The Comics Rack

Weird Wonder Tales

Kirby splash from #11

by Bob Gay

Part 2

With the end of WWII, comic readers began to demand something different than the super hero tales that had been the staple of the major publishers. Eventually crime, horror, science fiction and romance comics came to dominate the news racks and by the mid-50s, DC was the only publisher regularly doing super heroes (and also ushering in the Silver Age of comics with the revival of The Flash in 1956). Marvel was no exception to this trend and phased out their super hero comics, with the last being Captain America's Weird Tales in 1954 (no Cap and all horror stories).

With only two exceptions, the stories in WWT were all published by Marvel during this period and extending into the early 60s, when the company returned to super heroes. The early stories are done in the EC mode, with O'Henry type endings, but without the gross out art that made EC so popular. As a result, most of these stories are quite forgettable. Later stories, done under the Comics Code, tend to depend more on story content than "shock" endings. Of particular interest are the Kirby and Ditko stories, which date from '58 to '62. Most of these stories are much better crafted than the other reprinted material, even though many feature the infamous Marvel monsters, and read more like the short stories that might have been published during the pulp era, leading me to believe that Kirby and Ditko may have written their own material.

Who wrote what is a longer discussion than can be covered here and I feel that it is the art that makes WWT work. When a significant story is mentioned, I use the title of the story as it appears in the comic, since, in another fit of editorial nitpicking, Marvel rarely used the correct story name on the covers.

The Interiors

Sid Check from issue #1.
Betcha thought it was Wood.

As I recall from the ads at the time of its release, WWT was originally intended to reprint the best science fiction tales from the Marvel's past. The first issue is probably the best of the entire run and features Wolverton's "Eye of Doom!" and a giant monster in outer space story by Al Hartley (Hartley did lots of work for Timely in the 40s, worked with Simon and Kirby on Captain America and continued on the strip after they left). One of the overlooked stories of the first issue is pictured at left. "Enter: The Machine Age!" is a story that deals with man's fear of technology, which was a popular theme in the 50s. Of particular interest, however, is the Wally Woodish art by Sid Check. I couldn't manage to dig up much information on Check, except that he spent the 1950s working at most of the major publishers, including EC where he imitated...Wally Wood.

Powell from issue #3.

Issues 2-5 continue in the science fiction vein and all have their high points. Issue 2 has stories by both Doug Wildey and Joe Maneely. Issue 3 has a nice job by Bob Powell, some EC inspired artwork and the first Bill Everett story of the series. Issue 4 features Ditko and two stories from the first issue of Tales to Astonish. What makes this issue important is that the cover featured story, "We Found the Ninth Wonder of the World!", is most likely the first story Kirby did on his return to Marvel in 1958, while he was also working for DC and other companies (for a discussion of this cover, see the first part of this article). Issue 5 has two stories by Ditko and one by Romita; all pretty, but none memorable.

Apparently there was a change in either editors or editorial direction after issue 5 (records are sketchy), and issues 6-13 represent a shift from a science fiction emphasis to one more in keeping with a horror title, particularly in the covers (be sure to check out the gallery Weird Wonder Tales that goes with this article).

Issue 6 opens with a stunning story by Bill Everett, who draws a really terrifying ghost that makes up for the rather mundane ending of

Everett from issue #6.

the story. Everett was the creator of the Sub-Mariner in Marvel Comics #1 published in 1939 and it is rather sad that his layout and line work have never gotten the recognition they deserve. Two EC swipes (after Wood and Davis) are in the issue and the last story is by Kirby, which looks to be re-lettered, so that the narrator at the end is revealed as "the man called Fate!".

Torres from issue #7.
Not EC, but almost.

Issue 7 has a Jim Mooney piece, another by Gene Colan and the story pictured on the right. At first I thought this was just another EC swipe, but a bit of research revealed that the story was done by Angelo Torres after his EC days (It's interesting to note that many of the EC artists, including Orlando, Williamson, Davis and Krigstein, did short stints at Marvel after EC folded up, further proof that DC was a closed shop at the time). The series seems to show signs of running out of material at this point, and issues 8 and 9 have little to offer, outside of Maneely and Forte in #8 and one Everett story in #9.

Ditko from issue #10

Issue 10 gets things back on track with a strong Kirby story, both in terms of story and art, a Don Heck piece, and Ditko's truly scary story called, "When the Totem Walks". Maybe it's just me and a story I heard around the camp fire when I was a Cub Scout, but big, unstoppable, inanimate objects that chase after people

Ditko detail from issue #10

have always given me the shivers and this story, especially because of Ditko's finely rendered art, does the same. The sheer terror on the crook's face as he fires the pistol is really well done and proves that Ditko is another vastly underrated artist. Issues 11-13 continue the upswing in art, with a beautifully rendered Kirby story (pictured at the top of the article), an atmospheric piece by Ditko, and another Kirby story in #11, a long Ditko piece in #12 combined with a short story by Mort Drucker and the sequel to "When the Totem Walks", a nicely done Kirby story, and a Cold War space adventure by Russ Heath rounding out issue 13. The Heath story, "The Great Disappointment!" is blatantly anti-Communist, again a theme of the 50s, but one that rarely made an appearance in the reprint books.

Unfortunately, this upswing in quality was short-lived and, with the next issue, the editorial direction changed once again.