Fifty-Fifty! / Hate!

You can't deny that when we have an Atlas Fest here at THOIA, it's always a damn good time! And because a few of you axed for it, we'll close out the month with another double header (or is that a beheader?!) Bill LaCava proves that hate is stronger than blood, with a very cleaver, errr, a very clever classic from the August 1952 issue of Marvel Tales #108. But first up, a rather dividing tale of divorce and doom from the May 1953 issue of Marvel Tales #114. The Atlas Tales site thinks this is a team-up art attack from Jack Hearne and Bill Savage, and that sounds savagely good to me too-- either way that you slice it! Hope everyone enjoyed this month of Atlas, you can look forward to another mix of macabre stories from some of the other finer precode publishers, and maybe even a surprise or two as we slide into super September already (?!!), inching closer and closer to Halloween!! Stay tombed...

George!

Considering all of the Atlas posts I've shared over the last month or so, this one might be my favorite. It starts off a bit like a run of the mill Marvel crime caper, with the added bonus of a man suddenly achieving a "super" powered ability through a rather careless accident. Everything chugs along at a brisk, predictable pace, (and the Louis Ravielli art is as fabulous as ever), when all of sudden, halfway through the final page everything steers sharply into a stunningly eerie terror-scape of unstoppable horror from beyond the grave. Yep, just as the story is ending everything goes from really good, to full tilt OMG awesome. Seriously. Please please, someone out there, give us another half dozen pages of story continuation! From the May 1954 issue of Marvel Tales #123, --and what's even weirder is that this appears to be the first Atlas story illustrated by Ravielli that I've posted here at THOIA over all these years. But be sure to check out a bunch of his incredible work for Quality Comics (most notably from the wild Web of Evil series) in our archive right HERE!

Which Wish, Dish?

From the March 1955 issue of Mystic #36 (the very last precode issue from this series before they added the hideous comic code stamp of approval *gag!) And leave it to Jay Scott Pike to illustrate one of the most gorgeous bad girls of them all... she actually kind of reminds me of a Silver Age era Buscema gal! Anyway, be careful what you wish for, already!!

The Voice from Venus

Time to take it to the stars for a story of outer space love, all wrapped up rather nicely in some over the top insanity and isolation as only Robert Q. Sale can do it! RQ unloads a startlingly bonkers one here, so sit back and tune in to a true terror tale of tomorrow-- and b-b-b-beyond! From the February 1954 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #24.

Escape from Death!

Well, the Heath story I originally wanted to post today didn't quite work out, (no amount of clean-up attempt in the world was gonna make that one presentable here-- sorry!) So instead, let's take a look at another sizzlin' Joe Maneely quickie from the October 1951 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #7. I kind of felt like Satan was getting a little ignored during our Atlas Festivities lately anyways...

Perfect Mate / Once Upon a Corpse

If you're suddenly overcome with a creeping sense of deja vu, it's because yes, just last month we had another post also called "The Perfect Mate" (Atlas had a thing about re-using story titles!) But you have my word that this "perfect mate", from the August 1952 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #12, is quite different than the last one! And as mentioned in our previous post, today's Double Header is also a double shot of Marty Elkin eeriness, two atmospheric entries from the glorious, golden era of comic book shock spookery! Now, "Once Upon a Corpse", from the June 1952 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #11 might leave a few of you less imaginative fiends scratching your head in the end. But I like to think that 'ol Marty simply delivered one of the more original supernatural tales-- featuring a vampiric grave with an appetite all its own! Oh, did I just spoil it for you? Too bad...

"The Neat Trick"

We've been looking at old time stage magic over at AEET this month HERE, so how about we bring a little bit of the 'ol slight of head-- errr, HAND-- over here to THOIA as well, eh? This is a fun, Atlas quickie from the June 1952 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #11, with Harry Lazarus and George Klein teaming up on art duties... and fyi: there's nothing up my sleeve (or inside my collar), but we might just lose our heads in the next post as well, so stay tombed for that coming up next-- I swear, it's gonna be a seriously wild weekend Double Header that you know you won't wanna miss out on!

I Can't Stop Screaming

Our awesome All Atlas August Fest continues now, and as mentioned I have quite a line-up of THOIA fan favorites coming up! If names like Russ Heath, Robert Q. Sale, Marty Elkin, etc sound exciting-- then you are definitely tombed to the right blog! And of course you can't have an Atlas Fest without some really good dick, --aka Ayers that is-- and saaaay, here he comes now, creepy crawlin' atcha from the joltin' June 1952 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #11.

Mary and the Witch!

We now conclude our Bernie Krigstein Fest with a black magically macabre entry from the February 1953 issue of Strange Tales #15. Lots of great panels here, and yeah, the ending will leave you with a lot of big buts, BUT it's still a ton of fun anyway. Hope everyone enjoyed this extended look into one of the more unique and original Atlas masters. And if you missed our magically moronic Dumminger post over at AEET, grab a tube of lipstick and CLICK HERE when you're all finished up with Bernie today. Stay tombed for lots rots more Atlas classics coming up next, as well as all month-- I've got a full line-up of the biggest, baddest hitters on deck!