Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
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Samachson and Grandenetti gives us “The Earth-Drowners”, in which Venusians plan to conquer Earth by melting the polar icecaps and flooding the world! Since they are water-breathers and need to place their machines on land, they hypnotize a deep-sea diver into carrying out the planting of their devices designed to cause the melting at various high places on Earth. As much as the heroic deep-sea diver tries to resist, he seems unable to resist the drive to plant the alien devices! Will he be able to thwart their plans?
This story was okay, but it was no “The Man Who Discovered the West Pole!”!
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
Strange Adventures #65 opens up with “The Prisoner from Pluto!”, in which the Plutonian Zar Kull is desperately trying to warn Earthlings about an immanent invasion from Saturn! Unfortunately, he has no way of communicating with the Earthlings except by exchanging his mind with a humans via a niftly li’l device he carries with him. But no matter what form he takes, he can’t seem to convince the humans that he’s serious! And, to make matters worse, they capture him an put him in prison! How will Otto Binder and Sid Greene resolve this situation?
This was an okay tale, but not really one of the better ones. I was particularly puzzled at how, after transferring his mind to a whale, Zar Kull was able to operate the machine in such a way as to transfer his mind back. Or for that matter, how he was supposed to located the gull whose mind he was in prior to that, to make sure the gull and whale’s minds get back in the right bodies. But I guess you’re not supposed to think about that.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
Joe Samachson and Gil Kane give us “The Rock and Roll Kid from Mars!”, a crazy little tale about Kruj, a Martian kid who travels to Earth to meet the rock-n-roller he digs the most, trumpet player Larry Lowry! Things quickly get out of control when Kruj goes all crazy, stalker-y on Larry! He uses his Martian technology to punish anyone who is even the slightest bit critical of his Idol Lowry the Martian way, by eliminating their ability to hear his music ever again! I’m not sure all the critics would really be upset about this, but it sets the stage for an interplanetary culture clash!
This is a surprisingly inventive little story that at least put a smile on my face. I liked it!
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
We haven’t had an “Earth gets saved by someone in a random occupation” story for awhile, so Binder and Infantino make up for this with “War of the Mind-Readers!” in which Earth is saved by a dude with a mind-reading act! This is after he improbably gets involved in negotiations with a telepathic alien who just happens to land in the middle of his act. He becomes convinced that the alien is bluffing, and after making an incredible leap of logic as to what the alien’s plan really is, somehow manages to convince the “government officials” who have joined him in negotiations with the alien to follow his plan.
Okay, this story has kind of a neat idea, but I wasn’t too impressed by the actual story, which, as I suggested, contained some pretty improbable plot points.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
“The Man Who Grew Wings!” is a really nice story by Binder and Greene about a scientist who is working on a substance, Element X, which he hopes can unlock the secret to flight in animals. He experiments on non-flying relatives of flying animals, such as penguins and ants, and gives them the ability of flight. He plans on beginning research on other non-flying animals, such as cats and dogs, when suddenly he is bitten by one of his flying ants! Soon he finds himself growing wings, and with the ability to fly! Then he foils an alien invasion!
I kept thinking the whole time I was reading this story that if it was published a few years later, it would’ve been a perfect origin for a Silver Age Hawkman. And the “gets powers after being bitten by a mutated bug” origin… that sounds kind of familiar…
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
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Speaking of could-have-been super-heroes, Strange Adventures #66 opens up with the tale of John Westerbrook, undercover cop who has spent the past two years trying to uncover the identity of the secret crime boss of Metro City. The afternoon before he supposed to finally meet the big boss, however, a freak accident with an x-ray machine turns him into “The Human Battery!”, charging his body with electricity, so that he shocks people when he touches them and can power lightbulbs by holding them. Rather than going to a hospital to deal with his condition, Westerbrook insists on continuing his undercover mission!
This Broome and Infantino tale definitely shows the beginning of renewed interest in the super-hero genre. Actually, it would be pretty cool if The Human Battery and The Man Who Grew Wings were retconned into being mid-50s super-heroes (with different names) in the current DCU. The story itself is fairly predictable, but interesting nonetheless.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
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Samachson and Greene give us “The Flying Raincoat!”, featuring an astronomer who accidentally stumbles upon an alien invasion when he picks up the wrong raincoat on his way out of a diner! The raincoat turns out to be a piece of alien equipment, and it begins flying through the air to take him to a rendezvous with alien infiltrators, who mistake him for one of their own in human form! The astronomer must find a way to stop the aliens!
This was an okay story, but not one of the more memorable ones.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
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Darwin Jones returns in “Strange Secret of the Time Capsule!”, by Binder and Kane, in which a strange container from 251 A.D. is uncovered by some archeologists. Unfortunately, all modern science seems to be unable to open the time capsule! And then, one day a mysterious locksmith appears and is able to open the box, but all it contains is a single metal rod! The metal rod is placed in a museum, but then a mysterious crime wave breaks out in the city, beginning with the metal rod!
Okay, other than the fact that the basic plot twist in this story rests on the archeologists being so incredibly incompetent that it takes Darwin Jones to point out something they should’ve realized immediately, this is a pretty nice story.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
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“Man of a Thousand Shapes!”, by Samachson and Infantino concerns a shape-changing alien who travels to Earth to hunt down an escaped criminal. So he gets a job at a carnival side-show, as a human shape-changer, hoping that the publicity of the act will attract the criminal he is looking for. And it does, and they fight.
This was another tale that was simply okay, but not one of my favorites. I suppose the ending battle between the two shape-changing aliens does presage silver-age super-heroics as well, so it’s interesting in that regard.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
“The Martian Masquerade”, by Broome and Kane, opens up Strange Adventures #67. It begins, of all places, in the editorial offices of Strange Adventures, where editor “Mr. Black” (an obvious Julie Schwartz” analogue), is complaining that his writers aren’t giving him any good stories. A young unknown writer shows up at the office, and offers a story about Martians! But Martian stories are old news, but the writer promises his story to be different, because he himself is an authentic Martian, which he demonstrated by pulling off his human facemask! Seems this guy is actually Kobir, son of the head honcho of Mars, which has been secretly assisting Earth for years by telepathically influencing the development of our civilization. But Kobir wanted to prove that Earth people were ready to stand on their own, so he came to Earth against the wishes of his father. Once on Earth he meets an Earth professor who is working on a nerve paralyzer, something which Earthlings aren’t scheduled to develop for many years. When the Earth professor asks him to a science fiction masquerade party, he goes as his true Martian form, but risks revealing his true identity to the world! And also to the Martian agents who have been sent to capture him!
Okay, the setup of having the alien tell his tale to the Strange Adventures editorial office was kind of cool, but I’m not really clear on why the alien felt the need to tell his story there. And at the end I kind of felt sorry for poor Kobir, wondering if he’d ever get to see his Earth professor boyfriend again after he went home to Mars! Incidentally, the Martians in this story remind me a bit of Tomar-Re!
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
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Hamilton and Greene give us “Search for a Lost World”, which is basically about this guy from a microverse whose world is suddenly subject to great upheaval as the bodies in the night sky begin to move strangely! Scientists theorize that it is some sort of disturbance from the larger universe that is causing this, and so one brave inhabitant of the microverse volunteers to be enlarged to giant size so that he can discover the cause! But finding cause is only half his challenge, as it will prove difficult for him to return home to his beloved planet and the girl he loved!
This is decent Hamilton story, though, like “The Martian Masquerade” is mostly told in flashback, which kind of dilutes it some. Some stories work really well with the “let’s show this odd event and then flashback to what led up to the situation”, but I don’t think it worked as well in this case as in the previous story.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
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“The Talking Flower” is a Samachson/Infantino collaboration, which gives us the tale of Willie Pickens, a down-on-his-luck chemist who is convinced he will never be successful until he convinces Helen to marry him. The problem is that Helen won’t consider marrying him until he’s successful! Helen suggests that what he needs to get a head is to dress better. After all, all the successful men seem to wear flowers in their buttonholes! So Willie acquires a flower, only it turns out to be an alien stranded on Earth! Willie and the alien flower try to find a way to help one another with their respective dilemmas!
This story pretty much rocks! Though I’m not really sure Helen is worth all the agonizing over…
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
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Okay, so this seems to be the issue for love stories! “Gateway Through the Ages!” is a sweet boy-meets-boy tale by Hamilton and Greene, in which a young archeologist stumbles upon the famous labyrinth of Crete, and, exploring it, finds himself somehow transported through time to Crete itself! After being imprisoned by the Cretans, he meets the legendary scientist Daedalus and his handsome son Icarus, and joins in their escape plan! But our hero knows poor Icarus is destined to die in the escape attempt! Can he change his fate! Given that Icarus very much resembles the guy he’s attending a lecture with at the beginning of the story, I’m guessing the answer is “yes!”
Okay, other than being another flashback story which pretty much gives away the ending, this is a pretty interesting tale. I liked it!
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
Well before Aquaman had any connection to Atlantis, Broome and Infantino give us “The Man Who Couldn’t Drown”, the cover story from Strange Adventures #68, featuring the story of Paul Browning, who, after falling off an ocean liner, discovers he has the ability to breathe underwater! After being studied by scientists, it is discovered that Paul is a genetic throwback to a variant of early humans that were water-breathers. Such people were rumored to have lived in the ancient continent of Atlantis! Paul discovers that this legend is true when he meets the surviving descendants of the Atlanteans who want Paul to live among them a share with them the scientific knowledge of the surface world to help rebuild their civilization! So Paul has a choice, stay with the Atlanteans, or return home to the surface world in which he increasingly feels that he doesn’t belong!
Even aside from the cool “Alternate Atomic Age Aquaman” to add to our collection of Atomic Age almost super-heroes, this is a pretty nice story!
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
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“Strange Gift from Space!”, by Samachson and Greene, gives us the story of Bob Fallon, who one day saves the life of an alien, who repays him with a certain gift, that at a certain moment in his life he would be able to “escran”, which is ability the alien once had. Before he can explain what “escran” means, the alien must flee from pursuing Air Force UFO patrolmen. Soon he discovers that escran means that he gains a glimpse of the future, a future in which a meteor will fall down towards a man in a checked suit! Can Bob save the man in the checked suit? And why is it important that he do so? And what happened to the alien?
This is another pretty sweet story. There’s a cool sequence of Bob speculating on what “escran” could mean, imagining himself with different powers. I suppose we are to assume Bob only gets to escran once, but we could possibly had him to our atomic-age heroes list if we imagine it a permanent gift.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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