"What holiday?"
Why, Halloween, of course!
Or...is it!
Is this never-reprinted story by writer Carl Wessler and artist Joe Sinnott from Atlas' Marvel Tales #140 (1955) a Halloween treat...or trick?
You tell us, kiddo!
Showing posts with label Carl Wessler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carl Wessler. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Thursday, July 6, 2023
Reading Room MYSTICAL TALES "Lair of the Thunder Lizard!"
Bernie Krigstein was one of the most under-appreciated artists of the 1950s...
...and this kool tale he illustrated just begged to be unearthed for the first time in almost 70 years!
Scripted by Carl Wessler and rendered by Bernie Krigstein, this never-reprinted piece from Atlas' Mystical Tales #8 (1957) is a low-key character study enhanced by Krigstein's naturalistic art.
Bernie was already phasing out of comics and into mainstream commercial art (including book and magazine illustration).
This tale was one of his last stories before leaving the comics field altogether.
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Monday, April 25, 2022
Monday Madness STRANGE TALES OF THE UNUSUAL "Threat!"
Here's a fascinating tale that makes perfect sense...
...up to the last two panels, when it all falls apart!
Wait...
If Harlow disappeared after the machine merely slowed, why didn't the rest of them disappear after it was wrecked?
Wouldn't the logical thing to do be to insure the machine be kept running at that slightly-lower level?
I suspect writer Carl Wessler didn't think through the consequences of the machine's destruction in this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Strange Tales of the Unusual #10 (1957)!
What's your opinion, dear reader?
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Friday, April 1, 2022
Friday Fun UNCANNY TALES "Day to Remember"
This never-reprinted story from Atlas' Uncanny Tales #40 (1956) takes place on April 1st.
Why is that important?
Read and see!
Written by Carl Wessler and illustrated by John Severin, it's an all-but-forgotten piece of comics lore that we enjoyed hunting for, finding and presenting to you!
It's sorta our "thing"!
Happy April Fools Day!It's sorta our "thing"!
Thursday, March 17, 2022
Holiday Reading Room MARVEL TALES "Louie's Leprechaun!"
A never-reprinted tale about a leprechaun on St Patrick's Day?
Talk about yer pot o' gold, and the "Luck 'O the Irish", eh?
Written by Carl Wessler, and illustrated either by Vic Carabotta or the team of Arthur Peddy and Bernie Sachs (experts disagree on who did it), this story from Atlas' Marvel Tales #143 (1956) hasn't seen print in 66 years!
Considering the numerous illogical aspects to this tale (not the least of which was how the leprechaun mailed a letter minutes after he was sealed back in the ground, but before Louie got home only minutes later), it's not a bad story...if you don't think too hard about it.
And after several pints of Guinness to celebrate the day, most of us won't...
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Reading Room ASTONISHING "Unknown Ones!"
The story's title has a double meaning to graphic literature aficionados...
...since it also covers the fact this story hasn't been seen in color since 1957!
It was reprinted (in b/w) in Dark Horse's Al Williamson: Hidden Lands TPB (2004), but that OOP tome had a very limited print run.
Written by Carl Wessler, this Williamson-penciled and Roy Krenkel-inked tale from Atlas' Astonishing #57 (1957) was done after the horror comics purge of the mid-1950s reduced EC Comics to just MAD Magazine, and the majority of now-unemployed artists were scrambling around for work.
Besides Atlas, Williamson was freelancing for ACG and Harvey, doing full pencils and inks, inking others like Jack Kirby and Matt Baker, or, as in this case, penciling for others (usually fellow Fleagle Gang members*) to ink.
*The "Fleagles" were a group of artists including Williamson, Krenkel, Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood, Angelo Torres, and George Woodbridge who would help each other out on tight deadlines by doing a "jam" with individuals penciling and inking different pages and even different panels on a single page, producing some absolutely amazing visuals!
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Monday, August 30, 2021
Monday Mars Madness STRANGE STORIES OF SUSPENSE "Beware...a Martian"
Here's a tale of racism and innuendo involving an "illegal alien"...
...that all Reich-wingers should take note of!
Written by Carl Wessler, penciled by Al Williamson, and inked by Ralph Mayo, this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Strange Stories of Suspense #14 (1957) uses science fiction to tell a civil rights parable, substituting a Martian (and the paranoia about his race) for a African-American, Hispanic, Japanese, or other minority group about whom equally-inane fantasies have been concocted!
Note: it's interesting that Nardo the Martian has the same appearance as DC's J'Onn J'Onzz: the Martian Manhunter (except for skin color), as well as MM's specific ability to shape-shift, not a talent usually attributed to inhabitants of the Red Planet!
Note: J'Onn had debuted almost two years earlier!
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Thursday, January 30, 2020
Reading Room WORLD OF SUSPENSE "Bright New World!"
How do you prove the "unprovable"?
This never-reprinted story from Atlas' World of Suspense #1 (1956) presents one way!
It's a cute story with a kool "gotcha" ending...if you don't think about it too much!
But writer Carl Wessler and artist Al Hartley ignored a number of simple (and obvious) facts...
1) Jet engines aren't rockets.
They require an atmosphere to function, otherwise they konk out!
2) Commercial aircraft, while somewhat airtight, are not designed for use in a total vacuum, where there's no external pressure!
The hull and windows would blow out within minutes!
3) Any phenomenon creating a "tunnel" between Earth and Uranus in our atmosphere would've been noticed by scientists, even with the relatively-unsophisticated instruments of the period!
(They wouldn't have understood it...but they would have noticed it!)
4) Nobody paid attention to the little green tourists (in magenta robes)wandering around?
5) Though I love the point that Earth (Most likely just America) was, even then, expensive to live in, I have to ask; what were the Uranians using for money?
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Thursday, February 11, 2016
Reading Room WORLD OF FANTASY "If...!"
Ever think men and women are from different worlds?
Our pre-Valentines Day offering proves you right!
Writer Carl Wessler had already used the basic plot for this story twice before:
- "If!" in Atlas' Suspense #27 (1953), with the girl and her family being werewolves and vampires (talk about a blended family)! BTW, you can read that version of the tale HERE!
- "Out Cold" in EC's Haunt of Fear #25 (1954), with the girl and family shown to be ghouls!
But, by the time this never-reprinted story in Atlas' World of Fantasy #2 (1956) was published, the Comics Code had been implemented, banning "creatures of the night".
So Wessler went with aliens.
Sci-fi was experiencing a resurgence, so it was the logical way to go.
The illustrator was Jay Scott Pike who ended up specializing in romance comics.
You can see some of his work on our "sister" blog True Love Comics Tales.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Reading Room WORLD OF SUSPENSE "By the Dark of the Moon"
Was this story's ending rewritten to conform to the Comics Code?
Scripted by Carl Wessler and ilustrated by John Giunta, this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' World of Suspense #5 (1956) features a last panel with a rather convoluted explanation that seems, as the saying goes "out of left field".
That's the danger of trying to cram a lot of story into only four pages.
That's the danger of trying to cram a lot of story into only four pages.
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