Haunted House Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "I Don't Believe in...Ghosts!"

Behind this never-reprinted Jack Kirby/Dick Ayers cover...

...lurks a rarely-reprinted haunted house tale that's so darn good, I couldn't resist re-presenting it!

Plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by George Klein, this cover-featured story from Atlas' Journey into Mystery #77 (1962) has only been reprinted once, in Marvel's Fantasy Masterpieces #9 (1967)...

...which is where I first read it as a kid!

Since it hasn't seen publication in over 50 years, I thought it was time to dig it up and dust it off for a new generation of Kirbyphiles and other comics readers!

The lead character's name, Mr Jordan, is an in-joke and a clue as to what he is!

L-R Evelyn Keyes, Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains (Mr Jordan), Edward Everett Horton

"Mr Jordan" was the title character of Here Comes Mr Jordan (1941), an angel (Claude Rains) sent to guide a recently-deceased boxer who died before his time and was returned to Earth in a different body since his own was creamated!

The movie was running on tv pretty regularly at the time, so either Lee or Leiber was inspired to give the protagonist the "Jordan" name in tribute.

Note the little banner at the bottom of the final page promoting The Fantastic Four?

#2 of that series had just come out!

In addition, Hank Pym (who would later become Ant-Man/Giant-Man/Goliath/YellowJacket/Wasp) had just been introed in "Man in the Ant Hill" in Tales to Astonish #27!

Within a couple of months both Spider-Man and The Hulk would debut!

And Mighty Thor would premiere in Journey into Mystery itself six issues later!

Bonus: the original art for the splash page....

Kool, ain't it?

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Marvel Masterworks

Journey into Mystery

Vol 4

Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Orogo!! The Nightmare from Outer Space!!"

Behind this Jack Kirby-penciled/Don Heck-inked splash...

...lurks a mystery. which we'll delve into after you read the story!

When this Stan Lee-scripted, Don Heck-illustrated (except for the splash) tale was reprinted in Marvel's Fantasy Masterpieces #2 (1967), the cover played-up Heck's Cyclopean robot (and Dashin' Don himself)...

...but when it was first published in Atlas' Journey into Mystery #57 (1960)...

...and reprinted a second time in Marvel's Where Monsters Dwell #12 (1971)...

...it used the original Kirby cover that seems to be a reverse-angle of the splash page above and shows a radically-different Orogo with two eyes!

Did editor/art director Stan the Man have The King do the cover and splash and then pass the rest of the story to Heck to finish,...but, for whatever reason, didn't give Dashing Don the cover as reference for Orogo, so Heck came up with his own version of the robot...with only one eye?

There are several Atlas-era monster stories where Kirby would do splashes, then another artist would complete the tale.

Bookmark us and keep an eye out as we attempt to solve the half century-old mystery....

Monday RUSSKIE Madness JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Propaganda"

Today is "Victory Day" in Russia, and since Vladimir Putin will, no doubt, use...

...to claim a non-existent victory in Ukraine, this never-reprinted tale from sixty years ago about using "alternative facts" seems as timely as ever!

Note: because of racial stereotypes common to the era of publication, this may be NSFW!

This story from Atlas' Journey into Mystery #80 (1962) by plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, penciler Jack Kirby, and inker Dick Ayers, is a reworking of an earlier story, also called "Propaganda", from Atlas' Uncanny Tales V1N9 (1953). That one was reprinted in Marvel's Uncanny Tales V2N1 (1973) and you'll be seeing it on our "brother" RetroBlog, Seduction of the Innocent, today!

In the meantime, here's a special treat...scans of the complete original art for this tale!

Enjoy!

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Secret History of Marvel Comics:

Jack Kirby and the Moonlighting Artists at Martin Goodman's Empire

Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Alien on Earth!"

Yesterday, we told the tale of a misunderstood alien...

...here's an earlier rendition of the oft-used concept, with one of the weirdest-looking Jack Kirby aliens I've ever seen (and that is saying something)!

Penciler Jack Kirby and inker Christopher Rule, who did the cover of the re-do, illustrated this tale from Atlas' Journey into Mystery #51 (1959).

As for who wrote it, the consensus on various sites, including the Grand Comics Database, is that it's the work of Kirby himself.

For those clever readers who noted both this story and the reworking in World of Fantasy were both published in 1959, this one came out six months earlier, and the "job number" for "Alien" (T-165) is earlier than the one on "Gargoyle" (T-345).

Usually, Stan Lee (either as editor or writer) made sure that such similar plots or reworkings were a couple of years apart.

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Atlas-Era

Journey into Mystery

Volume #4

Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Behind Locked Doors!"

Here's a never-reprinted Silver Age tale by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko...

...which backed up a Mighty Thor tale in Journey into Mystery!

Bonus: it features Russkies!

We're so patriotic, even our machines defend our country!

Today, since almost all our products are manufactured overseas, this story wouldn't make sense!

Penned by Stan Lee and rendered by Steve Ditko, this tale from the back of Marvel's Journey into Mystery #88 (1963) is truly a product of its' time!

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Thor Masterworks
Volume 1 
featuring the Thor story "Vengeance of Loki!" that appeared in front of this never-reprinted tale!

Monday Madness JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Midnight in the Wax Museum"

Continuing our "writers/illustrators encountering madness" theme we began last week...

..we offer a tale of a comic book artist and some of the koolest Kirby Kreatures you've ever laid eyes on...

Plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby, and inked by Dick Ayers, this fun little tale was one of two featured on the cover by Kirby and Ayers on Atlas' Journey into Mystery #74 (1961)!

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August 1961 Omnibus
(Featuring EVERY comic published by Atlas/Marvel the month Fantastic Four #1 hit the newsstands, including this one!)