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!

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!

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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

MYSTERY TALES "Lady Vanished"

Though it doesn't have "Valentines Day" in the title...

...the holiday and it's effects on people's lives is the focal point of the story!

This story from Atlas' Mystery Tales #30 (1955) has only been reprinted once, in Marvel's Weird Wonder Tales #8 (1975).

We thought 47 years was too long for this little bit of graphic fluff to go unseen by comic aficionados!
Illustrator John Forte was a journeyman who worked for almost every company in the field at one point or another, though he's best-known to current comics fans as the main artist throughout most of the Silver Age on DC's Legion of Super-Heroes during it's run in Adventure Comics!