EC Comics! It's An Entertaining Comic! Issue 51

The EC Reign Month by Month 1950-1956
  51: October 1954

Kurtzman

MAD #16

"Shermlock Shomes in the Hound of the Basketballs!" ★★★
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Will Elder

"Newspapers!" ★★★
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Jack Davis

"Restaurant!" ★★★ 1/2
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Will Elder

"Wreck of the Hesperus" ★ 1/2
Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Adaptation by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Wally Wood

Just as arch-nemesis Arty Morty blows another dozen bullet holes through Shermlock Shomes, the master detective is called upon by the ravishing Prudence Basketball. It seems Basketball Hall has been plagued by the ghostly presence of a demon hound, leading Pru’s uncle Coolidge to recently die of fright. Reporting to the estate on the moors, Shomes quickly hightails it out of the story to leave Pru under the protection (and gropey hands) of his trusted companion Dr. Whatsit. Sensing the devilish dog closing in on them through the fog, Whatsit gives the beast a good thrashing before realizing that it’s Shomes, returned with a weighty accusation in his pocket as he fingers Pru as the real cause of her uncle’s death. But, as it turns out, supernatural shenanigans abound as Shomes and Whatsit bump into a very real devil upon the moor.

Say "uncle"!
("Shermlock Shomes in The Hound of the Basketballs!")

While it’s not quite as snappy as the first Shomes story, “Hound of the Basketballs” still has a good number of gags, like when Shomes and Whatsit hide under the nearest furniture after Pru regales them with her ghost stories. Elder’s art is also lacking somewhat in its usual fire; this is confirmed by holding up this story to Will’s other assignment in this issue, “Restaurant.” The reader can discern fairly clearly which of the two the artist was having a better time with.

Did you know, faithful comic book reader, that the material you love so dearly but that is denigrated by your so-called “wise” elders is actually the stuff of tame fantasies compared to the sensationalistic utter drivel called “Newspapers” that those janitors of morality are constantly poring over? It’s true! Just take a look at the blood-soaked exposes on the riots and meat grinder murders that fill its turgid pages, or any one of the columns relating the latest bit of Hollywood gossip to a smut-hungry readership (“Googie With Foofoo While Boobie Vacations”). Not to mention all the shyster ad space and frothing letters section and trashy movie previews… You want to know the real menace to society? Just check out that *other* area of your local newsstand!

Black and white and red all over, indeed.
("Newspapers!")

Like “Movie… Ads” before it, Kurtzman teams up with Davis yet again to train their creative crosshairs on a medium that prefers to trade in the coarse rather than the cultured, contrary to popular perception. “Newspapers” benefits by not suffering from the redundancy virus that plagued the former story, here offering up something a little bit different than what came before it as we are taken through each of the daily edition’s skeezy sections. What this one *does* have working against it is an overabundance of tiny text crowding around the major images that leads to a bit of sensory overload. While this “prose” is frequently humorous as Peter points out below, the overall package leaves one wanting to just scan for the major points and then move on with their lives, at least on that first read.

It’s Sunday afternoon, and all the Sturdleys would like is a nice lunch together as a family at the local chow-mein restaurant. Fat chance! From the dirty dishes and the maddening crowd to the inattentive wait staff and the lavatorial demands of the baby, this supposedly idyllic excursion resembles nothing so much as a battle to swim up Niagara Falls. But even as the brat kids toss radios at heads and the Sturdleys are unceremoniously kicked out of their booth the second their meal is over, the stupid intrepid family knows that they’ll be back same time next week for another lovely afternoon out.

Fine dining at its finest.
("Restaurant!")

In its depiction of the drudgeries of everyday life, when even a trip out to eat is riddled with heartache, “Restaurant” cuts closer to the bone than any number of goofy parodies could hope to achieve. What makes this particular “story” so funny is that we can relate to the escapades that the Sturdleys undertake within the six pages. We’ve all been there before, and while of course mundane annoyances are heightened here for comedic effect, the jabbering hellscape that Elder depicts with his pencil and pen resembles the emotional impression that all of our own special restaurant trips left on us. If this is an indication of Mad’s new direction, I’m all eyes!

You remember that long fellow what wrote the pretty poems you were forced to read in high school? Well, Mad does! In “Wreck of the Hesperus”, Harvey Kurtzman dons his adapter cap as he did before for “Casey at the Bat” and “The Face Upon the Floor” and the results… are pretty much the same. Wally Wood is the artist on tap this time out to provide risible illustrations for the straight-laced rhymes, but just as before the effect left me more or less cold. Barring a surprise cameo from Popeye, I found Wood’s art here mostly incomprehensible; he seems to be going for a goofy Jack Davis vibe, especially in his depiction of the captain’s daughter, that is just not a good fit for his style. --Jose

"Wreck of the Hesperus"

Melvin Enfantino: "Hound of the Basketballs," while pretty amusing, is nowhere near as funny as the first Holmes parody. "Newspapers!" and "Restaurant!" are windows into the future of Mad Magazine, a future where the editors will balance film parodies with barbed commentary on the absurdities of everyday life. "Newspapers!" almost has too much information (a lot of it hilarious) and threatens sensory overload, while "Restaurant!" reminds me of the kind of incidents that Larry David uses to prop up Curb Your Enthusiasm. A double shot of Will Elder is always welcome. "Wreck of the Hesperus" has some really oddball Wood art (at times this looks nothing like the work of Woody) and some very funny bits (I laughed out loud at the panel reprinted at left); not bad for a poem adaptation.

Jack: This is a very disappointing issue of Mad. The Holmes parody is a retread of something they've done better before and I have to wonder if the over-writing and overly-long word balloons are a sly nod to Al Feldstein's tendency to crowd out the art with words. "Newspapers!" continues the trend of whining about how it's not fair that comic books are being targeted. The point is made in a page or two and the whole thing seems designed to be flipped through rather than read carefully. "Restaurant!" is less a story than a drawn-out incident, while "Wreck of the Hesperus" wastes the talents of Wally Wood, who seems to give up on page six and just use white panels with sound effects.

Ingels

The Haunt of Fear #27

"About Face" ★★ 1/2
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by Graham Ingels

"Game Washed Out!" ★★★ 1/2
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by George Evans

"The Silent Treatment" ★★
Story by Al Feldstein and Bill Gaines
Art by Jack Kamen

"Swamped" ★★★ 1/2
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Reed Crandall

Back in 1886, Jeff Lorimer's wife, Amy, gives birth to twins but makes him promise to never try to see the ugly one named Olga. The pretty one named Penny grows up happy but, when she's 15, her mother dies. His wife dead, Jeff insists on meeting Olga and she turns out to be as ugly as promised. She's so ugly that when he walks down the street with her by his side, passers-by turn and vomit. Jeff decides the best thing to do is to kill her, so he shoots her, only to discover that she and Penny are the same person and Olga's hideous face grew out of the back of Penny's head.

"About Face"

Ghastly's artwork is suitably hideous in "About Face," but I guessed what was going on right from the start. The whole thing makes little sense and requires Penny to flip her blond hair over so that her Olga face is in front. But what about the rest of her body? Wouldn't her feet point the other way? I don't get it.

John Talbot and Becky Ames are a couple of horny Puritans having an extra-marital affair in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. John's wife Priscilla catches him and threatens to tell the Council, so he kills her with a fireplace poker and throws her body in the local pond. When Becky's husband Calvin comes home early and catches his wife in the arms of her lover, Becky pretends she was forced into it, and the Council sentences John to be ducked three times in the pond by means of the ducking stool. As John is lowered into the pond, he sees Priscilla's corpse under the water; each times he goes under she gets closer to him, until at last she wraps her dead arms around his neck and pulls him down into the depths along with her.

"Game Washed Out!"

Despite the awful title, "Game Washed Out!" is a creative and original take on the "dead wife gets revenge" EC tale. George Evans's art is perfect for the 17th-century setting, since it can tend to seem a bit stiff, and the plotting is done well enough that I did not see what was coming until near the end. Extra points are awarded for having the Vault Keeper reading a copy of Seduction of the Innocent in the final panel.

A king who likes to party loud and hearty does not hear his daughter's cries for help when she topples out of a high window while trying to rescue her cat. She falls to her death and he institutes "The Silent Treatment" in his kingdom, ordering all sound quashed because he is haunted by what happened. Eventually, the peasants revolt and sew a metronome inside of him so that he goes bonkers and leaps off a cliff to his death.

"The Silent Treatment"

This story has so much going against it. I don't like Grim Fairy Tales and I don't like the Kamen art. Yet somehow, by the bottom of page five, it starts to get interesting, as the peasants approach the king with ill intent. On page six, suspense grows as the reader wonders what has been done to the king. A spider lowers itself closer and closer to the king, who lies immobile on a bed. And then, guess what? They blow the ending with a dumb twist involving sewing a metronome inside his body. Too bad! They had a shot at a good finish.

A ghoul builds a shack in the middle of a quicksand swamp and lures hunters to their deaths, eating their flesh and dumping their bones beneath the rickety structure. Eventually, the roiling mix of bones and mud causes the shack to collapse and the ghoul to fall prey to the bones of his victims.

"Swamped"

"Swamped" doesn't sound like much when summed up, and the fact that the shack narrates the story is not a plus, but Reed Crandall's work really shines through the muck. There are so many fine panels that it's hard to choose just one to reproduce!--Jack

"Yeah, yeah, and then what happened . . ."
drooled the councilman!
("Game Washed Out!")

Peter: Please don't ask me to dig through my stack of notes but I know I've seen the punchline of "About Face" before. Tell me how Jeff could have gone through the years without once seeing the back of his pretty daughter's head. The 15th (and final) Grim Fairy Tale, "The Silent Treatment," isn't really as bad as I expected it to be (usually, this feature is pretty bad) but, and I'm beating a dead horse yet again, you can really tell why Feldstein would hand these softies over to Kamen. Jack's visuals are as exciting as watching grass grow. "Swamped" seemed to be a tale headed for something special but, by the time the cliched finale rolls around, not even Crandall's graphic graphics can save it from mediocrity. By default, "Game Washed Out!" is the issue's best tale, thanks mostly to George Evans's art and some unintentional humor from the councilmen (at least, I think it's unintentional). Gotta admit though, we've seen that climax one too many times (in fact, it's a variation on the final panels of "Swamped"), haven't we?

Severin

Two-Fisted Tales #39

"Uranium Valley!" ★★ 1/2
Story by Colin Dawkins
Art by John Severin

"Oregon Trail!" ★★
Story by Colin Dawkins
Art by John Severin

"The Secret!" ★★★
Story by Colin Dawkins
Art by Gene Colan and John Severin

"Slaughter!"  ★★ 1/2
Story by Colin Dawkins
Art by John Severin

The fabulous Ruby Ed Coffey leads his merry band of raiders through a canyon above the Urubamba River, where the boys discover a cave containing the mummified remains of an Incan king and a secret passageway to the fabled "Uranium Valley!" Ed and Cannon decide to take a swim (Fred Wertham had always suspected Ed of favoring manly flesh) and, while investigating a mysterious underwater cavern, Cannon is kidnapped by a band of savage Incans and taken to the ruler of the valley, a king seated on a golden throne. The king orders that Cannon be thrown into a pit with "the monster" and the beleaguered but muscular adventurer is charged by a giant with a mean streak. Cannon uses his wits and vastly superior knowledge of fighting skills to break the gargantuan's neck but the king deems our hero "the new monster" and sets his guards on Cannon. Just in the nick of time, Indiana Coffey arrives with plenty of bullets and saves the day. I haven't been a big fan of Ed Coffey's exploits to this point but, of the four (and "Uranium Valley!" is Ed's final voyage), this is the best. Ironically, it's the Coffey adventure that, for the most part, ignores its star and focuses on supporting character Cannon. The final panels have a nice irony to them in that both sides see the other as the hostile race. Well, the script is the tightest of the quartet but Severin's art is scratchy and almost unfinished in spots (in particular, during Cannon's battle with "the monster"), nowhere near the detailed and stylish Severin work we've become accustomed to.

During the American Indian Wars, scout Simon Chuter is taken prisoner by a band of Cheyenne led by Cheyenne Hawk. Hawk explains to Chuter that the Sioux will be ambushing Chuter's troop farther up the "Oregon Trail!" and offers the help of his party to defeat the Sioux. When Chuter returns to camp and reports the news, his Lieutenant scoffs and informs his scout that they'll be just fine without the help of the enemy. Realizing the troop has ignored his offer of help, Hawk cooks up a deception and tricks the army men into teaming up to defeat the Sioux. Slow-moving and a tad confusing, "Oregon Trail!" just didn't do much for me in either the script or art department. As with his art on  "Uranium Valley!," Severin's work here seems rushed and incomplete. Evidently, Cheyenne Hawk was being test-driven as another continuing character in the TFT stable (a "more about Cheyenne Hawk in the next issue" tag appears in the final panel) but no further adventures were chronicled. It's just as well as it seems the story was pretty much told.

Dermot Wilson has a plan for the ultimate weapon so he goes to his old friend, Nick, a senator who has the ear of the President. Nick gets Dermot in to see the Prez and, with an audience of only one, "The Secret!" is spilled. Word gets out that a weapon to end all wars has been developed and is ready for testing and the dirty Commie rats send word to their "insiders" that the formula must be stolen at all costs. Test day comes and a battleship is vaporized in the Atlantic; the Russkies now order their agents to kidnap Dermot. By all appearances a meek scientist, Dermot Wilson was wrestling champion in college and a student of Judo. The Red hitmen are arrested and the Soviets are forced to sit down and discuss peace with the President. Years later, Nick has become President and looks forward to learning exactly what Dermot's secret weapon is. Much to his surprise, Wilson opens his attache to reveal . . . nothing! A little psychological warfare has led to peace. A nice, surprising little tale with a brilliant twist. Though sole art credit is given to Severin, "The Secret!" is unmistakably the work of Gentleman Gene Colan (whose tenure at EC ends after a too-short term of two strips, but don't feel bad as Colan's later contributions to Atlas's horror comics were amazing!). Severin, no doubt, inked the finished pencils but, curiously, Gene isn't credited. That may have led to Colan's bad memory when it came to his brief stint at EC; interviewed for the Colan biography, Secrets in the Shadows (written by Tom Fields and Gene Colan, Twomorrows, 2005), the artist explained how he had done a "try-out story" for Harvey Kurtzman ("Wake," Two-Fisted #30), only to be disappointed when Kurtzman "didn't think (Colan) had hit the mark." So, at some point Gene must have been invited back by new editor Colin Dawkins; how else to explain this second story?

Ranch owner Cal Barron has a rustling problem so he sends for the famous Black Jack "Slaughter!" The tall, handsome gunslinger arrives at Barron's spread and quickly takes charge, looking for clues in the mountains around Barron's land and keeping one eye open at all times. While in town, Slaughter recognizes wanted steer rustler, Waco Bill, and informs the fugitive he'll be runnin' him in. Waco ain't amenable to that but the two men strike a bargain: whoever loses their shootout pays for beans and coffee. Slaughter outduels Waco, ventilating his non-shooting arm, and a friendship is born. Waco agrees to be taken in to the nearest marshall but, on the way, the men are ambushed by Cal Barron's ranch foreman (the man responsible for the rustlin'!). Waco proves himself a true pardner when he blasts the ornery foreman and saves the day. A partnership is born. As cliched as "Slaughter!" is (the town's name is a cliche . . . the land baron's name is a cliche . . . our hero's name is a cliche . . . even the freakin' horse's name is a cliche!), I enjoyed the heck out of it, dopeyness and all. Black Jack Slaughter's initial adventure reads like a condensed version of a George Appell novel (Google him); Dawkins barely scratches his main plot hook of cattle rustling when he takes us down a different dusty trail and introduces Black Jack's future pardner. The wrap-up, the reveal of Hank Heeley as the mystery rustler, almost seems like an afterthought and, to tell the truth, I'd forgotten the main plot point anyway. "Slaughter!" is almost a template for 1950s western funny books. Further adventures of Waco and Slaughter were promised but, like Cheyenne Hawk, never materialized, probably due to the end of the Dawkins/Severin run on Two-Fisted.--Peter

Jack: "Uranium Valley!" is very much like an old Sunday newspaper comic in story and art style; Severin sticks almost exclusively to rectangular panels and the unfinished feeling you noted reminded me of classic newspaper strip art. "Oregon Trail!" is an excellent western with a nuanced portrayal of two tribes and how they relate to white men. It's surprising that "The Secret!" is credited only to Severin since it's so obviously Colan's work; Severin's inks tighten up Colan's pencils and remove some of the shadows we know so well. "Slaughter!" is a fun western but there's nothing new in the plot. The art in all four stories this issue is very impressive.

Next Issue . . .
Will Jack and Peter sing the praises of
John Severin's Flying Tigers?

EC Comics! It's An Entertaining Comic! Issue 48

The EC Reign Month by Month 1950-1956
  48: August 1954

Melvin DaVinci

MAD #14

"Manduck the Magician" ★★★ 1/2
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Will Elder

"Movie . . . Ads!" ★★
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Wally Wood

"The Countynental!" ★★ 1/2
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Jack Davis

"Plastic Sam!" ★★★ 1/2
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Russ Heath and Bill Elder

Manduck the Magician, vigilante/peddler with the power to cloud men’s minds with “hypnotic gestures,” and his faithful assistant Loathar must continuously evade the wrath of the law and the pretty ladies he smooches every time he sets up shop, even going so far as to use his abilities to swap identities with a virtuous Boy Scout and his elderly charge while the real bystanders are pummeled with batons. Even when he tries to take the edge off by hypnotizing himself, obstacles still plague Manduck, namely when he’s summoned to the abode of Lamont Shadowskeedeeboomboom, “Shadow” for short, another superhero with the ability to cloud men’s minds who challenges the magician to a battle of mental suggestion that ends up getting everyone’s identities more mixed up than a barrel full of nuts.

A very special guest appearance.
("Manduck the Magician")

If “Manduck the Magician” is a low-tier Kurtzman/Elder collaboration—as some unnamed bloggers would have it—then it just goes to show that Mad’s first editor and star artist were still pretty damn funny even when they weren’t firing on all cylinders. Personally speaking, I think this newspaper strip parody can easily stand amongst the comedy duo’s other classics. With the exception of an unfortunate exaggeration of the size of Loathar’s lips, this story doesn’t have many false steps to fault it with. The thing that tickles me so much about Harvey Kurtzman’s brand of humor in general is that he was so eclectic in the variety of jokes that he employed: there are great traditional setups like when Manduck informs the crushed Loathar that he had no idea about the falling safe, unexpected cameos such as the ubiquitous comic book hunk Charles Atlas singing his praises, and the completely madcap climax that has the reader seeing doubles (and triples) of the characters in a final “mesmerizing” brawl.

Kurtzman pulls out his spades yet again to take a dig at the commercial machinations of Hollywood in “Movie… Ads!” Acting as a kind of inverse to “Book… Movie!” that showed how film adaptations generally neuter the scintillating material found in their source novels, this “story” demonstrates how the ad men of Tinsel Town copy and paste short, incidental scenes from a range of films including war epics, courtroom dramas, and romances to make them come across as X-rated wonderfests boasting the fleshy pleasures of actresses such as Vava Voom and Vava Vow, the “Pow” and “Wham” Girls respectively in their newspaper spreads. The first page of “Movie… Ads!” gets the point across just fine, but the pages that follow only succeed in taking a mildly funny joke and making us tired of it.

This is really all that we needed.

Men, lock up your wives and daughters: “The Countynental” is on (the prowl)! Yes, that’s right. That famed predator of feminine virtue is broadcasting live from the studio set doubling as his plush hotel room, eager to sway his intended victims with dry martinis and a foreign accent. Try as he might, the Countynental can’t seem to land himself a date, as the vagaries of 1950s television, such as fine tuning and vertical holds, take their toll on him, not to mention the boots and fists that come flying through the screen from righteous husbands at home. Finally able to retire from his program to spend an evening with his true love, the Countynental saunters off “arm in tripod” with the television camera of his affections.

What lovely furniture you have!
("The Countynental")

If you’re a six-year-old whippersnapper like me, you might only be familiar with the overall thrust of this parody from Christopher Walken’s bit on Saturday Night Live wherein he played the amorous wooer tempting the studio audience to bed down for the night. I found out from John Benson’s The Sincerest Form of Parody, as Jack might have, that the original televisual oddity being parodied here inspired a surprising amount of lampoons in the funny books. It’s also surprising seeing Jack Davis in this slightly more subdued, domesticated (but no less cartoony) mode, but I for one dig his handling of the material.

Life isn’t easy when you’re a superhero; just look at the crap that “Superduperman,” “Batboy and Rubin,” and “Woman Wonder” had to put up with. It’s no different for that rubbery rouge Plastic Sam either. If he isn’t putting up with the travails that come with having a malleable body, such as his pants slipping off for a crowd of a hundred ogling onlookers to see, then it’s the weary trials that come with having to put up with the reheated and rehashed plots that his partner and scriptwriter Wheezy Wunks cooks up for him. This episode finds Sam wiggling his way through a favorite chestnut, that of a low-down hood masquerading as the superhero during a bank robbery and Sam being persecuted by the law. But the hood proves to be even smarter than he looks (erm…) when he demonstrates how having an elastic body is just about the worst superpower one could ask for by tying knots and tearing holes into poor Sam’s anatomy like a tortured balloon. Thankfully Joe Friday and Ed Saturday from Dragnet arrive to sort out the kerfuffle, finally deciding to throw Sam in prison because, as they reason, “anything plastic is an imitation of the real thing!”

You know your life sucks when you *are*
the rotten tomato that people throw.
("Plastic Sam")

Though I wasn’t exactly blown away by Russ Heath’s artwork on this assignment—it felt a little more like “funny animal” than “zany satire” to me—“Plastic Sam” is yet another great send-up of the DC hero universe, filled with great bits that don’t reach the chicken fat levels of Bill Elder but that still deliver solidly and consistently throughout the story. I loved the sick and twisted humor involved in detailing all the nasty side effects of Sam’s elasticity, and the panel where the prison guards mistake the gooey, teeth-littered remains of Wheezy for Sam in disguise is a riot. I’m not sure if Harvey brought in Elder’s Dragnet caricatures to ease newcomer Heath into the Mad mold and give readers a point of identification, but I think that Russ could have seen the story through to its end all on his own. --Jose


Peter: It was only natural, after the classic laugh-fest we received last issue, that this one would be a bit of a letdown. It's got its share of smiles and giggles but no guffaws, unfortunately. "Manduck the Magician," the latest Elder/Kurtzman team-up, is the weakest parody the boys have knocked out yet. Manduck's unchanging facial expressions are a funny dig at Lee Falk and the final panels (especially the one where Manduck and Narda are crowded out of the panel by their own word balloons) are the funniest moments this issue but, overall, it's a bit of a chore.  Maybe I'm becoming an elitist Kurtzelder snob but "Plastic Sam!" did not make me laugh once and if you were to quiz me as to the identity of the artist, I'd guess anyone but Russ Heath. Don't get me wrong . . . it's good art . . . I just don't recognize it as Russ (and that may be due to the assist from Elder). "Movie . . . Ads!" has some interesting black-and-white art from Woody but, again, the script is weak. "The Countynental!" shows that Jack Davis can experiment (something we don't see much from Jack) but the strip is just not funny at all. If it didn't have the MAD logo across the cover, I'd swear this was an issue of Panic.

Jack: It isn't as bad as all that! "Manduck" is more a series of hilarious panel jokes than a story, but it's still extremely funny. I like seeing the return of the Shadow and I think there's a nod to Syd Hoff in the first panel where a man on the beach walks by a woman in a bikini and imagines she's wearing clothes. Wood is the perfect person to illustrate "Movie . . . Ads!" because his women are stunning; I thought the piece was a funny look at how movies are promoted. "The Countynental!" is another TV parody whose subject is lost to history; the TV show it satirizes did not last as long as the series of lampoons that followed. I just read Art Spiegelman's book on Jack Cole and was prepared for "Plastic Sam!," which features the strange spectacle of Russ Heath trying to draw in the MAD style. It's good to see the duo from Dragnet return briefly, but this story was doomed to failure partly because the thing it satirizes was wildly funny to begin with.

Feeling hemmed in?
("Manduck the Magician")

Ingels

The Haunt of Fear #26

"Marriage Vow" ★★
Story by Otto Binder
Art by Graham Ingels

"The Shadow Knows" ★★ 1/2
Story by Otto Binder
Art by Reed Crandall

"Spoiled" ★ 1/2
Story by Otto Binder
Art by Jack Kamen

"Comes the Dawn!" ★★ 1/2
Story by Otto Binder
Art by Jack Davis

Try as he may to get out for a breath of fresh air, Martin Saunders can't escape his wife Eva, who used to be beautiful, rich, and randy, but who now is ugly, poor, but still randy. They wed seven years ago and Martin was happy to have her money, but when he tired of her company he murdered her by rigging an iron balcony to collapse under her weight and let her fall to be impaled on a spiked fence below the balcony. Unfortunately, Eva interpreted their "Marriage Vow" strictly as requiring them both to die before they may be parted, so she came back from the dead and now insists on marital relations even though she's rotting away.

An unusual panel design for Ghastly in "Marriage Vow."

More a situation than a story, Binder's tale sets up a problem and then spends eight long pages explaining what's going on. Ghastly is going through the motions once again and the disgusting point of the narrative, which is that Eva still insists on having sex with Martin even though she's a corpse, is one that can't really be fully explored in a comic book, thank goodness.

Eric Cooper's job means he has to spend a lot of time on the road, away from his lonely wife Mabel. He has an affair with Jondra and when she starts asking about marriage he decides to murder Mabel and marry his rich girlfriend. Eric gets away with staging Mabel's suicide, but soon her shadow begins to stalk him, which leads Jondra to think he is cheating on her. A policeman sees what appears to be the shadows of Eric murdering a woman on the street, but when Eric insists that it was only shadow play, the cop finds Jondra's dead body and Eric is arrested, tried, and executed. Finally, Mabel's shadow can rest.

Reed Crandall does his best in "The Shadow Knows."

"The Shadow Knows" is a poorly thought out piece of writing with Reed Crandall trying to bring some life to the proceedings. It's not clear who murders Jondra in the end but the story is so weak that it doesn't bear investigation.

Janet Grover was lonely and bored because her husband, surgeon Abel Grover, left her home alone night after night. She began to go out and, soon enough, an affair with Leon Payne began. When Abel found out about it, he exacted an unusual revenge by anesthetizing the lovers and sewing their heads on each other's bodies. Thus, their mutual attraction was "Spoiled."

All that's missing from the last panel
of "Spoiled!" is an angora sweater!

Does it get much worse than this? Like "Marriage Vow," Binder sets up a situation on page one and then uses flashback techniques to show the events leading up to it before revealing the nature of the problem on the last page. Kamen is not the one to breathe life into this tired script, though the final panel is almost Ed Woodian in its awfulness.

Jack Bolton flew to Alaska with two partners to prospect for Uranium but found a vampire's coffin frozen in the ice. He freed the vampire and let it kill his partners, thinking that he was safe in his cabin until dawn, when he could escape. There's just one problem: dawn will not rise in that part of the world for another week and he's out of food!

Jack Davis presents a spooky picture of the Alaskan
vampire peering through the space between the logs
of the cabin wall in "Comes the Dawn!"

"Comes the Dawn!" is, by default, the best story in a poor issue of Haunt of Fear. Jack Davis can draw desperate men, a vampire, and a cold and snowy landscape quite effectively, and the idea of the frozen vampire is a neat one; however, Binder once again relies on the twist of having a character not pay attention to the calendar (last time it was the time change between time zones), so the ending is not terribly satisfying.--Jack

Stiff punishment.
("Marriage Vow")

Peter: While still plundering Al's old scripts, at least Otto Binder seems to be getting the hang of a Haunt of Fear story. "Marriage Vow" is about as sick and vile as they come (it's almost as though, even while the castle crumbles around him, Bill Gaines holds his middle finger up at Wertham and dares him to make something of it), which is just fine with me, thank you. The most nauseating aspect, amidst lots of nauseating stuff, is that Martin Saunders will be spending every night, for the rest of his life, screwing a corpse ("It's time for bed, Martin!"). What were the kiddies thinking when they read the words . . . Every night, the ritual? Seriously, is it any wonder the heat came down on the EC empire? "The Shadow Knows" is silly nonsense (if Mabel's shadow can actually do harm then why not kill Eric rather than Jondra?) but Reed Crandall's art makes the ride scenic (Mabel's death throes are exceptionally brutal) and it's certainly better than the Kamen entry this issue. "Spoiled" almost feels like an in-joke; Binder is winking at his reader, whispering "Switching heads on a Jack Kamen character! Get it?" The "shock" is certainly not worth the long, slow build-up. And, unfortunately, anytime you use the words "Vampire" and Alaska" together, any hoped-for surprises are pretty much thrown out the window. I liked Jack's art in "Comes the Dawn!," though his bloodsucker looks more like a werewolf.

Jose: “Marriage Vow” is one sick puppy, and it knows it. Revels in it, in fact. Otto Binder, much like the horny zombie wife of his story, seems to take delight in rubbing our noses in the putrescent conceit of the narrative, subjecting Martin and audience alike to every last taboo-shattering innuendo. While historians and fans tend to point to “Foul Play” as being the “point of no return” in the annals of EC horror, I think the case can be effectively made that “Marriage Vow” is the real anarchist here, flipping everyone off and being disgusting just for the sake of creating some chaos. One is tempted to call it a bad story, indicative of the company’s downward slide into the maw of public backlash, but its brazen ballsiness earns my perverted respect. The rest of the issue’s contents, all penned by Binder, are nowhere near as memorable. Reading dried-mouth tripe like “The Shadow Knows” and “Spoiled”, stuff that was passé even before the Old Witch lit her first cauldron, makes me wonder if Bill and Al played a more direct hand in pumping up the salaciousness of “Marriage Vow.” The three other stories read more like what we’ve seen of the author in the past, for badder and worse. “Comes the Dawn” at least has the draw of a fairly intriguing concept and setting that enhances the survivalist suspense and action, and the small peeks that Jack Davis provides of the bestial bloodsucker give it an air of mystery and increased menace.

Next Week . . .
Rock finds himself trapped in a vicious circle
He hates killing but . . .
No killing, no funny book!

From Haunt of Fear #26

EC Comics! It's An Entertaining Comic Issue 46

The EC Reign Month by Month 1950-1956
     46: June 1954

MAD #12

"Starchie!" ★★★★
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Will Elder

"From Eternity Back to Here!" ★ 1/2
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Bernie Krigstein

"Mark Trade!" ★★★ 1/2
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Jack Davis

"3-Dimensions!" ★★★★
Story by Harvey Kurtzman
Art by Wally Wood

"Starchie!"

"Starchie!" and Bottleneck run the halls of their high school like Big Men on Campus, selling school passes to the freshmen and breaking the hearts of nicely-drawn chicks like Biddy and Salonica. When they find out that fellow student, Wedgie, is selling passes as well, they take the interloper for a deadly ride. In the end, Bottleneck sells his best buddy out to the cops and takes the business over. Starchie rots in prison, missing his high school days and regretting his bad decisions. Elder and Kurtzman have teamed up in the past on some incredible parodies, but "Starchie!" could well be their apex (at least until the next peak comes along, that is).

Arguably, the funniest thing published in MAD to this point, "Starchie!" is jammed full of hilarious sight gags and knowing jabs at the industry that feeds Kurtzman and Elder. Starchie and Bottleneck smoke, chew tobacco, terrorize their principal, and break the fourth wall constantly. Kurtzman points out the silliness of a character who never graduates and has "criss-cross marks" on the side of his head! Biddy and Salonica have pimply faces, are drawn exactly alike (almost, ironically, like Jack Kamen women), and carry a heroin kit (!). When Wedgie threatens the Starchie trade, the boys strip him, take him for a ride, and dump him off a cliff. Perhaps my favorite moment (among many) is when Starchie sits in his cell, looks at Biddy's picture, remembers how he used to stave off her advances, and beats his head on the wall, chanting "JUST THINK! I GOT RID OF HER! SHE THREW HERSELF! JERK! FOOL! IDIOT!" No, wait, what about when Starchie calls his partner at the candy store and when Bottleneck asks where he is, Starchie sticks his head over the divider and exclaims, "I'm just on the other side of this jagged separation line, you fool!" No, wait . . .

Starchie and Bottleneck pull a fast one on Wedgie.
("Starchie!")

The Lone Guffaw.
("From Eternity Back to Here!")

Harvey takes aim at the film version of From Here to Eternity in "From Eternity Back to Here!" and shoots blanks; it's a painfully unfunny parody, the only point of interest being Bernie Krigstein's debut as a MAD artist. Krigstein is spot-on with his movie star doodles but his style really doesn't jibe with the MAD vibe (in fact, this is his only solo MAD work--he'll duet with Bill Elder later in the run). There's an amusing running joke concerning the famous shot of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr sucking face in the sand but that is the sole smile earned during its seven-page span.

There's a man who hunts and lives off the fat of the land, whose name is his trademark, his trademark his name . . . and that's his name . . . "Mark Trade!" While showing boy scouts the wonder of nature (and beavers who build brownstones and offer fixed rent), Mark is approached by Wildwood Magazine and offered five grand to hunt and stuff the rare species, Canis Bernardus Saintus, for the magazine's next cover. Never one to turn down a challenge (nor five grand), Mark solicits the help of his boy Friday, Morsemere (a tyke who happens to grow a five o'clock shadow), and his trusted St. Bernard, Sandy. Mark and his assistants hit the road but can't seem to find any game outside a skunk or two. Suddenly realizing he has no idea what a Canis Bernardus Saintus is, he visits the Wildwood office, where he's informed the rare species is a St. Bernard dawg. Weighing his love for Sandy in one hand and five grand in the other, Mark makes his decision and then retires from the stress of nature to live out his days at the Wiltshire-Plaza. One of Harvey's better "throw it at the wall and see what sticks" whackfests, "Mark Trade!" (a parody of the environment/nature-themed comic strip, "Mark Trail") manages to score on about half of its one-liners (a pretty good percentage for one of these things) and Jack Davis gives Elder a run for his money in the sight gag department. Highlights: Morsemere's stubble, the splash with the "subtly" placed cartoon characters, the subway visit, the brick-and-mortar beaver, and the horny boy scouts all elicit hearty guffaws. "Mark Trade!" gives hope that there is more to MAD than Kurtzman/Elder.

"Mark Trade!"

"3-Dimensions!"

In a final belch of lunacy this issue, Harvey Kurtzman and Wally Wood demonstrate the highs and lows of "3-Dimensions!" Harvey defies the critics, who claim that 3-D leads to eye strain or blurred vision, in several very helpful training panels and shows us how 3-D can liven up even the most boring proceedings. Unfortunately, for Woody and Harvey, things get a little out of hand at the climax but we get the picture anyway. An absolute joy from start to finish, "3-Dimensions!" defies simple synopsis; you have to experience this. Wally throws the rules out the window and performs some hilarious sleights of hand with panel placement and destruction. The sixth page may be the definitive statement ever recorded on . . . something. I dare you, the reader, to touch the panel reprinted below and not smell newsprint . . . well, um, okay, go get the funny book and try it then. --Melvin Enfantino

"3-Dimensions!"

Jack: Archie and Jughead slouching their way through every panel, cigarettes hanging from their lips? Betty and Veronica built like Vegas showgirls? "Starchie!" is classic, early Mad, yet another display of the Kurtzman/Elder genius. "From Eternity Back to Here!" shows how bizarre the sight of Bernie Krigstein trying to do comedy can be, while "Mark Trade!" is much more enjoyable than "Mark Trail" ever was. "3-Dimensions!" cements Wally Wood as the second best Mad artist in these early issues (behind Elder, of course), but is page six really blank or is my electronic file copy of this issue missing something? Would they really print a blank page?

"3-Dimensions!"

Ingels

The Haunt of Fear #25

"The New Arrival" ★★★
Story by Otto Binder
Art by Graham Ingels

"Indisposed!" ★★★ 1/2
Story by Al Feldstein and William Gaines
Art by George Evans

"Out Cold" ★ 1/2
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by Jack Kamen

"The Light in His Life!" ★ 1/2
Story by Otto Binder
Art by Jack Davis

A sentient mansion tells us its tale of woe and how it is a house haunted by “a horrible living secret”, a secret whose anguished cries can be heard echoing throughout its corridors. One tempestuous night a driver cruising past the house has his car break down so, naturally, the man seeks assistance at the benighted residence despite the house’s best efforts to deter him with well-timed shutter-banging and bat-releasing. The man is greeted by the house’s human owner, a withered old woman who happily invites the young man to spend the night. The motorist remains ill-at-ease about the whole set-up, especially the woman’s insistence that her guest stay away from the room where her sick, mewling baby rests; surely a woman her age could not possibly be caring for a newborn? Rationalizing his way into bed, the man later awakens to the cries and then resolves to get to the bottom of it all. Breaking into the room, he’s horrified to find that the “baby” is actually a wretched, emaciated full-grown man chained the walls, and it isn’t long before the old madwoman has knocked the motorist out and claimed another “ittle dumpling” for her brood.

A boy's best friend?
("The New Arrival")

In retrospect, the whole framing device of the house relating the events of “The New Arrival” isn’t all that necessary, seeing as how the manse ends up playing virtually no role in the actual drama, but if you ask me that just adds to the charm of this flawed, perverted little chiller. If you look at it this way, the incapacitated house is there to play the part of the surrogate reader, cut off from the tragedy being enacted before it and “shouting at the screen” to no avail. This has the added benefit of diverting our attention away (at least partly) from how played-out the story’s setup is: dark and stormy night, broken-down car, weirdo crone, et al. The house is there to tell us, “Hey, I’m with you! I’ve seen this same thing for countless years…” The story is still far from perfect—Ingels’ art, in particular, looks really downgraded, the first half of the story showing only the minimum detail—but it’s redeemed by a pretty grisly climax that looks ahead to all of the psycho-family fare that would only begin to take prominence in the genre during the following decade. For all of its setbacks, you have to admit that “The New Arrival” could have been published in DC’s mystery line or even by, say, Dark Horse today with very little variation and still have managed to raise a hackle or two. 

The joys of suburban living: henpecked husband Henry has just finished slaughtering his nagging wife Rita and pouring her segmented bits down his newly-installed garbage disposal. The murderer has figured out the timing for his crime so perfectly that he manages to bash Rita’s head in during their drive to the “airport” for Rita’s surprise “trip to Florida” and clean up the mess back at the kitchen just before his neighborhood pals show up for a celebratory stag night free of their respective ball-and-chains. One of the buds visiting that night is Henry’s neighbor George, a plumber who had offered to install the garbage disposal as a friendly favor. Henry is basking in the glow of his perfect crime when he casually mentions to the group that his house is on well water, a fact that draws some concern from George. As the plumber explains it, he had thought the well water intake pipe was the waste pipe during his installation, and the full ramifications of his mulligan is made apparent when the guys turn on the tap and see the bloody slop that was once Rita come pouring out of the faucet.

Nightmare fuel.
("Indisposed!")

“Indisposed” is one of those prime slices of suburban Guignol that EC only managed to pull off on a small number of occasions. Having George Evans in your corner certainly never hurts, but Feldstein’s script works just as adeptly as the artist’s noirish inks here. When those two forces are working in concert as they are here it results in some of the company’s grimmest narratives, Evans’ illustrations lending an air of kitchen sink realism (sorry) to all the gruesome shenanigans, producing a disturbing frisson that no other artist could touch. Reading an Evans story like “Indisposed,” you get the feeling that something like this could very well happen (and probably has). This story had two of the most shocking and unsettling panels this side of “Squeeze Play”, the first being Henry’s happy bludgeoning of his wife (his hard smile, the blurred action of his hands, Rita’s outstretched arms—ugh), and the second being the one immediately following it, an extreme close-up of Henry’s blood-drenched hands mopping up the mess in the kitchen through the filter of Marie Severin’s crimson coloring. Yikes.

Smitten with the new redheaded typist at the office, Ralph Cowan plans to ask the beauty out on a date, and here the story posits just what would have happened had Ralph gotten this chance. It’s your typical American love story: boy asks girl on date; girl says yes; boy eventually discovers that girl has weird, profound, and seemingly random distaste for all cats big and small;  boy sees this demonstrated firsthand when girl sends a little kitty into the end zone with a swift kick; boy naturally proposes marriage after this; girl thinks mom isn’t going to approve of union; boy visits old biddy to ask for daughter’s hand and instead gets a mickey slipped in his wine that completely paralyzes him; girl turns out to be flesh-hungry ghoul who wanted to find true love but instead concedes boy’s body to old biddy who proceeds to chop it to bits with a hatchet. Yes, this idyllic story would have happened, if daydreaming Ralph hadn’t walked right out of the office window and fallen twenty stories to his death.

Thank you, Jack Kamen.
("Out Cold")

Holy shnikes! “Out Cold” just might be the whackiest tale that ever graced EC’s horror titles, operating on a level of pure lunacy that was generally reserved for the company’s early SF stories. Carl Wessler’s script is a discordance of moods and tempers, going from straight romantic drama to tongue-in-cheek satire at the turn of a dime. Once we get to the panel of Ralph cowering in terror as his redheaded sweetheart and two maleficent kitties look on with evil grins as Granny the Crossdresser prepares to turn him into mince meat, we realize that we have stepped off the bus into Crazy-Town. This is the kind of delirious, barely coherent yarn that we would have found in the competitor’s rags, so in a lot of ways “Out Cold” feels completely alien. And that ending! Nothing spices up a confused narrative like a guy getting killed for being horny.

The life of a trapper is hard and harsh in equal measure, as young Ned Drake discovers when he listens to some sage words of advice from old-timer Jake Barrow after he mentions his plans to bring his wife along to stay for the winter. Jake advises that Ned reconsider this point, as the isolation and freezing weather have a way of bringing out the worst in people, as it did for Jake and his wife Miranda. Though Jake was able to keep busy in his off-hours by reading his treasured books, Miranda’s only hobby was stuffing her face. Once the store of food was gobbled up, Miranda grew desperate and began eyeing the supply of whale oil used for keeping the cabin lamps alight. After guzzling her way through the casks of oil, Miranda then began making designs on the tallow candles fashioned from whale blubber. The “fat slob” greedily chomped down every last candle and then even slurped up the fat shavings from the animal hides Jake was planning on using for light to read his books. This proved to be the last straw for the trapper, who then made one final innovation to provide fuel for the kerosene lamp in whose glow he now relates this tale to Ned: rendering Miranda down to her most basic elements.

The one shining ray.
("The Light in His Life!")

Although I can appreciate the muted reveal of Jake’s crime in the final panel—he looking on in grim satisfaction at the tiny flame inside the lamp as Ned backs away gagging—everything else in “The Light in His Life” is just a dreary retread of Feldstein’s old spouse-pushed-to-the-edge-enacting-ironic-vengeance formula realized through the "talents" of Otto Binder. Jack Davis’ depiction of Miranda seems to be… inconsistent, to say the least. In some panels she’s not recognizable as a woman; in other she’s not recognizable as a human. The endless “let’s see what she’ll eat next” pattern the story follows gets old real quick, but it should be noted that the sight of Miranda chugging oil and chewing candles has the power to provoke a more icky visceral reaction from the reader than any display of overt violence in this funny book. --Jose

Peter is forced to pick up all of Jose's toys again.
("The New Arrival")

Peter: "The New Arrival" is like one of those jokes your co-worker tells you where you patiently wait through the long monologue hoping for a great punchline (but knowing it'll be weak) and then that final line is delivered and . . . holy cow, it's not too bad! The revelation that the old lady was keeping something other than a baby upstairs isn't that startling; the unsettling bit is the notion that this is her own kid kept chained for forty years. After several weak entries lately, Graham finds his old form again. Anything George Evans works on becomes that much more readable, even a so-so script like "Indisposed!" Having been married once, I felt complete sympathy for Henry. "Out Cold" is more silly, warmed-over nonsense ostensibly whipped up as fast as possible to fill space and then handed over to . . . guess who? The Denver Broncos could probably use the kicking skills of Wilma. "Out Cold" does contain the funniest bit of dialogue this month (outside of anything in Mad) when dopey Ralph takes his header and Wilma exclaims, "Why, the stupid @#!!!" The final tale, "The Light in His Life!," starts off intriguingly, almost as though we're in the room around the candle fire while Jake begins his story. But then Otto falls back on that cliched fat-hate that Al used to load into lots of his narratives. Miranda's growing obesity and disgusting eating habits (seriously, candles?) are all bait for the reader to find sympathy for the skinny guy. Ironic, since EC publisher Gaines was morbidly obese.

Jack: That is one heck of a garbage disposal in "Indisposed!" The story was completely satisfying, with nice art by Evans and a great final panel payoff. "Out Cold" meanders along pretty well but the revelation that the women are a ghoul and a witch is a letdown and the final half-page twist is unnecessary. Still, it's better than the lame "The New Arrival," which continues to track the decline of Ghastly's art. It's never good when a story is narrated by an inanimate object, and I found the surprise twist to be a big disappointment. Worst of all is "The Light in His Life!"--I think Otto Binder and Carl Wessler are vying for worst EC horror writer. Who will win?

Feldstein

Weird Science-Fantasy #24

". . . For Posterity" ★★★
Story by Al Feldstein
Art by Wally Wood

"The Teacher from Mars" ★★★
Story by Eando Binder
Adaptation by Al Feldstein
Art by Joe Orlando

"The Pioneer" ★★★★
Story by Al Feldstein
Art by Bernie Krigstein

"Upheaval!" ★★
Story by Harlan Ellison and Al Feldstein
Art by Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel

Marty and Phil are two young men who are out prospecting in the desert for uranium when they witness the landing of a spaceship! They explore the ship's interior and suddenly the hatch closes and the ship takes off into outer space. They pass out from the tumult and later awaken to see the ship hurtling through the vast unknown. When it lands and the hatch opens, they are shocked to see that, instead of horribly-tentacled alien monsters, they are greeted by a huge crowd of beautiful women! The queen explains that all of the men died off centuries before, due to fallout from an atomic war, and the women discovered how to reproduce by means of a chemical, yet that chemical has now run out. Fortunately, the women also discovered how to travel through space and time and oh, by the way, they are on Planet Earth, six thousand years in the future!

Phil seems to think he needs to get married first!
("...For Posterity")

They hopped in a space ship and traveled back through time, eventually ensnaring Marty and Phil, who jump at the chance to do their duty "For Posterity . . ." and help repopulate future Earth. Their work complete, they are whisked back to the present-day desert as if no time had passed. Both men awaken from what seems like a dream, but their suspicions are confirmed when they find roses pinned to their sleeping bags.

Hoo boy! I could've read about ten more pages of this highly entertaining yarn. Wally Wood is the perfect choice to illustrate a story that features a planet of gorgeous gals and, while his art in some places here is not as strong as usual, the story is a ton of fun. My favorite bit of dialogue:

Queen: It is up to you! You know the story, now. We cannot force you to help us! If you want to, we will be most grateful!

Phil: Look, Ma'am! We're just two normal guys! I mean . . .

Jack is reminded of eighth grade for some reason.
("The Teacher from Mars")

Marty: That's a big crowd out there!

That is about as R-rated as a comic could get in 1954, it seems to me!

There's a new teacher at Caslon Prep in Elkhart, Indiana, and his name is Mun Zeerohs--a Martian! He's patient and kind, despite being tormented by the nasty young men, who are led by Tom Blaine. Blaine plays one cruel prank after another on the new teacher, who is about to throw in the towel and head back to Mars when he learns that his son was killed protecting Blaine's father from space pirates. Young Tom sees the error of his ways and he and "The Teacher From Mars" become friends.

Joe Orlando is the right choice to draw this adaptation of a story from the February 1941 pulp, Thrilling Wonder Stories; his teenage students are just creepy enough and the Martian teacher is just weird enough to make the whole thing work. The story veers a bit too close to Messiah imagery (the teacher quotes Jesus on the cross in one thought balloon) but, for some reason, it all fits together neatly in the end. It's interesting that editor Al Feldstein thought to pull an old Binder story out of the files now that one of the Binders was writing new stories for EC.

Krigstein does Kirby?
("The Pioneer")

Professor Alec Lathem is injured when his new rocket fuel explodes and, after that day, he is obsessed with developing a rocket engine and also very short-tempered. Fired from his university post, he buys a farm in the country and begins to build a prototype but is pestered by Hiram Jenkins, a nosy hick neighbor. Lathem finally tests the engine and Jenkins is fried to a crisp by the flame from the exhaust; the cops come and take the professor away. From then on, the professor lives a fantasy life, thinking that he is being taken seriously and encouraged in his research, while in reality he is in jail and on Death Row. He is finally electrocuted but, in his mind, he is taking off on the first trip into outer space.

A brilliant synthesis of art and story, "The Pioneer" is a fascinating psychological study of a man whose mania blinds him to the truth of his experience. Krigstein's art is almost Kirby-esque in spots and the contrast between the narration by the professor and the reality of what is happening, as shown pictorially, is powerful.

Earthmen search the vast reaches of space, seeking proof that there is life elsewhere. Finding none, they are on the verge of being convinced that man is the ultimate result of evolution when they land on a green planet where first their ship and then their bodies are sucked underground as if by a giant mass of protoplasm. They are saved by a sudden "Upheaval!" that delivers men and ship back to the surface; flying away, they realize that they are not the end of the evolutionary line and that a more-advanced life form just vomited them up.

Too talky and too preachy, the Ellison/Feldstein co-production wastes more technically superb art by Williamson and Krenkel. Al's little in-joke comes on page three, as one crew member remarks, with a lascivious grin: "What I'd like to find is a planet completely inhabited by women! Nuthin' but women!" All he needs to do is turn back to the first story in this very fine issue of Weird Science-Fantasy!--Jack

Jack and Jose look on as Peter expresses himself.
("Upheaval!")

Peter: Fresh from his viewing of Cat-Women of the Moon, Al Feldstein delivers the novel known as ". . . For Posterity," a boring, talky, silly space opera that wastes Wally's talents and eight pages. I'm sure the kids appreciated the long x-y, y-y, yy-y, why-why discussion between the Queen of Outer Space and Buck Rogers. I love the panel where Phil gasps about sure death coming through the portal and how he wished he'd brought a knife. Only problem is that Wally's depiction makes Phil look super cool and calm! "The Teacher From Mars" is obviously Al's way of expanding the "literary" horizons of the EC SF tale but Eando Binder (a pseudonym for brother Earl and Otto) is no Ray Bradbury. "Teacher" is predictable, maudlin nonsense featuring some of Joe Orlando's worst art. Really, this strip looks so out of place in an EC SF title. "Upheaval!" begins as another one of those interminable "Space explorers searching for life" snoozers but has a decent twist (and a very funny wink-and-a-nod from Al when one of the travelers exclaims "What I'd like to find is a planet completely inhabited by women! Nuthin' but women!"). Nothing here screams "Future Great Writer." "Upheaval!" was based on Ellison's short story, "Mealtime," which was adapted (by Ellison under his Cordwainer Bird pseudonym) a decade later as the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episode, "The Price of Doom." As with most anything to do with Harlan, there's an interesting story to go with that adaptation. "The Pioneer" is, by far, the best story this issue. Professor Lathem's sad, strange trip from genius to lunatic is heartbreaking and the march from cell to electric chair particularly powerful. I could have done without that tacked-on final panel, seemingly placed to help the slower readers comprehend what had just happened, as the penultimate panel would have been the perfect last look at Lathem.

The lunatic but genius finale of "3-Dimensions!"

Next Week . . .
Jack has to read another Losers story!!!