MENACE "Walking Dead!"

"Walking Dead" didn't always refer to zombies...

...but it sure does here!

This cover-featured story from Atlas' Menace #9 (1954) came at the tail-end of the horror comic craze.
Dr. Wertham's crusade against those magazines had already taken it's toll as entire comic companies folded due to falling sales and public outcry.
Menace itself only lasted two more issues.
Luckily, Atlas (which already had a predilection for jumping onto whatever current fad was selling) had such a diverse line, that it was easy for Stan Lee and company to simply "switch gears" and replace the disgraced horror genre with other types of books.
For example, When MAD comics took off in the mid-1950s, Atlas had four MAD-clone comics; RIOT!, CRAZY!, WILD!, and SNAFU!!
None lasted more than five issues!
With the Silver Age dawning only a couple of years later, Atlas hung on long enough to become Marvel, and the rest is history...
Illustrated by John Forte with a cover by Gene Colan, the story's writer is unknown.

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Marvel Masterworks

Atlas Era

Menace
Paid Link

HeartBreak Horror MENACE "Fake!"

Remember the old adage "Don't judge a book by it's cover"?

 Here's the codicil; "It goes both ways"!

Illustrated by Al Eadeh, this tale from Atlas' Menace #10 (1954) follows the classic trope of golddigger tripped up, not by her own greed, but by the fact her husband (who still loves her) is not even human!

Remember, the target audience for horror (as opposed to romance) comics was 8-14 year old boys, to whom girls were "yukky".

They were also the audience for whom Lois Lane , the nosy reporter who was always trying to either expose Superman's secret identity or trick the Man of Steel into marrying her, was the typical woman!

Christmas Creepyness MARVEL TALES "Third Ghost"

This is basically Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"...

...but with a plot twist you'll never see coming!

Written by Carl Wessler and illustrated by Larry Woromay, this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Marvel Tales #112 (1953) turns the classic Yuletide ghost story on it's ear with the Scrooge surrogate triumphing over the specters!

HeartBreak Horror / Tell a Tale of Terror Thrice WORLD OF FANTASY "If...!"

Ever think men and women are from totally-different worlds?

This reworking of last week's story proves you right!

Writer Carl Wessler had already used the basic plot for this story twice before:

1. "If!" in Atlas' Suspense #27 (1953), with the girl and her family being werewolves and vampires (talk about a blended family) as you saw last week!
2. "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", except in humor titles.

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.

Look for the final version of this terrifying tale in baleful black-and-white from Pastime Publishing's Weird Mysteries #1 (1959)...

Next Tuesday!

Please Support Seduction of the Innocent

Visit Amazon and Order...

Gothic Tales of Haunted Love

HeartBreak Horror / Tell a Tale of Terror Thrice SUSPENSE "If!"

Here's a Valentine's Day present...a little tale about a guy and a gal from different worlds...

...and we mean that literally!

Written by Carl Wessler, illustrated by Fred Kida, this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Suspense #27 (1953) shows off panache and style close to the legendary EC Comics horror titles of the era.

In fact, Wessler reused the plot (with the variation of the girl and her family being ghouls, not vampires) the next year in EC's Haunt of Fear #25 as "Out Cold!".
(Since that's been reprinted numerous times, and is still under copyright, we aren't going to run it here.)

Even after the Comics Code forbade werewolves, vampires and ghouls, Wessler managed to get another version of the story into print, this time making the girl and her family aliens in Atlas' World of Fantasy #2 (1956)!

You can see that story here, next Tuesday!

But, wait!
We promised you "Tell a Tale of Terror Thrice", right?

Well, Carl reused the concept one last time, returning to horror in a b/w magazine, which wasn't restrained by the Comics Code Authority!

So look for the final version of this terrifying tale in baleful black-and-white from Pastime Publishing's Weird Mysteries #1 (1959) in two weeks!

Please Support Seduction of the Innocent

Visit Amazon and Order...

Gothic Tales of Haunted Love

Christmas Creepyness MYSTIC "Help Wanted!"

A Christmas tale that begins just before Easter...

...proves it doesn't pay to be a Scrooge!

Mort Lawrence illustrated this tale of Xmas justice from Atlas' Mystic #19 (1953) including a rather...unusual-looking...demon.

This proved a tad problematic when editor Roy Thomas made the tale the cover feature for an issue of Marvel's 1970s horror reprint anthology Vault of Evil!

Penciller Gil Kane and inker John Romita Sr followed the demon's design perfectly...but someone forgot to tell the cover copywriter what the story was about!

There's no story in #6 (1973) even vaguely-related to insects!

And detail-obsessed Roy Thomas is the last person you'd expect to allow such a mistake!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Krampus

Christmas Creepiness SPELLBOUND "When You Believe..."

Considering A Christmas Story was directed by the guy who did Black Christmas (1974)..

...it's almost a miracle the holiday classic about a kid and his toy gun didn't end up like this Xmas tale of a kid and his toy gun!

Rendered beautifully by Bill Everett, this Yuletide tale from Atlas' Spellbound #16 (1953) appeared during the height of the horror comics craze of the early 1950s.

The identity of the writer is, sadly, unknown.

When the story was reprinted in Marvel's Weird Wonder Tales #3 (1974), the first panel of the opening page was slightly-modified, eliminating almost all the text!

I have no idea why!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Black Christmas (1974)

Directed by Bob Clark (A Christmas Story)

or

Black Christmas (2006)

The Unrated, Gorier Remake!
or

Black Christmas (2020)
The Even Gorier Second Remake!