Reading Room WORLD OF FANTASY "Creatures Who Captured Earth!"

Did you know the two famous sci-fi stories' plots that were combined to create this tale?

Hint: one original involves robots/androids,, and the other is about cannibalism...

This never-reprinted story by Stan Lee/Larry Lieber and Don Heck from Atlas' World of Fantasy #18 (1959) was based on two classic sci-fi tales...

"With Folded Hands" by Jack Williamson, which premiered in Astounding Science Fiction...

...and was expanded into the novel The Humanoids, (and a sequel, The Humanoid Touch, over 30 years later)!

Though never done on film or tv, the story was adapted to radio on Dimension X (which you can hear HERE) and the basic plot was re-used in the classic Star Trek episode "I, Mudd".

The other plot point, involving decoding an alien text to discover a secret agenda, was probably taken from the 1950 Galaxy Magazine short story "To Serve Man" by Damon Knight.

(Note that the classic Twilight Zone episode adapting the tale wouldn't appear until three years later.)

Also note that, while the comic tale was never reprinted, it was redone only two years later by another of Atlas/Marvel's major artistic stars!

We'll have that story Thursday!

Earth Day Reading Room NIGHTMARE "Pollution Monsters!"

"The Devil made it do it!" is given new meaning...

...in this never-reprinted tale from 55 years ago (the year Earth Day was first celebrated) which reads like one of Atlas' (pre-Marvel Comics) late 1950s-early 1960s monster stories!

Before we continue, two points:

1) Penciler Don Heck was one of the primary artists of both Atlas era and Silver Age Marvel comics stories, including numerous giant monster tales.
(Inker Mike Esposito, though he entered the field at the same time as Heck, didn't do much work for Atlas or Marvel until the late 1960s.)

2) The story is broken into two parts, even though it's only 10 pages, much like those Atlas Comics stories.

Is it a deliberate homage?
Writer Mike Freidrich was one of the first generation of comic fanboys turned professional creatives, so he was very familiar with the inherent tropes...

One big difference between this story and those Atlas-era giant monster stories...we don't win!

We might, but there's no guarantee in this cover-featured tale from Skywald's Nightmare #1 (1970)!

It's over 50 years later...and it's still frightening!

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A Personal Journey Through the Science
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Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Perfect Crime!"

A never-reprinted cross-genre tale from Journey into Mystery...

...combining crime and science fiction, is our entry for this Sunday!

You'll note the last two panels are re-lettered.

I suspect the Comics Code Authority felt it was too cruel to allow the criminal to die for something he technically didn't commit!

This was one of the two tales backing up Mighty Thor's very first appearance in Marvel's Journey into Mystery #83 (1963).

Ah, you've heard about that story, but not this one, eh?

Don Heck penciled and inked the tale.

Stan Lee plotted it, but experts are not sure if he scripted it.

Lee usually signed the later short stories he scripted, but only Heck's signature is here.

Just about everything Lee didn't script at this point was handled by his brother Larry Lieber.

(Stan's birth name is Stanley Leiber. He used "Stan Lee" on his comics work because he wanted his real name on the Great American Novel he planned to write.

When he finally realized he would be forever known for his comics and not any prose novel he might write, he legally changed his name to "Stan Lee".)

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Thor Masterworks
Volume 1 
featuring the Thor stories that appeared in front of the never-reprinted tales we're presenting!

Reading Room STRANGE TALES "Beware the Uboongi!"

Let Us Gaze At Uranus...

...sorry, I can't resist occasionally reverting to 10-year old sense of humor when presenting a comic story, in this case from Marvel's Strange Tales #100 (1962).

OOPS!

Silly us, not warning the Russkies about which animals were dangerous...

Illustrated by Don Heck, the plotter and scripter are likely the book's editor, Stan Lee (plot) and his brother, Larry Lieber (script).
Note: Stan Lee's birth name is Stanley Lieber.
He used "Stan Lee" on his comics work because he hoped (as most writers do) to script the Great American Novel and wanted the Lieber name on that.
He eventually legally-changed his name to Stan Lee.

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Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3

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Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Filbert's Frightful Future!"

After Mighty Thor began his run in Journey into Mystery as of #83......

...and before Norse mythology-related backup series like Tales of Asgard began, the one-shot shorts like this never-reprinted tale continued to fill the back of the book until the inventory was used up!

Don Heck penciled and inked this story from Marvel's Journey into Mystery #85 (1962).

Stan Lee plotted it, but experts are not sure if he scripted it.

Lee usually co-signed the later shorts he scripted, but only Heck's signature is here.

Just about everything Lee didn't script at this point was handled by his brother Larry Lieber.

(Stan's birth name is Stanley Leiber. He used "Stan Lee" on his comics work because he wanted his real name on the Great American Novel he planned to write.

When he finally realized he would be forever known for his comics and not any prose novel he might write, he legally changed his name to "Stan Lee".)

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Thor Masterworks

Volume 1 

featuring the Thor stories that appeared in front of the never-reprinted tales we present!
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Reading Room / Tales Thrice Told STRANGE WORLDS "I Am the Last Man on Earth!"

One thing Stan Lee was really good at was recycling plots (with minor variations)...

...as demonstrated in this first of three tales based on the same premise!

Plotted (and probably scripted) by Stan Lee, this never-reprinted story from Atlas' Strange Worlds #1 (1958) was illustrated by Silver Age mainstay Don Heck.

Yes, it's the "Adam & Eve begin a new Earth in the future/past" tale, which has become something of a cliche in sci-fi/fantasy.

But, it's some of the details that carry-over from one story to another that make this particular variation's multiple versions interesting.

Be here Thursday to see what I mean...

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EXCELSIOR!
Amazing Life of Stan Lee
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Reading Room WORLD OF SUSPENSE "Men in Glass"

This tale is about a recent immigrant to our shores...

...and how his actions have consequences for both the United States...and the entire Earth!

The Star Spangled Banner has always been a difficult tune to sing, but who knew it could be used as a weapon?

Illustrated by Don Heck, this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' World of Suspense #5 (1956) takes the "high note can shatter glass" trope to a whole new level.
OTOH, if the aliens' helmets had been made of plastic or "transparent aluminium" or some such instead of glass, we'd all be chanting "Hail Zarki!"

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Science Fiction Comics 

Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Humans, Keep Out!"

While the Mighty Thor stories in the front of Journey into Mystery have been reprinted over and over...

...the backup stories from that period have rarely appeared since their initial publication over 50 years ago!

The last page demonstrates clever use of "camera angles", witholding the secret of how the humans avoid being destroyed until the next-to-last panel!

In fact, a 1970s "how-to" book for aspiring filmmakers used Silver and Bronze Age Marvel comics to graphically-demonstrate such things as camera work, film editing, sound effects, etc.

You can read the entire book HERE.

Writer Stan Lee and artist Don Heck produced this sneaky little tale in Marvel's Journey into Mystery #86 (1962) that's only been reprinted once, in Marvel's Giant-Size Man-Thing #4 (1974)!

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Atlas-Era

Journey into Mystery

Volume #4