Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 139: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Horror Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 124

October 1956 Part IV

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Uncanny Tales #48

Cover by Russ Heath

"Power Mad!" (a: George Roussos) ★1/2

"The Whirlpool" (a: Bob Forgione) ★1/2

"The Night Watcher!" (a: Bill Everett) ★★1/2

"They'll Never Find Me" (a: Doug Wildey) ★1/2

"What Happened to Harry?" (a: Pete Morisi) ★

"The Door I Dare Not Open!" (a: Jim Mooney) ★1/2

With his new "Compound K" formula, scientist Conrad Elton finds he can bend the will of his favorite dog, Otto. So why shouldn't it work on people? Conrad begins to dream of unparalleled power, unending wealth, and a wife like Christina Urbana! Sure enough, when Conrad dumps a vial of "CK" into the punch at a social gathering, everyone in the town of Nordsburg votes him mayor and Christina accepts his proposal of marriage.

But, after just a few months of mayordom, Conrad's magic begins to wear away and, after demanding a new City Hall be built, the villagers light torches and chase Conrad and Christina (and Otto) out of town. Suddenly, while driving, Conrad realizes that it wasn't "CK" that won him the trust of his neighbors, but love. Gosh, how sweet. "Power Mad!" perfectly represents all that was bad about the post-code. Just two years before, Conrad would have been taken to the nearest town square and disemboweled for his grievous errors, but here we see him heading into a new life, completely cleansed of bad intentions. There's literally no suspense or danger in these yarns.

After his girlfriend leaves him for another man while he's fighting in the war, Jeff Dawson gives up, wanting only to die. So, naturally, he accepts a professor's challenge to recreate the raft voyage of a group of South American Indians, who disappeared and were found safe thousands of miles away in the Polynesian Islands. Days into the journey, Dawson's raft is sucked into a whirlpool and he awakens in an undersea cave, surrounded by fishmen in bad spacesuits. They tell him that he will never be released and suddenly Jeff Dawson wants to live! "The Whirlpool" is yet another story about the triumph of the will and all that, with nary a surprise nor a twist in sight (well, except for the fact that Dawson seems to exist for a long period of time on a small box of provisions). 

An alien lands in the middle of a backwoods forest, looking for the dominant species in order to duplicate it and then rule the world. Along comes brain-dead hick (well, at least that's what the other hillbillies in Coonskin Junction call the poor man) Pete, hunting raccoons with his trusty dog, Bob. But Pete ain't so dumb after all and he tricks the alien into transforming into a raccoon before he gives it both barrels. "The Night Watcher!" is a fun little distraction with some decent Bill Everett artwork. If only they gave poor Bill something to draw other than Pete, Bob, and a smoke monster. Definitely a waste of a master's talent.

In the three-page "They'll Never Find Me," escaped convict Jerry Owens hides in a satellite that is about to be launched into space. Weighing the cops outside his small shelter against fifty years in space, what will Jerry do? Well, I can't tell you that even if I wanted to because the story ends with Jerry's contemplation. In "What Happened to Harry?," the E-12 spaceship lands on Earth after five years in space and authorities are alarmed to discover that only one of the crew made it back and that's Harry. The sole survivor confesses that he had to leave the rest of his crew back on planet Zeno when a duplicate crew of explorers made it impossible to tell which batch were friends and which were foes. The climax is oddly muddled; I thought for sure we were going to be handed the old "the other guys are actually these guys from the past or future" cliche but, instead, no explanation is given.

Ben just has to get away from his wife, Julia, after a typically heated argument. When his car breaks down, he finds shelter in a remote house owned by a kindly old man who invites Ben to stay the night. "But," he warns sternly, "whatever you do, don't go through that door right there... no matter what, just don't open it, ya hear... no way no how should you go through that doorway!" Ben agrees but then finds it hard to sleep so, naturally, he opens the door and enters a misty corridor. 

There he witnesses a grim scene... his wife, Julia, standing over his fallen form, admitting she's poisoned him for the insurance money. He turns away and finds another door. Opening that, he sees himself captured by savage natives, the kind with bones in their noses, after the ship he's sailing on shipwrecks on a deserted island. Suddenly, Ben awakens to find himself in a partially constructed house with workers all around him. They inform him that the house is just now being built; Ben smiles and promises himself he'll find a pay phone to call Julia to tell her how much he loves her. Sure, right after he sees a glimpse of a future where the woman has killed him for his dough. Sounds like someone you want to run back to. The Mooney art reminds me that, aside from Bill Everett's work on "The Night Watcher!," this issue is filled with merely competent art.-Peter

World of Mystery #3

Cover by Bill Everett

"The Bugs!" (a: Angelo Torres) ★★

"Who is Raymas?" (a: Jack Davis) ★★★

"The Mystery Man!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

"I Received Letters from Nowhere!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★

"The Man Who Failed!" (a: Manny Stallman) ★

"Nobody" (a: Bernard Baily) ★

A metal thingie resembling the wing of an airplane crashes into the barn belonging to a hick farmer and his young son. The boy insists that the object is a spaceship, but the older man is having none of that. He cuts open a section and inside spots some bugs. The boy once again insists the craft is from outer space and that, with his younger eyes, he can see the "bugs" are actually space travelers. Having had enough of his son's poppycock, the hillbilly tosses the metal into the garbage and orders the boy back into the house. The last panel of "The Bugs!" proves the kid was right. The art of Angelo Torres is so radically different than that of some of the hacks working on the Atlas genre titles that anything sporting its sheen is, like those stories blessed with Everett, Ditko, Heath, and Maneely, eminently more readable despite cliched scripts.

A troop of entertainers, including Raymas the Magician, are forced to work in the factories owned by the stinkin' commies. Unfortunately for the Reds, Raymas begins a reign of mischief, shutting the plant down and forcing the State's leader, Baruta, to sign a peace treaty with a neighboring country. The politics are hazy, as is the meandering script, but the Jack Davis work is solid and the whole thing has an EC vibe to it. In my book, that makes this a standout this month.

Government agent Peter Dennis is tasked with finding an answer to why so many people across the world are sending large sums of money to a Professor Moros, who preaches a belief known as "cosmic harmony." When Dennis finally finds Moros, he tells the professor to denounce his own beliefs and tell the sheep who are sending him dough to put a halt to it. Dennis believes the old man is a crackpot, but an incident at a rally changes his mind. After Dennis is accidentally shot, Moros heals his wounds and begins to fade away, explaining that he will return when mankind is ready to hear his message of peace. The reveal for "The Mystery Man!" is very Klaatu barada nikto, but the graphics by young Steve Ditko are eye candy. Agent Dennis is a dead ringer for Ditko's Norman Osborn.

In "I Received Letters from Nowhere!," Eugene Page buys a ratty old mailbox from an antique store and, when it's installed, the relic spits out recipes for riches. Page's interest is piqued after he makes thousands on the tips received, but when he enlists the aid of postal inspectors, he discovers that the antique dealer has been running a scam. So how did his tips pay off?  In the inane "The Man Who Failed!," an inventor attempting to create a time travel machine accidentally whips up a space travel gizmo, sending him to Pluto. 

A strange being (let's call him "Nobody" for now), oddly dressed in what appears to be a superhero outfit is discovered in the desert and brought to a bevy of scientists for study. The creature cannot talk but, with the magic of word balloons, we discover that his name is Holdar and he's from another dimension. Some of his buddies from Dimension X arrive (they're invisible) and tell Holdar that the pressure from arriving on Earth has caused him to lose his memory. Now that the earthlings have found him and will no doubt yearn to trace his origins, Holdar must make the supreme sacrifice and remain on Earth.

After reading three more crappy Atlas comics,
Peter makes a startling confession

Holdar transforms into human form and regains the power of speech, explaining to the scientists that his name is John Billings and he was exposed to an atomic explosion, which explains his amnesia. The world's most brilliant men all nod in agreement that such a cataclysmic event would cause memory loss and no blisters. They accept Holdar's story, thus adding weight to P. T. Barnum's theory. The good will generated by the art for the first three stories in this issue is erased by the sheer ugliness found in the last three.-Peter

World of Suspense #4

Cover by Carl Burgos

"Something Is In This House" (a: Paul Reinman) ★1/2

"Bait!" (a: Manny Stallman) ★★

(r: Strange Tales #173)

"He's Hiding on Earth!" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★★

"They Were Reborn!" (a: George Roussos) ★★

"Volcano!"(a: Hy Fleishman) ★1/2

"Brainwash" (a: Bob Forgione) ★★

Phil Evans has a recurring nightmare in which he visits a big house where a maid and a dog both run in fright when they see something that Phil can't see. He wakes up and his wife Julie suggests a vacation, but as they drive, they suddenly see the house in Phil's dream. Phil approaches it alone (because there are some things a man must do alone) and the maid is terrified. Phil confronts her and she tells him that he is a ghost!

When we worked our way through the DC horror comics, we frequently encountered Jack Oleck. I don't recall if his stories were as bad as "Something Is In This House," but this one demonstrates that he must have learned at the feet of the master of confusion and dopey twist endings himself, Carl Wessler. Why does the maid call Phil a ghost? Who knows? It's page four, so it has to be over. Paul Reinman's art is mediocre.

Three scientists take a fishing trip and one hooks a bizarre fish from the depths that appears to have lungs. The boat captain is disappointed in the catch, especially when the trio want to cut the trip short and head back to land with their fish. The creature thinks back to its origin in the time of dinosaurs; when they became extinct, it shrank and hid in the depths of the ocean. Now it will grow again and go on the attack! Well, it would have if the captain hadn't cut it up to use for "Bait!" the next morning.

I'm getting used to Manny Stallman's art, which has an EC vibe in spots. The story isn't much and depends on the reader accepting that the captain is a simpleton.

Professor Duncan lectures his students, suggesting that even though there is no water on Mars, the Red Planet may still sustain intelligent life. A student named Bellows upsets the prof by arguing that any life form that could exist without water must be very simple. At home, Duncan muses about his true identity as a Martian, gathering data for the coming invasion; he catches Bellows snooping outside and follows him to the lake, where the professor confronts the student in a boat and admits that, as a Martian, "He's Hiding on Earth!" The boat tips over and Duncan disappears--Bellows realizes that he must have drowned because Martians would not need to know how to swim on a waterless planet.

Another alien invasion foiled by a simple thing! H.G. Wells must have been rolling over in his grave. Just once I'd like to see an Atlas Martian succeed! Sales's art is average and creates no reader interest or excitement.

Rex Mott and his mob held up an armored truck and stole a half-million bucks, but when a policeman makes a TV announcement that they know who did it and have blocked all exits from the city, Rex is concerned. He sees a TV interview with a scientist who can put people in suspended animation for 200 years, so Rex and the gang seek him out and take a very long nap. Upon awakening, they are greeted by bald men of the future and boast of their crime. One of the future men hands Rex a contract to appear on stage and Rex blithely signs it, only to discover that the whole thing was a fix; they never traveled into the future and his boastful confession was recorded.

I was so convinced that "They Were Reborn!" was a prototype for "The Rip Van Winkle Caper," an episode of The Twilight Zone, that the ending caught me off guard. It's not as clever or effective as Serling's twist, but the premise of this story is so similar to the later TV episode that I wonder, and not for the first time, if the great TV writer secretly read and mined Atlas comics for some of his plots (also see "The Bugs!," above).

Gerald Hawkes is a rich jerk who buys up the leases to the land in a Mexican village and then orders the residents to pay up or get out by tomorrow morning. Gerald has his eye on minerals under the ground, but that night, a nearby "Volcano!" erupts and pours gold nuggets into the village. The next morning, the villagers pay off their leases in gold and Gerald is forced to leave the area.

Simple, silly, and forgetful, the story matches Hy Fleishman's art.

A new American fighter jet being tested over Russia encounters problems and the pilot is forced to land in enemy territory. The plane explodes and the Russkies grill the pilot for details of the new plane, but he refuses to divulge any information. Starvation doesn't work. Depriving him of water doesn't work. He even resists the charms of a sexy agent named Marla. Diplomats order his release and the pilot returns home, where it is revealed that he is a robot and he, not the plane, was what was being tested! He resisted the enemy's attempt to "Brainwash" him!

Not a bad little story, with solid art by Forgione and Abel, this wraps up an underwhelming issue with a minor surprise and some good old anti-Communist themes.-Jack

Next Week...
The 200th Issue of Batman
Has to be Something Special, Right?

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 133: Atlas/Marvel Horror and Science Fiction Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 118

September 1956 Part I

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Adventure into Mystery #3

Cover by Bill Everett

"Next Stop Eternity!" (a: George Roussos) ★

(r: Giant-Size Chillers #1)

"Good-Bye Forever!" (a: Joe Maneely) ★1/2

(r: Chamber of Chills #17)

"Bedlam" (a: Paul Reinman) ★★

"A World Gone Mad!" (r: Jim Mooney) ★

(r: Fear #26)

"When the Time Comes!" (a: Bill Ely) ★1/2

"Behind The Locked Door..." (a: Howard O'Donnell) ★

"Next Stop Eternity!" opens Adventure Into Mystery #3 with a heaping helping of schmaltz. Bus driver Bill Walsh is in love with Jennie but she has eyes only for "the stranger," a handsome bloke who seems to have appeared out of nowhere. Bill wishes the guy would disappear.

One night, while the stranger is riding Bill's bus, the vehicle breaks down in the middle of a driving rainstorm. The stranger exits the vehicle and heads for a nearby station... a station Bill knows should not be there! When the stranger never shows his face in town again, the authorities question Bill, since everyone knew Bill had a thing for Jennie before love found other options. Cleared of all wrongdoing, Bill drives his route again and is amazed when Jennie boards his bus. 

Jennie rides that route for decades, looking for any sign of her vanished lover, and finally hits pay dirt when the station appears one stormy night. Bill watches, downtrodden, as the now old and wrinkled Jennie is reunited with the stranger. The years melt from her face and a smile forms. Bill harrumphs and rides on. Eye-rollingly bland, "Next Stop Eternity!" offers no solutions to the mystery (to be fair, the title of the comic book is Adventure Into... not Answers to...) nor rational behavior. How would the police begin an investigation into a guy who has no name? Does Jennie know his name or does she coo "Oh, stranger... you send me!" in his ear?

Inventor Hugo Valgon deliberately destroys his Valgon Ray Activator™ at the risk of death at the hands of his Commie bosses. Why? Good question. One day, while monkeying around with his VRA™, Valgon accidentally plugs a tube in the wrong slot and... presto!... he's transported to a world of splendor and peace. There he meets the gorgeous and scantily-clad Risa Skara and falls madly in love with the girl. When he asks her father for Risa's hand, Pop turns him down due to Hugo's small bank account.

Determined to prove to Pop Skara that he can provide for Risa, Hugo makes a return trip to Earth and returns to Barsoom with a fleet of Air Force jets and militia arms. Dad goes mad and begins bombing runs, alarming Hugo and convincing him that the arms must be destroyed. Task accomplished, Hugo bids Risa a fond fare thee well and heads back to Earth to destroy his VRA™. When his colonel hears Hugo's sad story, he vows to cover up the destruction of the big gizmo and fight for peace in a Communist world. 

What a load of crap. Though this is hackmeister Wessler at the helm, you can smell Stan's brand of "America--Love Her or Leave Her" politics all over "Good-Bye Forever!" The watering-down of the CCA doesn't help either. The transformation of Colonel Yubek from Red, child-eating monster to olive branch extending Ghandi in a handful of panels is one for the ages. I love how Valgon whines about his future dad-in-law using the materials he brought to impress him to wage war. If he's so concerned about peace in paradise, why pack grenades?! Maneely's a name I always welcome on a strip but this isn't Joe's best work. It looks rushed and lacks the usual Maneely dynamics.

Explorer Eric Lamont stumbles upon a handful of aliens while doing what he does in a South American jungle and begs the little guys to come back with him and bask in the glow of adulation sure to come to outer space visitors. The strangers politely decline, citing the color (yellow) and texture (smooth and silky) of their skin. They believe Earthlings would not take kindly to the intrusion and, to prove their point, they transform Eric into a mirror image of themselves and give him a week to prove them wrong. As expected, the ensuing "Bedlam" causes the aliens to cut their trip short and head back to Pluto. Eric sighs and wishes he'd gone to Colonel Yubek instead.

Returning home from a hard day at the office, Ed Wilson bemoans the fact that nothing ever happens on Maple Street. Then, much to his surprise, a vicious dog approaches Ed on his porch. But Ed doesn't own a dog! When he knocks on the front door, Ed is amazed to find a big, burly man answering and he's sure that he's fallen into "A World Gone Mad!" Well, actually, it's the local kids playing pranks on Halloween night, changing the street signs and all. Obviously, Ed's not the brightest bulb in the box since he can't tell his own house from a neighbor's!

In the three-page "When the Time Comes," astronaut cadet Baker takes his first trip into space and has a hard time quelling his panic. The real panic comes when Baker exits the rocket ship and discovers the whole thing was a training exercise... he never left Earth! Not bad for a short-short but we've seen the twist a time or two. In the closer, "Behind the Locked Door...", pretty but shy Lana Cummings can't find romance but at least she's got her hobby: telepathy. Then one day, her sixth sense leads her into danger when she identifies a "Most Wanted" criminal. But happy endings are aplenty in 1956 Atlas funny books as Lana finds herself a man as a result. More romance comic fodder with banal graphics. One of the worst single issues of the post-code Atlas era... and that's saying something!-Peter

Astonishing #53

Cover by Bill Everett

"The Hidden Valley!" (a: Lou Morales) ★★

"There Were 3 Victims!" (a: Sid Greene) ★★

(r: Weird Wonder Tales #14)

"Trapped in the Tunnel!"  (a: John Forte) ★★

"The Hunter's Prey!" (a: Dave Berg) ★★

"Down in the Cellar!" (a: Ted Galindo) ★

"Build Me a Machine!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★★

Magazine photographer/journalist Todd Scott is obsessed with learning the secret behind the Manaos, a tribe that disappeared 1000 years ago. Heading high into the mountains of Tibet with his faithful manservant, Arnark, Scott stumbles upon a beautiful valley hidden between the tallest peaks.

When Scott and Aardvark head into the village, they are startled to find that every person there is frozen in time. "They've been stopped in time for 1000 years!" surmises the brilliant cameraman. Heading into a temple, Scott discovers a huge, powerful telescope aimed at the stars. When he looks through the lens, he finds the contraption is aimed at... Mars! Turns out that every 1000 years, Mars is close enough to Earth that we can contact its residents. Scott immediately realizes that it's been 1000 years and... holy cow!... he can contact Martians! He does so but the communication does not go as planned. Never fear, though, since this is a post-code Atlas story we know Scott will be just fine. "The Hidden Valley!" is not too bad a read; it's fanciful and Lou Morales's graphics are above-average for the post-codes.

In 1994, four escaped convicts hide out on the Galaxy, a space shuttle whose main route is between Earth and a new colony on Mars. The cons want to go to Mars and they threaten Captain Sutton with death if he does not comply. Sutton cites Rule #345/3902.4893 of the Spaceway Rules and Regulations: "No escaped felons allowed on Mars!" To show they mean business, the thugs start tossing Sutton's co-pilots out one-by-one until he's the only one left of the crew.

Sutton sighs and agrees with the cons' demand. Later, they land, but not on Mars. They're back on Earth! At the trial for the four murderers, Sutton testifies that his friends and colleagues were heartlessly tossed out the hatch but the defense lawyer claims that, since the Captain has no witnesses, he can't prove a thing. Sutton tells the judge he has witnesses and he'll bring them to court if he's given a few days. Time passes, the court adjourns, and Sutton's three co-pilots appear to testify. 

How did these guys survive their space ordeal? And how did the Galaxy make it back to Earth? Easy! The three men grabbed onto the ship's wings and turned her around! I can't make this stuff up, boys and girls! The craziest thing about "There Were 3 Victims!" is that writer Carl "Do You Want It Good Or Do You Want It For Your Funny Book?" Wessler doesn't even attempt to explain how these three astronauts avoided the pressures of space without spacesuits and made it back to Earth without food. Carl didn't even fall back on the "they were robots the whole time" chestnut. And that makes this nonsense supremely enjoyable. Sometimes it's alright to listen to the Bay City Rollers instead of Cream. Sid Greene's art makes it look like this was a strip that sat around since the early 1940s.

"Trapped in the Tunnel!" continues this issue's theme of "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance..." A crew of tunnel diggers constantly belittle their biggest grunt, Biff, because the guy can't get a girl. Biff heads home one night, cuts a picture out of a Hollywood magazine, and presents the clip as proof he's got a girlfriend. The others are wise to the charade and tease Biff even more. Just then, the ceiling of the tunnel begins to leak and the boys head for the elevator. 

The damned thing's stuck and they say their prayers. Suddenly, the elevator car appears, manned by Biff's "girl!" The boys are rescued and explain to a reporter about their savior. The paperman laughs and points at the empty elevator. When they produce the pic of Biff's girl, the journalist explains that the blonde is Janet Marlowe who died five years ago!!! This one just loads inanity atop ludicrosity and hopes no one will question its logic. I sure won't.

In "The Hunter's Prey!" two big game hunters are looking for water buffalo when they happen upon a mammoth! But those mammals are extinct, I hear you say. Well, the exposition comes in the final panels when an alien arrives just as the two gunmen are about to be trampled. Seems as though he accidentally let the big guy out of his interplanetary zoo cage. 

The Mercers have been trying to get rid of their rundown house for months but no one will buy it. Now there's a torrential downpour and the ceiling is leaking. The basement is flooded. Mary can't even run her hairdryer for fear she'll be electrocuted. Then their realtor calls to tell them a young couple wants to have a look. "What the hell?" exclaims Bob, "This place is a dump!" But the shack must hold some kind of charm, since the couple make an immediate cash offer and ask the Mercers to be out by end of day. Mercers gone, the new occupants take their clothes off and jump in the flooded basement. They're merpeople! Most of these three-pagers are inane and "Down in the Cellar!" is no exception.

A failing commie dictator (well, we're never told he's Russian, but this is a Stan Lee-edited strip written by Carl Wessler, so...) demands that his top scientist build him a time machine so he can travel back fifty years (armed with blueprints for deadly weapons such as H-bombs, jet fighters, and rap music) and be BMOC. Though the egghead warns the czar that there are flaws in the time travel theories, the despot demands success. Time machine built, the egotistical, warmongering madman heads back half a century into the past and comes out the other side as... a baby! The extraordinary work of Steve Ditko would be enough to make "Build Me a Machine!" one of the best yarns of 1956, but the script by Wessler is also a clever winner.-Peter

Journey Into Mystery #38

Cover by Sol Brodsky & Carl Burgos

"Stone Face!" (a: John Giunta) ★1/2

"Those Who Vanish!" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

"The Mystery of the Missing Man" (a: Bill Walton) ★

"The Box That Wouldn't Open!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★

"The Secret of the Sargasso Sea!" (a: Bill Benulis) ★★

"The Sea Serpent!" (a: Ross Andru & Mike Esposito) ★1/2

Richard Dell, who runs a sideshow, buys a stone statute from a farmer whose plow uncovered it in a field. Dell displays "Stone Face!" but everyone thinks it's a fake. When Richard announces that he believes the stone man is real, it comes to life and turns everyone but Dell to stone. Distraught at what he has done, Richard announces that he no longer believes the creature is real, and it turns back to harmless stone.

The stone creature explains, in a long caption, that it's a dealer in black magic from a distant planet who was turned to stone and banished to Earth as punishment. How can we punish the writer and artist of this story for wasting the five minutes it took me to read it? I was certain that Dell would use a mirror to turn stony solid again, but no such luck.

After spending 20 years in the clink, Pete Arlen is free but without prospects. Near a pool called Chi-Ha-Nichi in Wyoming, he meets Chief Red Dust, an old Indian who claims that the water makes anyone who bathes in it 20 years younger. Since the chief says he's 104 but looks about 80, Pete buys the title to the pool for 25 bucks. In a nearby cafe, he meets Linda and Eddie and makes a nice profit by selling the title to the pool to Eddie for $3000. A few days later, Pete learns that not only are folks paying $500 each to bathe in the pool, it works! After a quick dip, "Those Who Vanish!" are sent back 20 years through a time warp and return looking younger. Pete decides to hop into the pool after everyone is gone, only to discover himself back in jail, twenty years before, once again starting his two-decade stint behind bars.

The GCD credits this story to Carl Wessler and I can believe it, since it makes twists and turns that don't make a whole lot of sense, and because the end is a flop. More impressive is the art by Ditko, who draws an impressive 80+-year-old Indian chief. Pete's face is a bit weird but Linda and Eddie look like they could have stepped out of a Spider-Man comic less than 10 years later.

Harvey Wilson wants to marry Gina and return to the States from the Middle East, but Gordon Dunbar holds an IOU from Harvey's gambling debts and threatens to show it to Gina if Harvey won't go along with his scheme to rob an old curio shop. That night, Harvey steals a small box from the shop and gives it to Gordon, warning him that he should throw it away due to scary noises Harvey heard in the shop. Instead, Harvey and Gordon visit Gina and, when Gordon enters a back room to open the box, a cry for help is heard. Harvey investigates and finds only the box, which the native shop owner quickly retrieves. Harvey and Gina agree to head for the U.S., while in the shop, the native proprietor adds a small figure to his shelf that looks just like Gordon.

The dreadful story in "The Mystery of the Missing Man" is matched by the dreadful art. Bill Walton should have stuck to basketball.

"The Box That Wouldn't Open!" is no better. Three hoods read in the paper that Dr. Neil Farr has made a discovery worth millions of dollars, so they break into his house, find him studying a metal box, and conclude that it must be valuable. They then do all they can to open it while he keeps popping pills. At Police HQ, Sgt. Dan Boyd has a hunch that the doc is in trouble, so he rushes to the house, then to a machine shop where the thugs have taken Farr and his box to try to pry it open. Boyd arrives and corners the thugs; Farr reveals that the box is empty and the pills are his great discovery, since they allow for thought communication.

Why is Captain Pearly Marston insistent on piloting his ship, which carries vital rocket fuel, into the whirlpool near the Sargasso Sea? Even he doesn't know. Once the ship reaches that sea, the crew find other ships that have ended up there. On one of them, the captain explains how he and his ship endured a similar fate. That night, Marston's crew report that the rocket fuel has suddenly vanished and, next thing they know, their ship is being towed to safety by... a rocket ship! It seems that the other ship on the Sargasso Sea was a rocket ship; it took the fuel from Marston's ship, headed out to space, and towed Pearly's vessel to safety. The art by Bill Benulis makes "The Secret of the Sargasso Sea!" worth reading; it doesn't hurt that it only lasts three pages.

It's funny how some of these stories can be elevated by quality art. Benulis, Ditko, Reinman (sometimes) and a few others were toiling for little money and no recognition, yet they turned out pages that still impress seven decades later.

Finally, in the "only at Atlas in the post-code years" comes "The Sea Serpent," which turns out to be a friend to humans and ships rather than a big, scaly monster. At this point in their career, Andru and Esposito draw art that is recognizably theirs but doesn't yet hit the excesses they would reach in the '60s and early '70s with bug-eyed characters. The best panels in this story are the ones with the sea serpent, which is actually pretty cool, at least until it turns into a Disney creature that uses its head to nudge ships out of trouble.-Jack

Journey Into Unknown Worlds #49

Cover by Russ Heath

"Invasion of the Metal Men!" (a: Joe Maneely) ★1/2

"I Am Nobody!" (a: John Forte) ★★

"The Moon for Sale!" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★★

"Forever and Ever" (a: Kurt Schaffenberger) ★1/2

"The Man Who Never Was!" (a: Harry Lazarus) ★1/2

"Address Unknown!" (a: Vic Carrabotta) ★

After the "Invasion of the Metal Men!" gets underway in 1983, the robots attack the capital city and take over the government. Senate President Milford speaks to the gallery, announcing that the metal men come from another planet and have brain power equal to that of humans, as well as impenetrable bodies. "'No! That's wrong!'" yells Ned Webb, a young ham radio operator who is thereafter mocked by everyone for daring to disagree with the brilliant Milford. A week later, the onslaught of the metal men is suddenly stopped by Ned, who leads them into a lake, where they vanish (and rust?). Ned tells the senators that he figured out that the robots were being controlled by radio waves from outer space, so he got on their wavelength and took over. The senators take credit for Ned's success and he laments that "'I'm still a nothing.'"

It's not just Ned. Wessler's script is terrible and Maneely's art isn't much better. The story never really gets going and ends on one of those typical Wesslerian letdowns.

John Mason is an actor who hosts the popular TV true crime show called Booked. He is so worn out from all of his celebrity appearances that he is happy to accept an offer from a mysterious fat man who will send him to a parallel world where he is unknown. It only costs $10,000! John agrees and forks over the money. He walks into the parallel world, where he is happy to realize that "I Am Nobody!" Happy, that is, until he overhears a couple of spies plotting and karate chops the gun from one of their hands. The F.B.I. rush in and want to arrest John, thinking he's a spy too and not believing him when he says he's a famous actor. He runs off and returns to his original world, relieved to be famous.

John Forte's art always seems a bit wooden to me, but it is decent enough to match this silly story. I've reproduced a panel where the word balloon is supposed to point to the man in the hat but looks like it points to the screaming teenaged girl.

Despite having been swindled before, Herman Doakes can't resist responding to an ad offering to sell lots on the moon for a dollar. He borrows a buck from his skeptical friend John, mails it off to P.O. Box X, and waits, his faith unshaken. Soon, a moon man knocks at his door to tell Herman that he now owns the whole moon because he was the only person who responded to the ad. As a result of his faith, he will run the moon men's business when Earthlings conquer space travel.

"The Moon for Sale!" contains no surprises, since anyone who has read more than a handful of Atlas comic book stories knows from page one that the ad will turn out to be legit by page four. The moon man is yellow with black spots all over his head and he wears a red turtleneck. I guess it was hard to keep coming up with interesting designs for alien creatures.

After his spaceship suddenly explodes on a trip to Venus, an astronaut is cast into the vast reaches of space, where he is lucky to be picked up by the space version of the Flying Dutchman. Kurt Schaffenberger's cartoony visuals are the only thing that makes this three-pager worth a look.

Two years ago, while on a picnic with Bess, his fiance, Vic Marshall was sucked up into a tornado and deposited in the year 1654 after passing through a time warp! He met and married Angela and they had a son. All was well until another tornado tossed Vic back into 1956, where he discovers that he is his own descendant. Fortunately, another tornado is on the way to return him to 1654.

If the GCD didn't credit this story to Carl Wessler, we wouldn't have much trouble identifying the author, since (as usual) the twists and turns never quite make sense. It's like a plot developed by Yogi Berra. The art by Harry Lazarus is serviceable.

When a young couple from Venus and their baby son mysteriously appear in Alex Gordon's barn, the farmer must fend off an angry mob. The GCD editor suggests that Ross Andru may have done some work on this story, which is signed by Vic Carrabotta; I've reproduced a panel here that could be the work of Ross the boss.-Jack

Next Week...
Nope, that's not Peter griping
about mediocre Bat-comics, it's
the latest Penguin epic!

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 104: Atlas/ Marvel Horror & Science Fiction Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 89

October 1955 Part II

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Mystic #40

Cover by Sol Brodsky

"The One Who Was Nowhere!" (a: Bill Everett) ★★

"The Impossible Man" (a: Manny Stallman)  ★★

"The Dreadful Decision!" (a: Paul Reinman)  ★★1/2

"A Million Years" (a: Vic Carrabotta)  ★

"The Homeless Ones!" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel) ★★1/2

With the help of a mysterious female voice, Ken Clark is able to escape a prison camp and make it back to the States in one piece. The voice haunts him every minute of every day and he hopes she'll come to him again. Ken almost gets hit by a train when he's approaching a railroad crossing and the voice again comes to his rescue.

Bedazzled, Ken visits his old friend, Professor Thomas Barrett, who is lecturing at the University auditorium. While entering the building, Ken gets a strong vision in his head of a pretty woman about to be run down in the street. His brain waves

call out a warning to her. Later, while Ken is chatting with Professor Barrett, a pretty young woman comes into the room and is introduced as Barrett's niece, Myra. When Myra speaks, Ken recognizes her voice immediately and the young lady explains to the men that she had almost been run over by a car but escaped thanks to a faceless voice. Once the eerie situation is explained, Myra and Ken realize they were made for each other and embrace.

Poor Bill Everett had to go from the triumphs of the pre-code to the doldrums of post-. The art is literally the only thing to recommend the oddly-titled "The One Who Was Nowhere," but it's some really good Everett. Though Myra only makes a cameo, she's one of the most beautiful comic book females I've ever seen. No, I'm not joking. 

Kenneth Shaw can't wait to get done with his boring job every day so he can hop in his dream convertible and drive home. Trouble is, only Kenneth can see the car! The local traffic cop, Officer O'Grady, pulls "The Impossible Man" over for a ticket, warning our hero that he won't be made a fool of by a dope who drives around in nothing! 

Kenneth explains that, ever since he was a child, he wanted a beautiful red convertible and he's sure that anyone who wishes hard enough has their dream come true. O'Grady admits that when he was a kid, he wanted to be a cop with a red, shiny motorcycle, gives Kenneth one more stern warning, and gets back on his invisible hog. A cute little fantasy with a nice little smile-inducing climax.

In the year 3628, scientists on Earth make a cold-blooded decision to abandon a space station in outer space that houses two thousand people. The decision is debated but the act is followed through. Almost immediately, Earth begins moving away from the sun. One big brain theorizes that this disaster is keyed in to the merciless destruction of the satellite but another disagrees and believes it is nothing more than coincidence. We discover the latter is correct when our focus shifts to a faraway planet and two scientists who debate the merits of abandoning their satellite (Earth) after monitoring her for millions of years.

Though the science is a bit suspect (our final look at the two Earth professors shows them bundled up in parkas when they should be long dead), the fiction is admittedly engaging. "The Dreadful Decision!" describes the inhuman discarding of two thousand lives in as subtle of a way as possible in order to forego the axe of the CCA, but it's still a chilling scene.

"A Million Years" is another dumb rip-off of Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder," wherein a scientist and his dopey assistant aim their time machine for prehistoric times and accidentally bring back the first uranium ore. This, of course, puts a halt to all A-Bomb testing, since the world's supply of the precious metal suddenly disappears. Anti-war stories are a-okay with me as long as they display a little logic along with the propaganda. Here, writer Paul S. Newman must have forgotten that, if Professor Cross and his aide, Lennie Small, had hijacked the only ore on the planet, scientists in 1955 would not be experimenting with the stuff when it disappears! Oh, these stories make my head hurt. 

Young Basil suffers from a malady modern science cannot cure but the local gypsies, friends of Basil, bring him a "bird of spring" to keep with him in his room. Immediately, the boy recovers and his father, a very important man, has to admit these filthy gypsies might be good for something. "The Homeless Ones!" comes across as a Hallmark Movie of the Week at times; it's sappy, preachy, and sugary. But its message is a good one and the Forgione/Abel art is very good as well. If I didn't know better, I'd say young Steve Ditko might have gotten a bit of influence from these guys.-Peter

Spellbound #24

Cover by Joe Maneely & Carl Burgos (?)

"The Frightened Man" (a: Paul Reinman) ★★

"Thelma!" (a: John Romita) ★★1/2

"Eye Over the City" (a: Bill Benulis) ★★★

"Where Did Danny Go?" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel) ★★

"The Long Night" (a: John Tartaglione) ★★1/2

At the beginning of the 17th Century, Stefan pays an artist to paint a portrait of him that, the artist insists, will enable Stefan to stay young forever. The artist explains that the portrait will grow old while Stefan stays young. Hmmmmm....Stefan jumps at the chance and takes the painting back to his place, hanging it on a wall in an upstairs room. He locks the room and orders the servants not to enter. 

Five decades pass, Stefan is 70, and the portrait grows ugly and grey while its subject remains a strapping lad in his twenties. Stefan meets a beautiful woman named Theresa and invites her and her family over to see his mansion, with an eye to proposing at a later date. The house is a hit but when the group come to the "door which shall not be opened," Theresa's father insists on seeing the inside of this forbidden room. When Stefan refuses, the man insists that Theresa will not marry him until the entire estate is investigated.

In a panic, Stefan revisits the artist who painted his portrait and begs him to paint a younger version over the old, decrepit man. The painter complies and finishes just as Stefan is opening the forbidden door and letting his future in-laws have a look. The painting is a hit until Stefan turns and they get a look at his wrinkled visage. Hmmmmm....

Once again, the bullpen relies on the youth of their audience while ripping off classics. This time, obviously, a pinch of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is thrown into the ink of "The Frightened Man." I can overlook the plagiarism by pulpster Carl Wessler, as thievery was commonplace in 1950s horror comics. What makes me laugh is 1/ the father's insistence that he see this room, one which Stefan has told him has nothing interesting within, and 2/ Stefan's terror at having the portrait gazed upon without thinking maybe he could move the thing out of the room before they show up the second time.

Leslie's doll, "Thelma," can talk to her. No, really, she can. When Leslie's mother gets sick and the little girl has no one to talk to her, Thelma is a regular chatterbox... box scores on the Yankee games, vegan recipes, how to land a non-JD boyfriend, the works. But when Leslie tries to get the rag doll to talk in front of her mom, the toy clams up. The doll explains to Leslie that it only talks to kids who are lonely and, in fact, once Leslie's mom is well, Thelma hits the road and finds another lonely kid. 

I found this disposable little yarn to be quite charming and void of the usual maudlin sentimentality. Leslie arrives at the conclusion that she no longer needs Thelma now that her mummy is all better. Of course, mom will miss her alcoholic lunches and the mailman's "delivery," but she had the brat in the first place, right?

Police officer Jack Rogers has an "Eye Over the City" with his elaborate monitoring system; there's a camera on every corner and Rogers keeps his attention on the screens 24/7. But the grind is getting too much for him and he tells his C.O. that after this next assignment he'll be resigning.

The chief's not happy, but he agrees with Rogers' wishes once the younger cop gets a camera up on Maple and 10th, a corner frequented by a "big bookie." Rogers installs the cameras and then hurries back to headquarters, where a strange scene plays out on his screen: a vision of the future, complete with flying cars and spectacular architecture. While mesmerized by the science-fictional vision, Jack overhears two pedestrians drop his name and sees a newspaper with a decades-older picture of him on the front page, a headline declaring him a hero. The screen crackles out, and suddenly Maple Street and 10th are back in 1955. Rogers notifies the patrol car and they bust the bookie. When the chief comes around with Jack's resignation papers, tomorrow's savior politely declines.

An intriguing and beautifully-drawn science fiction yarn reminiscent of Philip K. Dick's "The Minority Report" (which wouldn't be published until the following year), "Eye Over the City" predicts the coming of CCTV in a very odd way. Though I assume the year is 1955, the set-up looks like the future. Could this be an alternate present? In any event, the plot is clever and (again) Benulis dazzles.

Tina, the world's tiniest woman, dumps her beau, Joe, for new little guy on the block, Danny, but the romance is short-lived when Heaven calls Cupid (Danny) back from Earth. "Where Did Danny Go?" is a complicated and goofy little romance/fantasy; I had to read it a couple times to figure out exactly what was going on.

In the finale, "The Long Night," the world is on the brink of war when suddenly, everything goes dark. There is no electricity. The sun refuses to rise (anywhere around the world, evidently). Earth's super powers must learn to cooperate with each other in order to survive. When a "Peace Council" is assembled, the electricity comes on and the sun rises. Not a bad anti-war yarn; obviously not written by Stan, since the Russkies don't look for any way possible to break the peace treaty and kill the American dogs. At one point, a European ship comes into an American harbor (ostensibly New York), and the captain tells of journeying across "the dark sea." I think this was the most eerie aspect of the tale, considering what it would take to steer a ship across thousands of miles of nothing but pitch. Overall, one of the better Atlas comics published post-code so far.-Peter

Strange Stories of Suspense #5

Cover by Joe Maneely

"The Little Black Box!" (a: Dick Ayers & Ernie Bache) ★

"The Prisoner!" (a: Art Peddy) ★

"Uncle Ed and the Men from Space" (a: John Forte) ★1/2

"Magic Words!" (a: Russ Heath) ★★

"Man of Mystery" (a: Syd Shores) ★★★

Strange Stories of Suspense, the 19th title in the Atlas horror/science fiction group, began its publication life as Rugged Action, a variety title featuring adventure and war strips. It's odd that Goodman should add new SF/horror titles to his catalogue when the genre was dying out thanks to indifference and the CCA. SSoS would last twelve issues before succumbing to the Atlas implosion of late 1957.

After a lifetime of greed and stabbing his business partners in the back, Cavendish is always looking over his shoulder for the payback. One day, a nicely-wrapped package arrives at his door and Cavendish is at a loss for words as to who would be nice enough to send him a present. Then, of course, his past flashes through his mind and he expects the worst. After several panels of angst, Cavendish finally opens the parcel and discovers "The Little Black Box!" When he lifts the lid, he's relieved to find... cookies from his mother! Suddenly, the evil seeps from his body and he orders his butler to send a $1,000 check to the town charity fund. Just like that? Sheesh, this new era certainly eliminates most of the juicier outcomes. Pre-code, one of Cavendish's partners would have killed himself and then risen from the grave to dole out some real justice. Cavendish gets off pretty easily for all the pain he's been responsible for.

A genie is "The Prisoner!" within Aladdin's lamp, buried deep under the desert sands. When he hears digging above him, he rejoices and, once the lamp is rubbed, the genie is free. His new master immediately wishes for "weapons more powerful than the United States so that we communists can rule the world!" Having heard enough, the genie heads back into the bottle. Back to the red-baiting we enjoyed so much in the pre-code era (here I thought that Stan might have had to sign a peace treaty with the stinkin' commies when the CCA lowered the boom), here hilariously so. The man who finds the lamp claims to be an archeologist but, obviously, dictator looks more impressive on a business card. Incidentally, the art on this and the first story are awful.

Little Jimmy loves to hear Uncle Ed tell all about his hunting excursions, trapping lions, chasing bears, and pert near any other wildlife invented. Uncle Ed promises he'll take Jimmy on one of the hunts some day and sure enough, when Jimmy turns 18, the trek is a go. A couple of Uncle Ed's buddies go as well and they're quick to explain to Jimmy that Ed's their best pal but he's also full of blueberry muffins. The guy's never caught a cold, let alone a giraffe.

Suddenly, a flying saucer lands nearby and aliens resembling "living vegetables" (Ed's description but, to me, they look more like walking bowel movements) exit the craft and approach the cabin. The aliens order the men to come out peacefully or they will blast them with their death-rays. When the four walk outside, the creatures level more threats but Ed, sensing a bluff, decks one of them with a killer left. The aliens admit they're actually cowards and run for their ship, never to return. One of Ed's friends sighs and tells Ed he just saved Earth with his greatest bluff! With another barely literate script and amateurish artwork, "Uncle Ed and the Men from Space" is instantly forgettable. How about that startling alien design? Though Uncle Ed's boasts are pretty outlandish, we never do find out how much (if anything) of what he's telling his nephew is true and his two friends are just the kind of guys you want to hang out with. 

Poor Lenny keeps striking out with the dames. He can't get up the nerve to ask any of them for a date; he's convinced they're turned off by his looks (think, oh I don't know, Jerry Lewis). A gypsy sells Lenny a magic potion she guarantees will get Lenny all the tail he desires. All he has to do is rub a little on his cheek and... voila! Sure enough, the next day, the dames are all over the dope and Lenny has the night life he always dreamed of. Then the potion runs out. What now? "Magic Words" isn't great but compared to the first three stories in this issue, it's Hemingway. I wasn't surprised by the twist at the climax, but at least the (uncredited) writer attempted something new. The Heath art is uncharacteristically tame, but then the artist has nothing to work with but talking heads.

"Gimmick" Garson has invented a little mechanical "Man of Mystery" who robs diamond stores and brings the booty back to him. The little metal man attempts to turn himself into the police time and again but is foiled by his creator. Finally, a very smart beat cop figures out that "Gimmick" is behind the thefts and shuts down his life of crime. A charming little fantasy with some eye-catching Syd Shores graphics. I'd compare this to the 1960s DC superhero scripts we're surveying every other week: goofy criminals (the egghead behind the little metal man sure doesn't look like a "Gimmick" Garson), science fictional elements, and happy endings. I was beginning to wonder if this new title was going to be the dumping ground for sub-par material. It still could be, but at least "Man of Mystery" breaks up the monotony. -Peter

Strange Tales #39

Cover by Carl Burgos

"Karnoff's Plan!" (a: Bill Everett) ★★★

"Blind Spot!" (a: Sid Greene) ★1/2

"The Secret of the Ship" (a: Kurt Schaffenberger) ★1/2

"The Man Mountain!" (a: Norman Maurer) ★

"Five Who Volunteered" (a: Joe Sinnott) ★★1/2

Each night, a different city building crashes to the ground. What is the cause? It's all the work of Prof. Karnoff, a poor but brilliant scientist whose landlady bugs him for the overdue rent money, unaware of "Karnoff's Plan!" to rule the world. Two years ago, he was shunned by others in the scientific community when he proposed harnessing the secrets of science and using them to gain power. He has since discovered that an application of atomic energy to metal makes it as soft as modeling clay.

Karnoff made a small statue of himself and realized that, when he touched it, he felt the touch on his body. He then began to make models of buildings and smash them, certain that his ability to wreak havoc would lead to domination. He returns home after destroying another building to discover that his landlady has sold all of his possessions to the junkman because the professor had not paid his rent. Realizing that the small statue of himself creates imminent danger for him, Karnoff rushes off into the night and is never seen again. Presumably, the junkman crushed the statue and the same fate befell the professor.

The twist ending is usually what makes or breaks these short tales, and this is a good one. The GCD speculates that Bill Everett may have written this story as well as drawn it; whatever the case, the writer must have thought up the finale and worked backwards from there to set it up. Everett's drawings of the professor are a hoot and make the story entertaining.

If the large bald head of an alien from another planet doesn't make Earth people look at him askance, then the series of unsightly bumps on one side of his pate certainly do. The alien wanders through a city, disappointed in the "Blind Spot!" in human perceptions that prevent them from seeing beyond outward appearances to the beauty inside. About to return to his home planet, where he will report that the people of Earth are not ready to explore outer space, he sees a beautiful blonde crossing the street in front of an onrushing car and races to save her. She is grateful and praises him for his true beauty. Dazzled, he changes his mind about humans and returns to his planet, planning to report that humans can explore space after all. On Earth, the blind girl picks up the cane that she dropped and wishes that she could have seen her rescuer.

It was pretty clear that the woman was blind, so the ending was no big surprise. Sid Greene draws a lovely young woman, though it's hard to believe that beautiful girls used to walk the city streets wearing dresses and gloves.

Young Peter likes to sail his model ships to while away the time, but it causes him to be late for his paper route. His father is a sea captain who is laid up in bed for the time being, so Peter's earnings are important to the family's survival. One day, he sends his ship, the Wanderer, off on an imaginary voyage to the Aru islands to trade with the natives for pearls. He's late to work once too often and gets fired, but his ship mysteriously returns with black pearls worth $5000. The family is saved!

Peter helpfully pointed out that "The Secret of the Ship" is Kurt Schaffenberger's first work for the Atlas horror titles; I associate his art with DC comics like Lois Lane and Shazam!, so it's interesting to see him draw something different years earlier. The art is certainly smooth, but the story is a dud.

In days of old, not all giants were bad. Take, for instance, "The Man Mountain!" He helped peasants who had problems. In fact, when an old woman who had adopted 57 orphaned children lost her home in a flood, he built her a new one out of one of his enormous shoes. And that's how the old woman who lived in a shoe came to be. Norman Mauer's art is nothing special, but I'm not sure Neal Adams could have made this four-pager worth reading. Next issue: the true story of what happened to Little Bo Peep's sheep.

This week on the popular TV program, The Joke's On You, "Five Who Volunteered" to fly to Venus will get a surprise when they discover that the spaceship doesn't fly. The host is taken aback when he finds himself on the second planet from the sun, surrounded by five green Venusians who had been visiting Earth in disguise.

Did anyone who read this story have any doubt about what was going on? It read like a knockoff of any number of EC stories where obnoxious TV hosts get their comeuppance. Fortunately, Joe Sinnott does a terrific job with the art, and the Venusians in the last panel look like prototypes for the ugly characters on "Eye of the Beholder" from The Twilight Zone.-Jack

Uncanny Tales #36

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Nameless One!" (a: Bob Powell) ★1/2

"The Parrot!" (a: Bill Everett) ★★★1/2

"The Model!" (a: Paul Reinman) ★

"The Sorcerers!" (a: Jack Katz & Christopher Rule) ★1/2

"Escape!" (a: Vic Carrabotta) ★

Serving a life sentence and anxious to escape prison, Nick Nolan slips away from a road gang and makes his way to the house of a professor who has invented a machine that allows a person to travel anywhere on Earth by radio. The transporter is built into a vest, so Nick puts it on and turns the dial to Africa just as the prison guards arrive.

In Africa, Nick finds himself confronted by hungry lions, so he moves the dial to England and finds himself in a python's cage at a zoo. On to Paris, where Nick falls off the top of the Eiffel Tower, then to Niagara, where he's about to go over the falls in a boat. Nick's final destination is his old prison cell, the safest place of all. Who is "The Nameless One," the professor who invented the machine? Just call him Fate.

I'm always happy to see a new story drawn by Bob Powell, but this one only has a few panels that are above average. The story is predictable and the twist ending falls flat.

Crowds pack the tent at the carnival to see Jim Hall exhibit Marvelo the Wonder Bird, the largest parrot in captivity and the smartest bird in the world. What no one knows is that "The Parrot!" is really Tiny Samson, a midget in a bird suit. Jim's landlady, Mrs. Jones, asks him who's been smoking cigars in his room, but he gives her the brush-off. Tiny worries that Jim will run off with all of the profits, so he calls the cops anonymously to report Jim for carrying stolen goods. After Hall has been taken to the police station, Mrs. Jones feels sorry for Marvelo and turns the bird loose, tossing him out of the window. Unfortunately, Tiny can't fly, and ends up in jail for fraud with a broken arm.

I think this is the first time I've given three and a half stars to an Atlas story. Had it been pre-code, Tiny would have been smashed on the pavement and the story would've rated four stars, but the last panel, showing him in jail, knocked off half a star for me. Everett's art is as good as I've seen and the carnival setting is always welcome. This story could fit comfortably in a pulp mag, illos and all. By the way, compare Tiny's face and expression to that of the landlady in "Karnoff's Plan," above. They look quite similar.

Photographer Ed Wood (!) is having trouble selling his pictures, so he hires a new model, a woman with haunting eyes who says she helped another needy artist once and it resulted in his best work. The model is a hit and her face is everywhere, but when Ed follows her against her instructions, she disappears. An art critic finally points out that the same gal was the model for the Mona Lisa.

For the umpteenth time, I saw the ending a mile away. For four pages, "The Model!" seemed long and tedious. Reinman seems incapable (in this story, at least) of drawing a woman with a magnetic look on her face. That really hurts a story like this one, which depends on the looks of the lady.

King Harlow needs a new sorcerer and promises his beautiful daughter Roseanne and a pile of gold to either Golvany or Edwin, "The Sorcerers" who compete for the honor. Though Golvany conjures up various wonders, Edwin wins out by summoning up thunder and lightning and making off to a faraway kingdom with Roseanne and the gold.

What the Heck?

Christopher Rule is a new name to me, but he seems to have drawn plenty of comics for Marvel starting in the late forties, including plenty of romance titles. I admit I was somewhat befuddled by the conclusion to this story--I think Edwin snuck out with Roseanne under cover of lightning. I guess he was the better sorcerer after all.

Alan Garr is a scientist who lives in a future where everyone is underground and war rages constantly. He invents a belt that will transport him to the past, where he hopes to "Escape!" from his work on weapons of war. He lands on the surface on a sunny day, only to discover that he's being inducted into the Army right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor!

This one is too dull even to be predictable. Most interesting to me are some of the panels that look like Don Heck gave Vic Carrabotta a helping hand. Believe me, it was much needed.-Jack

Next Week...
Bat-Baby...
Could This Be the
Bottom of the Barrel?