EC Comics! It's An Entertaining Comic! Issue 71

The EC Reign Month by Month 1950-1956
71: December 1955 

Evans

Aces High 5

"C'est la Guerre!"★★★
Story by Jack Oleck?
Art by George Evans

"Iron Man!"★★
Story Uncredited
Art by Jack Davis

"Spads Were Trump"★★
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by Bernie Krigstein

"Ordeal"★★1/2
Story Uncredited
Art by Wally Wood

When an American pilot named Adams crash-lands at a French base after returning from a suicide mission in WWI, the French colonel on duty questions the man about why he embarked on the dangerous mission to bomb a well-guarded German base. The American pilots drew lots and Adams was selected; he completed the dangerous mission and was badly injured on his return. The other pilots are envious of the time off that Adams will get due to his wounds and Adams reveals to the French colonel that he did not fly the mission because he lost in the random selection, he flew it because he won!

"C'est la Guerre!"

"C'est la Guerre!" gets the final issue of Aces High off to a good start with outstanding biplane work by George Evans and a likable tale of a pilot who risks his life for a little more shore leave.

After sixty-one missions flying against the Nazis in WWII, Fred Allison is known as the "Iron Man." Time after time, other pilots are shot down, but never Allison. At first, he's a hero, but after a while the other pilots avoid him, ignoring him and not speaking to him. He watches one name after another being crossed off the chalkboard as men die until he sees his own name being crossed out and realizes that the reason everyone has been ignoring him is because he is dead.

Jack Davis does a decent job drawing Allison and his air battles and we get some sense of the man's strange relationship to the other pilots, but the ending has been done to death and elicits nothing more than a groan.

"Spads Were Trump"

It's April 1918, and Lt. Walt Muller is the hero to a squadron of Allied fliers, but Walt has no time for flattery. He shows great emotion when a German ace known as the Red Eagle starts showing up in the skies and the other fliers in Walt's squadron think he's chicken, so they write a note challenging the Red Eagle to a duel. The Red Eagle accepts but Walt refuses to participate, so a new flier named Jordan jumps in Walt's plane and challenges the German. Things are not going well until Walt zooms into the fray and soon he has downed the German ace. Back on the ground, Walt tearfully reveals that the Red Eagle was his brother.

That concluding revelation was no surprise to anyone who has read more than a handful of war comics. Krigstein turns in his usual mid-level art job on "Spads Were Trump" and Wessler's script plods along to the expected finale. Why Walt's fellow fliers thought it would be a good idea to challenge the Red Eagle to a duel in Walt's name is beyond me.

Was Lt. Stoner afraid when he volunteered to join the Flying Tigers and help China against Japan in the run-up to WWII? No! Was he afraid when he battled the enemy in the air or when they attacked his base on the ground? No! So what "Ordeal" has him so worried? Why, he's getting a medal from Chiang Kai-Shek! That's what has him so worked up.

Is there any kind of story that Wally Wood does not excel at? This is basically an extended gag with a punch line that elicits, at best, a small grin. But Wood's air battles are terrific, so we put up with the mediocre writing.-Jack

"Iron Man!"

Peter: The art this issue is all aces but the scripts could have used a little work, I'm afraid. Only "Iron Man!" won me over and that was due to the right-out-of-left-field twist ending. Some would say a little too random, but I say, "Hey, look, it's a Weird War Tale!" "Spads Were Trump" has the weakest of the four scripts; raise your hand if you didn't see that final panel coming from a mile away. I had to double-check to make sure Bob Kanigher hadn't made a surprise visit to the EC bullpen in 1955. So, yes, a glass-half-full issue of Aces High but, since this is the final issue, we can look back at an admirable five-issue run that, like the equally strong run of Valor, keeps this title relevant when discussing great moments in EC history, when so many of the other short-runs are ignored.

"Ordeal"

Craig

Extra! 5

"Dateline: Long Island Sound" ★1/2
Story and Art by Johnny Craig

"Steve Rampart" ★1/2
Story Uncredited
Art by John Severin

"Geri Hamilton" ★★
Story Uncredited
Art by Reed Crandall

"Dateline: Germersheim" ★
Story and Art by Johnny Craig

Keith Michaels (you know, the reporter who never does any actual reporting?) finds himself in the thick of more intrigue after a house-warming party that ends innocently enough until Michaels is conked on the head by a mystery man, who steals a new house-warming gift and then vanishes into the night. Turns out the gift (from girlfriend, Vicki), a piece of driftwood sculpted into a seagull, hides a treasure of uncut diamonds. Keith and Vicki head to the remote island where Vicki picked up the souvenir and become enmeshed in a web of murder and deceit.

"Dateline: Long Island Sound"

I love Johnny Craig but this series is (and always was) the pits. Michaels always seems to find himself in the thick of trouble (usually originating from innocent events such as Vicki's picking out the wrong gift), gets clocked a few times, and solves murder and mystery faster than a cop, all while keeping handsome and free from wrinkled clothing. Michaels delivers the obligatory two-page expository at the end of "Long Island Sound" while a cigarette dangles from his mouth. Sheesh. The second Michaels adventure this issue, "Dateline: Germershein," is microwaved Graham Greene, a tedious and silly espionage yarn about spies and double-spies and triple-spies that wears out its welcome long before the plot has to be rehashed and explained to us on pages six and seven. The two Michaels entries would be Johnny Craig's final full-length work for EC (he would contribute some spot illos for the Picto-line in 1956); after EC cancelled all titles but MAD, Craig would find work at Atlas/Marvel and then an advertising agency before making a triumphant return at Warren. We'll be going over his Warren work in just a couple months right here in this space.

Action gear provided by Fruit of the Loom

"Steve Rampart" is living the life of a photographer/bachelor, taking shots of beautiful gals at a carnival, when he stumbles into a con job put on by a fortune teller and his brawny bodyguard. The swami is putting one over on the trusting old Mrs. Mason, wife of deceased millionaire, Charles Mason, in order to bilk her out of her fortune. Rampart wins the trust of the old lady and then uses her to get the con man to reveal his true colors. Once again, Steve Rampart blurs the lines of photographer and cop (much in the way Keith Michaels uses his stationery to solve crime), even going to his boss at World Press and talking him into letting him cover "the story." Isn't that a reporter's job? This is not John Severin's best work (a lot of it looks rushed and sketchy and Rampart appears to be wearing a buttonless shirt under his coat and tie), but I would imagine the artist wasn't too enamored with the script he was assigned and decided to pump something out quick.

"Geri Hamilton"

Ace reporter "Geri Hamilton" has been assigned to a story in Egypt, where a rash of deaths has crippled an archaeological expedition tasked with finding the tomb of Anubis. The great God's resting place has been found but the unearthing comes with a curse, one that has taken the lives of six men. Geri won't accept that an ancient curse is responsible so she does a little homework and discovers that her guide, Dr. Mannheim, served in the Afrika Korps and he and several of his comrades stole and buried half a million in gold in a mining tunnel next to the dig. Geri catches Mannheim in the act of retrieving his gold, but the cad threatens our girl's life. The intrepid reporter causes a cave-in, which saves her life and alerts the authorities. Another exclusive for the cutest newshound going! "Geri Hamilton" gets a slightly higher rating than the rest of the stories this issue because Reed Crandall looks like he hadn't received his pink slip yet and was creating art just like he always did, meticulously and stylishly. The story is hogwash, of course. I'm still not clear on whether Mannheim buried his gold and then stumbled on the Anubis tomb or vice versa but, in the end, it doesn't really matter. Extra! will slide into obscurity (how many EC fans even acknowledge this, Psychoanalysis, or MD?) and you'll see not one tear shed from me. Like Psychoanalysis, Extra!'s biggest mistake may have been expending all its energies on a weak cast of continuing characters.-Peter

"Dateline: Germersheim"

Jack: Like the first four issues of this series, this issue was pretty good but in the end it was a waste of real talent. I love Johnny Craig's visual storytelling and the way he mixes words and pictures, and his half-splash pages on both stories this issue look great, but both of his tales run out of steam before we get to the end. I also thought Severin was not at his best in the fake swami story and the twist ending was superfluous. I always look forward to the third story in Extra! because it means more Reed Crandall, and I like plucky Geri Hamilton, but art alone does not a great comic make.

Davis

Impact 5

"Heart Interest"★1/2
Story by Al Feldstein?
Art by by George Evans

"The Travelers"★
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by Joe Orlando

"The General"★1/2
Story by Al Feldstein?
Art by Graham Ingels

"So Much More"★★
Story Uncredited
Art by Bernie Krigstein

The doctor gives Laura Harmon the bad news: in six months, death will separate her and her husband Walt. She refuses to tell hubby, though, and instead does everything to keep him from exerting himself. Eventually, he gets sick of the life of a homebody and tells her to leave him. When the doc goes to the funeral, it's Walt who asks him why Laura never told him she had a bad heart.

Even the squirrel wants out of "Heart Interest."

"Heart Interest" is deadly dull and the writer, who may have been Al Feldstein (according to the GCD) twists himself in knots to keep from the reader that Laura is the one with the bad heart, not Walt. For almost seven pages, we are made to think it's Walt. Yawn. Even George Evans can't enliven this dirge.

"The Travelers" are a family of three who are on a train hurtling through Pennsylvania on their way to New York City. They spy Edward, a boy alone and crying, and are nice to him, but when his mother doesn't show up they assume she's drinking in the club car. The train reaches its destination and Edward meets his father; his mother's coffin is unloaded from the train, much to the shock of the judgmental family.

She should have loaned him
Tales from the Crypt!
("The Travelers")

I knew right away that Edward's mother was dead, and these busybodies should have figured it out or asked Edward (or the conductor) some simple questions. Joe Orlando's art is not pleasing to my eye. John Severin did great work at EC in the '50s and DC in the '70s. George Evans did great work at EC in the '50s but by the '70s at DC his art was not so hot. Yet Joe Orlando's '50s art for EC is nothing to write home about, while his work at DC in the late '60s and early '70s was much better. Go figure.

Feodor, "The General," sits at a table with his guests and recalls his rise as a Russian general in the armies of the Tsar. He began as a peasant but later turned his back on his own kind and participated in killing them. The guests get up and leave and when the general puts on his cloak and walks out it is revealed that he too is a servant.

I did not get this one at all the first time I read it and on second reading it started to make a wee bit of sense, but I did not care for the surprise ending--it seemed to demean the more serious aspects of the general's rise.

"The General"

Ever since they were kids, poor Danny Herndon hated and envied the rich Lawrence boy. After an altercation with the Lawrence gardener, Danny ran away from home and lived on his own, eventually becoming a successful boxer. He never forgot his hatred for the Lawrence family and, when they fell on hard times, he used his winnings to buy the Lawrence home. He confronts Lawrence with his hatred but Lawrence admits he pities Herndon, since the poor boy always had "So Much More"--Lawrence has always been crippled and unable to walk.

The last issue of Impact is a real stinker and the last story barely edges out the first three for best in show, mainly due to passable art by the often overrated Bernie Krigstein.-Jack

The shocking climax to "The General."

Peter: During its brief five-issue life, Impact struggled to find a niche of its own, doomed to be just a mediocre step-child of Shock SuspenStories, and the final issue exhibits nothing to sway that view. But for one insanely bright moment ("Master Race" in #1), Impact is nothing to remember. "Heart Interest" features a bit of sly tomfoolery in its climax, and our uncredited writer does an admirable job of not tipping his cap, but the first six pages amount to a whole lot of tedium. Laura goes to the doctor for advice. Doc says tell Walt the truth. Laura says I can't. Doc says "Our time is up." Next page, let's do it all again. The reveal of "The Travelers" seems, at first glance, to be a powerful one but the entire story is built on a cheat. As if the conductor would answer Mrs. Horton's concern with a flippant, "Back there." But even if you could excuse the deception, there's still the matter of Joe Orlando's awful art, the blandness of which seems to leap from the page. Worst of all is "So Much More," a tawdry slice of maudlin pie that wastes a decent art job by Krigstein.

The only enjoyment I took from this issue, "The General," is a throwback to Harvey's war titles, and the twist is a humdinger. Feodor's fate is reminiscent of Jake LaMotta's at the climax of Raging Bull. Graham's art is the best this issue, detailed and stimulating; it's a damn shame that we've only got a little more time left with Ingels, as it seems he was becoming re-invigorated just as the ceiling was about to fall in.

Davis

Incredible Science Fiction 32

"Fallen Idol" ★★
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Joe Orlando

"Food for Thought" ★★★
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel

"The Ultimate Weapon" ★★1/2
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Bernie Krigstein

"Marked Man" ★★1/2
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Jack Davis

"Fallen Idol"

In an apocalyptic future, a young man yearns to discover what's out in the "dead place," beyond his camp. Legends tell of a God named Hercules who dwells in the battle-scarred zone. When his father, the village leader, dies and the curious cat inherits the throne, he orders his people to accompany him into the "dead place." They discover gigantic carnivorous insects but, with the help of bow and arrow, they manage to defeat the creatures and wend their way into the ravaged city where they find Hercules in an abandoned building. They bring the steel God back to camp and the new leader dreams of the day he can use Hercules to build a new world. Even though the CCA has emasculated the hell out of "Fallen Idol," (the chief's right hand on page 4, panel 3 should be holding a club, but it's empty) it's not awful. It's not all that original though, and the "post-apocalyptic tribe that idolizes machinery" theme would be done much better fifteen years later in Beneath the Planet of the Apes. I had to use my handy-dandy Google to figure out what Hercules was; best guess is he's a 1950s washing machine. Orlando's art doesn't help either; the whole enchilada looks like something that would have wound up in one of the 1960s' Gold Key titles.

Forget the Sistine Chapel

After fifty thousand years, man returns to what was once a burnt-out and lifeless Earth. Re-seeding has grown a new landscape with new creatures and vegetation but the explorers deem it unlivable and prepare to lay waste to it yet again. This does not sit well with Grock, an intelligent tree that tries to get its message across through thought waves but has to resort to physical contact when all else fails. The explorers see this act as aggression and destroy Grock, then blast off, their destruction complete. Another script you'd swear you've read a thousand times before but gussied up with eye-pleasing work from Messrs. Williamson and Krenkel (according to 50 Girls 50, the Williamson/Krenkel volume in Fantagraphics' essential "EC Comics Library" series, Krenkel supplied the alien landscapes for "Food for Thought"). That splash is poster-worthy, as detailed as an acid trip, and fans remembered it fondly down through the years as it won the award for Best Artwork in a Science-Fiction Story at the 1972 EC Fan-Addicts Convention.  I'm sure it probably has to do with the CCA meddling, but what's with the square (rather than the usual oval) word balloons?  According to the von Bernewitz/Geissman tome, Tales of Terror! (the closest thing we have to an EC Bible), "Food for Thought" was to be a seven-pager until the good ol' CCA stepped in and objected to the ending. The climax was re-written and an extra page added.

When Peter visited Jack's house.

Fresh off conquering Mars, Gurt orders his men to fly their spaceship to Earth, where the destruction will be quick and easy. But his second-in-command, Andge, cautions him that the Earth people aren't like all the other planets they've conquered. After all, Earth has nuclear weapons and men have waged war among themselves for eons; how much fear will such a race exhibit? Landing on Earth, Gurt and Andge approach a farmhouse and ring the doorbell. A matronly old woman answers and immediately tears into both of them for trampling her roses. When Gurt explains they've come a long way and have a few questions, the woman tells him her husband is in town, but she knows all about the visitors and why they've come. Fearing a trap, Gurt orders Andge back in the ship and they hightail it, never to return. When the woman's husband returns, she tells him she regrets the day they made a deal with the movie company to film a science fiction film at their farm. The whole story is done somewhat tongue-in-cheek, so it'll do you no good to complain about the whopper of a coincidence that ends "The Ultimate Weapon." Krigstein does a good enough job for what he's given but, other than that Martian landscape on the splash, the entire story is nothing but talking heads. It's certainly more fun than the previous two tales this issue.

"Marked Man"

After the verdict on his court-martial comes down, Commander Abel Grant reflects on his twenty years of space duty, fighting battles with planets beyond Pluto and blasting Venusians who've taken Earthlings hostage, leading up to the event that got him into hot water. While taking the Grand Admiral of the Fleet out for a spin, their spacecraft is fired upon by "the enemy" and the ship has to make an emergency landing on an asteroid. The men escape and head for Earth but, on the way home, the Admiral keels over and dies from a strange disease. Informed that the bug is something Earth is not prepared for, the Commander orders the Admiral's body dumped into space. Some of his comrades see this as an inexcusable offense and put him on trial. When the trial is over, however, we discover there are men within the government who appreciate Grant's no-nonsense approach and elevate him to new Grand Admiral! Some great Jack Davis art and a surprise climax elevate "Marked Man" after a very slow first two-thirds. I thought it odd that, even though this is set in the (then) future world of 1999 and everyone wears space garb, the reporter giving his opinion on the Commander is dressed in the typical 1950s' newsman garb of long sleeves and Fedora! -Peter

Jack-The obvious standout this issue is the gorgeously illustrated "Food for Thought"; thanks for the notes about the censorship, Peter, I did not know about that. I wonder if Oleck was reading Walter Miller's "Fiat Homo" right before he sat down to write "Fallen Idol"? The Miller story, which would later be revised as the first part of A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959), was published in the April 1959 Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, so it's temporally possible Oleck could've seen it. The woman's reaction to the would-be conquerors in "The Ultimate Weapon" is priceless and while I thought "Marked Man" was well done I have to wonder at some of the art assignments in this issue. Davis did the cover and the last story? Krigstein did a story? Where's Wally Wood?

Wood

Valor 5

"Dangerous Animal"★★★
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by Wally Wood

"Important Man"★★
Story Uncredited
Art by Graham Ingels

"Treasure from Xanadu"★★
Story Uncredited
Art by Bernie Krigstein

"Day of Reckoning"★★
Story Uncredited
Art by Al Williamson and George Evans

Octavius Tiberius Caesar leads his men in battle successfully and catches the eye of the beautiful Claudia, who flatters her way into becoming his wife. Fast forward ten years and Tiberius is fat and lazy. A young soldier named Andromicus begins to make noise that he wants to replace Tiberius, so he is promptly arrested and made to fight wild beasts in the arena. Andromicus is a "Dangerous Animal," however, and defeats lions and panthers before challenging the emperor to a one on one duel. Tiberius is shamed into fighting and loses his life; Andromicus takes his place but is canny enough to stay away from Claudia.

"Dangerous Animal"

Carl Wessler gets creative by mixing up some real names from Ancient Rome with one that's almost real (Andromicus) and cooking up a far-fetched tale of succession by sword fight. Of course, it's all a fantasy. I read Suetonius's The Twelve Caesars and know full well that there was no emperor by this name and no soldier who killed and replaced him. Still, with Wally Wood at the drawing board, it's an impressive yarn.

"Treasure from Xanadu"

During the French Revolution, Dr. Antoine Louis had become an "Important Man" by inventing the guillotine. He coveted Robespierre's place and accused the man of treason; the trial had resulted in a death sentence, one he waits to see carried out. Yet the death sentence had been passed on Louis, not Robespierre!

Not the same gimmick again! Didn't we just have this in this month's Impact? With "Heart's Interest"? Not even Ghastly, who could have done so much more with a story involving a guillotine, can save this weak soup.

Kublai Khan gives Marco Polo a small box that holds "Treasure from Xanadu," a method for making silk and thus a gift more valuable than gold or jewels. Marco's uncle Nicolo schemes to steal the valuable box but is rebuffed at every turn until finally, with the aid of some native marauders on horseback, he succeeds in pilfering the treasure. He opens it and is terribly disappointed to see a handful of worms and a few leaves!

Not a bad little story, but I guessed the ending. Krigstein is good form and the journey back from Xanadu is intriguing, but in six pages it's hard to develop characters that have more than one dimension.

That's a George Evans face!
"Day of Reckoning!"

When his father's army had attacked Corcy Castle, Philip had broken his sword and run in fear. His father was angered by Philip's refusal to uphold generations of family honor and made him practice to face his future enemy, the son of Corcy. Both fathers are killed when Corcy attacks Philip's father's castle and Philip vows to avenge the old man's death. Yet when the "Day of Reckoning" arrives and young Corcy meets Philip, the visitor wants peace rather than battle. Philip refuses and challenges Corcy to a duel by sword. Though Corcy is afraid and untrained, he kills Philip, who does not even draw his sword. Peace between the families will follow and few will ever know that Philip's sword was rusted tight inside its scabbard and he could not pull it out.

It's an odd match with Evans inking Williamson, but it has a Prince Valiant look to it and Williamson's usual beautiful visuals have a definite Evans flavor here and there. The story is strangely uninvolving and the twist ending is dumb--why would Philip not have tried to pull his sword out before the duel, since it was his idea to fight in the first place? Still, the last story in the last issue of Valor is of a piece with the entire five-issue series: good art, decent story, nothing great but not bad either.-Jack

"Important Man"

Peter: "Dangerous Animal" has some fabulous Wally art, but the script feels like it was pulled verbatim from the Encyclopedia Britannica; cold and uninvolving. There's nothing surprising about the twist in "Important Man," since it's pretty much telecast from panel one, but the script isn't going to keep you turning pages. It's the exquisite "Ghastly" art. I'll call him by his famous nickname this one last time because this is the kind of art (and story) Ingels excelled at during the horror title heydays. Take a good look, drink it in, this is probably the last great Graham "Ghastly" Ingels art we're going to see. The climax of "Day of Reckoning" is open to interpretation (at least in my mind, it is); does Philip see, in the "cowardice" of Corcy Jr.,  a way to seize  his moment of fame and is then tripped up, or does he deliberately sacrifice his life for the betterment of his people? Either way, it's certainly visualized splendidly with a dream team-up of Williamson and Evans (and both artists can be seen very clearly!). "Treasure from Xanadu" bored me to tears, something that very few Valor tales can lay claim to. This has been a splendid title, one of the two best of the New Direction books, and one that I will miss a great deal.

From Valor #5

Next Week . . .
Rock, POW!
+ The Best Stories of 1973
Star Spangled #144.
As you were.

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

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

Davis

Impact 4

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

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

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

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

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

"The Lonely One"

"The Lonely One"

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

"Fall in Winter"

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

"The Bitter End"

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

"Country Doctor"

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

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

Davis

Incredible Science Fiction 31

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Krigstein delivers "Fulfillment"

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

Kamen

Psychoanalysis 4

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

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

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

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

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

Is this Freddy or Mark?

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

No, that's not Mark!

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

Perhaps my favorite panel
ever published in an EC Comic!

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

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

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

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

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

Davis

Incredible Science Fiction 30

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Marbles"

Bernie!

Davis

Impact 3

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

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

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

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

A real method actor!
("Life Sentence")

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

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

"The Debt"

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

Awww!
("Totally Blind")

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

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

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

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

Awww!
("The Good Fairy")

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

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

Kamen

Psychoanalysis 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And this Thursday . . .
Something Old is New Again