everyone what he saw in vain. Still, the story gives me hope that Atlas might try something new.

Hoping to be able to announce to the world that "I Captured the Abominable Snowman!," a greedy man steals equipment and plans from a scientific expedition and sets off alone. He finds a Lama monastery and forces an aged lama to take him to meet the Yeti. The creature approaches the lama, who transforms it into a human. The greedy explorer then learns that he must take the place of the Yeti until the next selfish man comes along.

Ditko's art is the highlight of this story, which follows a familiar pattern. The aged lama foreshadows Ditko's depiction of the Ancient One and the artist creates suspense on page four with a trio of panels that show the explorer in increasingly close shots as he awaits the Yeti's arrival.

Thorne, a scientist in the year 2468, creates a robot sensitive enough to handle a delicate object, yet strong enough to punch through a wall. This new robot can also speak and think! Thorne agrees to let the robot spend six months in his home taking care of his infant son, and if all goes well, thousands of the robots will be produced. Thorne's wife is fearful of the mechanical man, but the inventor reassures her. One day, the parents leave their son alone with the robot to test it. While they're gone, space aliens land and grab the little boy. The robot fights them off and they leave, but he is damaged in the battle. He pitches off a cliff and is found in wreckage at the bottom after Thorne returns. Everyone thinks the robot went berserk and plunged to its doom, and Thorne agrees that no more units will be produced. No one knows that it saved the child and the human race.

"I Am Robot" does not benefit from art by Kirby or Ditko; in fact, the GCD is unable to identify the artist, and I can't, either. The story is narrated by the robot but is not particularly engaging.

In the year 2035, a spaceship from Earth lands on the planet Xernes and  spacemen discover that humans could live almost 500 years before reaching old age. On Earth, people are so excited that they spend the next decade in a mass exodus to the new planet, destroying all their property before they leave. In the end, the last man and woman (named Adam and Eve) agree to start rebuilding Earth civilization.

Don Heck's art is impressive on "I Am the Last Man on Earth!" but the story is drawn out and pointless. It seems that Adam and Eve (groan) think the rest of civilization should not have given up the happy, peaceful life they had built on this planet. It didn't make much sense to me. This first issue of Strange Worlds is interesting in that it is more geared toward science fiction than the Atlas fantasy titles and it features three of the artists who would soon make Marvel a successful comic company. It'll be interesting to watch the title develop.-Jack

World of Fantasy #15

Cover by Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule

"The Secret of Stephen Durham" (a: Kurt Schaffenberger) ★★

(r: Journey Into Mystery #17)

"He Stole 50 Years" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★★

"Mystery of the Mountain" (a: Christopher Rule) ★

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #38)

"Strange Doings in Cell 4-B!" (a: Joe Certa) ★1/2

(r: Vault of Evil #19)

"The Uncanny Keys" (a: Richard Doxsee) ★

(r: Vault of Evil #16) 

"The Sinister Supermen" (a: Sam Kweskin) ★

Clark Wendall wonders, what is "The Secret of Stephen Durham"? They are close pals and research scientists, whose fathers had great adventures together, but lately, Stephen has been jumpier than ever. Clark peruses his father's diary and reads of an escape from an Aztec death trap and a close call with a giant octopus. During a lecture about how an object traveling at the speed of light will not be subject to aging, Steve jumps up and suggests that he and Clark head to Mexico.

They visit the same places where their fathers barely avoided death, and Clark wonders how Steve seems to know about these events without having read his father's diary. Back at home, Clark follows Steve and witnesses him entering a chamber where he travels at the speed of light. Clark suddenly realizes that Steve is really his father, who has kept himself young.

This has to be a Wessler script, since it has some interesting events along the way but is overly complicated and ends with a revelation that isn't very interesting or surprising. At least Kurt Schaffenberger turns in a professional job on the art.

A newspaper publisher named Slade prints lies and uses blackmail to silence complaints. He forces a scientist named Carlin to show him the Electronic Cavalcader, which brings to life events of the next fifty years. Slade spends the night watching all of the amazing things that will happen in the decades to come, unaware that, in the end, he will have aged fifty years and all his notes will be too yellowed and faded to read.

I was pleasantly surprised by "He Stole 50 Years." in which we learn that there will be a revolution in the Soviet Union in 1967 and that the Eastern Bloc will be free by 1969, atomic power plants and atom-driven planes will follow, and deadly diseases will be cured. Interplanetary travel will occur in 2000, and a woman will be president by then. It's a shame that none of this came to pass, at least not in the positive, lasting way portrayed here. I especially liked the last panel, which shows a suddenly aged Slade.

Two state troopers are puzzled by "The Mystery of the Mountain," which consists of silent explosions at Mount Rushmore in the middle of the night. A professor from D.C. is called in and posits that the explosions are coming from a parallel dimension, whose inhabitants are honoring one of their great men. Sure enough, the bust of an unknown spaceman appears next to that of George Washington. A pointless story with listless art, this one is unsettling in light of the current president's desire to see his own face join the others.

A brawny prisoner named Porter discovers that his elderly cellmate, Pop, can make things appear just by wishing. Porter decides that the "Strange Doings in Cell 4-B!" can be used to his advantage, and he forces Pop to wish for three guns and a car. The jail break is going well until the guns and car suddenly disappear and Porter and his pals are captured. To their dismay, they learn that Pop died of old age and, when he passed away, the things he wished for disappeared.

Joe Certa's art is solid if a bit on the cartoony side--Pop reminds me of Uncle Marvel from the Captain Marvel comics.

Shelton's uncle sends him out to get a copy made of the key to his safe. Shelton visits a locksmith where he sees the proprietor in a room filled with treasure! The man explains that it's due to "The Uncanny Keys," which are magical and which he received from a gypsy. Shelton grabs the key ring and finds that each key reveals a different room when put into the keyhole of any door. After finding himself in rooms filled with silver and gold, followed by a South Sea island, Shelton turns one key too many and finds himself in a prison cell with no keys. He realizes that the last key was a jail key!

Of all the Atlas artists, Richard Doxsee may be the most disappointing, since he's gone from terrific to terrible in a short span of time. The worst thing about this story is that the panels that are supposed to show the rooms filled with treasure barely show anything.

A sailing ship and its crew are mysteriously drawn toward an island by "The Sinister Supermen," criminals who were hiding out there in a cave when an H-bomb test accelerated their evolution to the point where they were all brain and little protoplasm. Having proved their unlimited power to themselves, they let the sailors leave and only the force of nature prevents the ship from being drawn into a whirlpool. The island and its inhabitants sink out of sight.

It's always hard to identify the worst story of a post, but this has to be it. The art is so weak that, in the panels where the supermen first appear, I first thought a kid had taken a marker and scribbled random lines on the page. After a few moments of study, I realized that those lines were actually supposed to be the outline of an arm and hand with a pointing finger.-Jack

Next Week...
The Era of Ditko and Kirby
Officially Begins...
But Will They Bring 
Quality With Them?

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 168: Atlas/Marvel Horror & Science Fiction Comics!

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 153

August 1957 Part II

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Mystery Tales #54

Cover by Fred Kida

"The Last Lap" (a: Reed Crandall) ★★

"Prisoners of the Valley of Fear!" (a: Jay Scott Pike) ★1/2

"Death of a Gambling Man!" (a: Frank Bolle) ★

"Can of Soup!" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★

"Nobody!" (a: George Klein) ★1/2

"The Labyrinth!" (a: Sid Check) ★★

Race car driver Rex Bilbo will do anything to win and that includes cutting his competitors off at the final lap. This is how Rex wins. Then along comes "The Kid," the fastest racer anyone's ever seen. Rex knows he can't beat the newbie, so he loosens the young man's tires; next day, on "The Last Lap," The Kid hits the wall and... bloooey!

The other racers know what Rex has done but can't prove it. But they'll get him, they promise. One night, when Rex is working on his GTO, The Kid rises from the grave (still wearing his speed racer outfit) and heads for the track. Next thing we see is Rex's new auto, with real human skin upholstery, Rex's eyeballs as headlights, and a tank full of blood. Alas, that's not what happens, but in the early pages it sure seems like we're going to get the first honest-to-gosh EC-style revenge tale in years and the cherry on top is the Reed Crandall art. The CCA wouldn't have okayed my scenario, but the sappy (and inane) climax we're given is safe enough for the 8-year-olds. No nightmares here.

Planes flying through Austria are disappearing from sonar without a trace. Government agent Alfonse Grumet suspects foul play, so he commandeers a dirigible to fly the same path in hopes the truth will unravel. Sure enough, the blimp reaches the same area as the missing planes and is stopped in mid-air by a huge net. The net brings the vehicle to a landing and Grumet and crew are taken prisoner by a group of bald ruffians. Grumet is taken to the wizard of this Valley of Fear, disgraced Professor Kalendru, whose theories of... something... drew waves of laughter from his colleagues.

As his revenge, Kalendru traveled to this deserted valley and created a city of miracles. Kalendru orders his mute slaves to take the dirigible to a populated city and kidnap hundreds of people in order to build Kalendru's army of slaves. But Grumet has an ace up his sleeve and puts the kibosh on the evil emperor's plot. Everything about "Prisoners of the Valley of Fear!" smells like an old cinema serial, with hidden cities, beast-men, and an explosive finale. The elements it's lacking are a good script and excitement. We're never really clued in to what Kalendru's goal is; he builds a "paradise" to get even for all the slights aimed at him through the years. Heck of a revenge.

Larry Hall worked for Matt Trevor, one of the biggest crooks in the city. Trevor is opening a new casino and his biggest enemy is the mayor, whose daughter happens to be in love with Larry. Get all that? Well, when Trevor gets wind of the secret affair, he uses the mayor's daughter as a pawn in his war with her father. Luckily, Larry stumbles on a secret room at the new casino filled with chemicals and stuff. He uses the potions to make the casino disappear, thus preventing any harm to his one true love. Larry has made the ultimate sacrifice. "Death of a Gambling Man!" (hey, spoiler alert!) is cheesy Wessler pulp junk that's good for a couple of chuckles when it changes direction in the final page, but little else.

Starving, a hobo steals a "Can of Soup!" from a truck, unaware that this "soup" is actually nitroglycerine. It's evident right from the get-go what the mystery can is, but what's not clear is why Stan okayed the truly awful Robert Q. Sale art. Yeccch! In the equally brainless "Nobody!," a flight filled to the brim with stinkin' Commies lands in Moscow to find an empty city. Panicked, they jump back onboard and head to the next Red city they can find. Same thing. "Nobody!" In the end, it's all a case of brain manipulation by a stinkin' Commie scientist. They see only what he wants them to see. But the joke's on Ivan when he tries to end the hold on his comrades' brains and the machine goes kaput. So does the plane. 

"The Labyrinth!," the final story in Mystery Tales #54, helps the title go out on a high note (or at least a higher note than the four stories that preceded it). A race of underground men try to make it to the surface world but can't seem to work their way through a maze of tunnels. Turns out the poor chaps are stuck in a subway tunnel. Some nice throwback penciling (meaning it looks like the penciling was done in the 1940s) by Sid Check and a fairly decent twist ending. Quality-wise, the 54-issue run of Mystery Tales was middle of the pack, neither better nor worse than its sister pubs. Two stories from pre-code MT made my Top 50 list: George Tuska's "Marion's Murderer" (from #14) and Bill Benulis's "The Little Monster" (from #15).-Peter

Mystic #61

Cover by Bill Everett

"Someday It Will Open" (a: Richard Doxsee) ★

"The Thirteenth Floor!" (a: Bernard Baily & Gene Fawcette (?)) ★

"Mister Backwards!" (a: Frank Bolle) ★★

"Too Dangerous to Live" (a: Carl Burgos (?)) ★

"The Strange Sea!" (a: Alfonso Greene) ★

"The Face in the Mirror!" (a: Joe Orlando) ★1/2

Professor Klauser returns from the jungles of South America with a souvenir, an odd, stone-like object he dubs a "thought pod." Kaluser is convinced that if he concentrates on something hard enough, that thought will materialize from out of the pod. His colleagues all think he's daft, but Klauser sits in his chair staring at the pod, certain that "Someday It Will Open." And it does. It just doesn't produce anything interesting, unfortunately. Not even the Doxsee art can elevate this one above the basement floor.

Brand is convinced the partying people on "The Thirteenth Floor!" are wearing priceless jewels and he's intent on robbing them. His friends tell him he's nuts since the hotel has no 13th floor, but he's convinced it isn't a mirage. When one of the hotel employees tells him that the hotel used to have a 13th floor but it was destroyed by a fire and never rebuilt, it gives him an idea. He sets a fire and watches as all the "shadow people" run into the elevator. He heads for their jewelry but fate has other ideas. What a dumb story! How can an entire floor of a hotel building be destroyed and removed without affecting the floors above and below? 

Ralph Paval buys a wonderful hourglass at an auction house and quickly learns it has the remarkable power of turning back time. All Ralph has to do is turn the hourglass over and... ta-da!... it's the past. Of course, since Ralph is living in the Atlas Universe, the first thing he does is rob a bank. Then he turns the hourglass over several times and it's ten years before. Ralph takes the money he made from the robbery and invests it in a sure thing in the stock market. Ralph's not as smart as thinks, though, as evidenced by the G-Men who come to arrest him for counterfeiting. The dope used 1957 currency in 1947! You'd think that would be the end of "Mister Backwards!" but, as with Mr. Brand in the previous story, Ralph finds fate has a way of evening things up for time travelers. I thought this one was semi-clever, but my only question would be, if Ralph is going back in time, why does he get to keep the dough he robbed in 1957, a heist he hasn't even committed yet? Am I thinking too much?

Really smart genius Professor Rajec is forced by the stinkin' Commies to build the perfect weapon, an explosive device they plan to use on the enemy. The Reds test three ounces of Rajec's formula and it destroys a square mile of land, but it also gives Rajec a bad case of amnesia; he can't remember the formula. After interrogating and torturing him for weeks, the Commies leave him be, hoping his brain will come around. At last, Rajec tells his bosses he's okay and ready to build another, bigger gizmo. But Rajec has a better idea and a better device to build: an air purifier that will suck up all the radioactivity caused by his first bomb. When last we see the professor, he's driving away with a U.N. escort, and the Commie colonel who once led his interrogation is giving him a thumbs-up. Bar none, "Too Dangerous to Live" contains the fastest (and funniest) transformation from bloodthirsty sadist to peacenik ever portrayed in a funny book strip. 

In the three-page, "The Strange Sea!," Jeff Marlowe yearns to be a seafaring lad like his ancestors, so he signs up to be a sailor. On his maiden voyage, he's swept overboard by a giant wave but, luckily, he's saved... by his great-grandfather. I know just how Jeff feels, swirling around in a whirlpool of bad comic stories. The finale, the last story ever to appear in Mystic, stars a pair of thieves, one of whom has become something of an animal, brutalizing everyone he comes in contact with. "The Face in the Mirror!" has yet another predictable, inane twist ending and uninspired Joe Orlando art. Four Mystic stories placed in my Pre-Code Top 50 list: Sol Brodsky's "The Devil Birds" (from #4, which landed smack dab in the number one spot), Mort Lawrence's "Help Wanted" (from #19), "The Living and the Dead" (from #26), and Russ Heath's "Who Walks with a Zombie" (from #27).-Peter

Mystical Tales #8

Cover by Fred Kida

"Stone Walls Can't Stop Him!" (a: Doug Wildey) ★★

"The Dream People!" (a: Ruben Moreira) ★1/2

"The Lair of the Thunder Lizard!" (a: Bernie Krigstein) ★★1/2

"The Sleeping Man" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★1/2

"Try-Out!" (a: Sid Check) ★★

"The Island of No Return" (a: Sam Kweskin) ★

A convicted killer named Carl Brent walks right through the bars of his prison cell as if they were not there! Even "Stone Walls Can't Stop Him!" and he walks through one of those as well on his way to freedom. Roy Anders, the prison guard, doesn't tell anyone because he thinks he'd be ridiculed. He goes home and his wife encourages him to consult his "scrapbook case histories of all the men who have been executed on Death Row." (Roy is clearly a little off.)

Reading about Brent, Roy recalls that the criminal seemed to have a heart, never taking all the cash when he robbed a store and begging for forgiveness from a young woman he mistakenly shot during a holdup. When the woman, whose name was Molly Spinner, died, Carl was sentenced to death. Roy has an idea and drives to the cemetery, where he observes Carl kneeling on Molly's grave, asking her to forgive him. Roy hears her voice granting forgiveness and the guard drives back to the prison, where he learns that Brent was found dead of a heart attack on the floor of his cell, a contented smile on his face.

Doug Wildey does a decent job with this rather mournful story and I enjoyed it. The final twist, such as it is, comes from the surprise on the face of the guard on duty when Roy tells him he knows Carl died with a smile. Not much of a twist, but a pretty good story.

After dreaming of standing before an audience, a playwright named Baker is convinced his new play will be a hit. "The Dream People!" can't be wrong! Instead, his play is rejected and one written by his roommate, Philips, is accepted. Baker lies to Philips and takes his place, taking credit for the work and watching the rehearsals. Philips catches on and threatens to go to the cops, so Baker kills him just as the police burst in. He is tried and convicted and finally realizes that the audience he dreamed of was the members of the jury. Once again, Ruben Moreira works hard with a run of the mill idea.

Old Edouard Duval likes to spin yarns about seeing dinosaurs in a nearby cave, describing it as if it were "The Lair of the Thunder Lizard!" Young Jacques Rambeau doesn't believe it and enlists two friends to explore the caves with him to show that the old man is making up stories. The trio descend into the cave and photograph what lies in the darkness, certain it's nothing. To Rambeau's surprise, when the film is developed, it shows the thunder lizard! Duval volunteers to visit the cave and Rambeau agrees to film the outing; the old man shoots into the darkness and the film records the death of the creature. The cave is sealed off and Duval is a hero! Days later, Rambeau finds a small lizard that crawled into his camera and looked big in the pictures. He doesn't have the heart to burst the old man's bubble. Leave it to Krigstein to wring some emotion out of a weak story by Wessler. The artists gets the feeling of the French folk right and Rambeau's kind decision at the end seems genuine.

In the year 1457, Wolfgang Roebling invents a machine but when he shows it to the authorities they throw him out, insisting that it's evil. On his deathbed, Roebling entrusts the machine to his faithful servant, Karl Rieger, who promises not to give up until the world recognizes Roebling's genius. In a secret cellar room, Rieger sleeps for a century and awakens to show the machine to a man in Italy, who calls it a work of darkness. "The Sleeping Man" nods off in the catacombs for another century, wakes up, and tries his luck in Paris, where he is nearly killed when one of the king's ministers doesn't react well to the invention.

He sleeps for another hundred years in a cave in the Pyrenees, but when he wakes up, the king's secretary tries to steal the machine and Karl runs off to another extended nap in a tower castle. He gets the same reception in England in 1857. Finally, it's 1957 (surprise!) and Karl stows away on a ship to America. He arrives, but the perpetual motion machine Roebling invented 500 years before is scoffed at. Karl finds an underground spot to doze off and the robot hopes that, in a hundred years, the machine will be accepted. I kind of liked this story, not for the hideous art by Sale but rather for the plucky robot who keeps thinking that, if he just tries again in 100 years, people will accept his inventor's gizmo. I did not know he was a robot till the last panel, so I guess Wessler got me this time.

A booking agent named Stanton yawns through a presentation by a man named Lund, who narrates a travelogue to Neptune, the Earth's core, and the moon while showing images from a projector on a screen. He then suggests a talk on telepathy and ESP, but Stanton is unmoved. After the "Try-Out!" fails and Lund exits the office, Stanton is shocked to discover that Lund accidentally left the projector behind and there's no film in it! Sid Check's regular panels with people talking are smooth and the panels where he depicts the wonders presented by Lund are impressive, but they're not enough to make the story interesting.

Bruce Marner bullies everyone in Merville, a small town on the coast of Canada, and has one thing on his mind when he sees Hover Island, where there's a safe filled with gold coins in a long-abandoned bank. Marner commandeers a boat and heads out to "The Island of No Return," but when he gets the gold and tries to navigate his way back to the mainland, he discovers that the boat keeps ending up back at the island. Sam Kweskin's art on this forgettable story is a hair better than that of Robert Q. Sale on "The Sleeping Man," but the narrative is much less interesting.

So ends the short run of Mystical Tales, which never rose above the level of ho-hum. My highest-rated story was "Someone Behind Me!" by Reed Crandall, in #3.-Jack

Next Week...
Watch Helplessly as Matt Fox
Tries to Save Atlas From
the Deadly Implosion!