IT DOESN'T PAY TO GOSSIP

This revolting story of a spiteful trio of snooping old biddies, suicide, murder and revenge is from Aragon Magazines' MISTER MYSTERY #13, cover dated September-October 1953 (GCD incorrectly lists it as September 1953). Aragon was one of the many imprints that Stanley P. Morse used for his comics. Tony Mortellaro "executed" the art.

HEN-PECKED!

This story from Stanley Morse's MISTER MYSTERY #17 (Aragon Magazines, June 1954) is short and sick. The cartoonish art is by Eugene Hughes. Caution, ladies! If you constantly hen-peck your husband or Dad you may want to think twice after reading this!

THE SUBWAY TERROR!

Watch out, New York! Your subways are being terrorized by hideous creatures. Unknown to the city at large, they are responsible for the disappearance of numerous citizens who are never heard from again. Enter patrolman Dave Whitley, who has stumbled upon them and reports his sighting to his sergeant. Whitley volunteers to transfer to "Department G", a special force tasked with eradicating the vile things. By the end of the story, you'll know how he manages to survive an attack and why his partner should have stayed a beat cop!

"The Subway Terror" appeared in Stanley Morse's MISTER MYSTERY #2 (November 1951). The cover (above) and story art is by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.

IT'S ALL IN THE HANDS

The word for today is "vestigial", meaning "an organ or part of the body degenerate, rudimentary, or atrophied, having become functionless in the course of evolution". In Tom's poor case, he is tormented by a twisted version of this, courtesy of his twin brother. "Hand", drawn by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito appeared in MISTER MYSTERY #1 (Stanley Morse, September 1951).

There's also a scene in this story that you won't see these days: Tom and his doctor light up and have a smoke while the doc discusses his case!

TWO GHOSTS HAPPIER THAN ONE?

Hot on the heels of last week's post is this, another tale of marital strife, with yet another milquetoast, wife-hating husband (appropriately named Henry Meeks) who hatches a plan to end his spouse's constant nagging. The ending is heavy with the kind of irony we see often in horror comics from the 50's. "Television Ghost.." is from Stanley Morse's first issue of MISTER MYSTERY (September 1951).

The person behind the "cartoony" Kurtzman-esque art has yet to be positively identified, but there are several interesting possibilities that have been tossed around:

• One source claims the artist is Charles Stern, who was a former roommate of Kurtzman's.
• Another source claims that the artist is Ross Andru.
• Still another claims the art is actually by Kurtzman himself and the story is referenced from "The Mysterious Ray From Another Dimension" (misidentified as "The Mysterious Ray From Another Planet" at the GCD) in EC's WEIRD FANTASY #16 (November-December 1950) and reprinted in Russ Cochran's WEIRD FANTASY #4 (July 1993). If so, then this could be cited as a "lost Kurtzman story".

After looking at a few more stories from MISTER MYSTERY that have been identified as by Stern (without any dispute), I'm putting my money on him under Kurtzman's influence.

REVENGE IS SWEET

You've heard the old saying, "First come, first served"? That's the title of this story from MISTER MYSTERY #18 (Stanley Morse, August 1954) with art by Tony Mortellaro. It proves that the tables can be turned on a husband who seeks the help of Mr. Morte to quickly dispatch his wife who has fallen for another man. But a twist of fate proves that revenge can be sweet as candy.

FOZZMO'S ROBOT WOMAN

Poor Fozzmo. The brilliant scientist has got everything going for him except his looks. In an aha! moment he decides to emulate Dr. Frankenstein and create his own mate. But remember, this is a pre-Code horror comic and things usually don't go as planned. The typical bizarre and superior art is by Basil Wolverton. Although the author for this story, "Robot Woman", goes uncredited, with a main character named "Fozzmo", I have a sneaking suspicion Mr. Wolverton may have had a hand in it.

From MISTER MYSTERY #18 (Stanley Morse, August 1954).

THE "INJURY TO THE EYE" MOTIF

One of the more infamous topics harped on by Dr. Fredric Wertham in his anti-crime/horror comic screed Seduction of the Innocent is what he calls "the injury to the eye motif". Mostly aimed at crime comics, he manages to include the term "horror" here:

“The injury to the eye motif is an outstanding example of the brutal attitude cultivated in comic books — the threat or actual infliction of injury to the eyes of a victim, male or female. This detail, occurring in uncounted instances, shows perhaps the true color of crime comics better than anything else. It has no counterpart in any other literature of the world, for children or for adults. 

“A generation is being desensitized by these literal horror images. One comic shows a man slashing another man across the eyeballs with a sword. The victim: ‘MY EYES! I cannot see!’” 

 While I have come across the following examples and a few others as well, I have a hard time with his claim of "uncounted instances" and believe it was instead just another instance of his uncounted exaggerations.

Art by Bernard Bailey.

Art by Bernard Bailey.

From Charlton's notorious The Thing! #16.

A Crom the Barbarian panel from Avon's Strange Worlds #2.

One of the most often seen examples is from True Crime Comics #2.