Frankie Was Afraid

Looking back at our awesome Atlas Fest earlier this month, I suddenly realized I made an inexcusable, and rather monumental mistake: How on Earth can we have an Atlas Fest without featuring my all-time favorite artist ever-- Bill Everett??!! Okay. Fixing that la boo-boo now with a real screamer from the June 1952 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #11 (Everett also created that incredible cover design too!) And because of my awful, absent-mindedness, I've suddenly decided that we'll continue on this journey into even more unknown worlds by extending / reviving July's Atlas Fest --granted, if I can find enough worthy material-- for the entire month of August! Sound good? Oh, who am I kidding? Like I won't be able to find enough worthy material! It's Atlas after all... see ya's shortly in August for lots rots more!

The Grave Will Not Wait

Like our previous post, today's fateful story is also from the October 1952 issue of The Hand of Fate #12, and it's nicely illustrated by Chic Stone who always seems to totally crush it here at THOIA. So what do you all think? Could you deliver on what 'ol Fate has offered to this poor, doomed idiot? I've also rounded out the post with a graverobbin' one-pager-- a Sy Grudko "True Tales of the Supernatural" quickie from the July 1954 issue of The Beyond #27. One more post to go for the month of July, and FYI: I plan to correct a rather foolish bit of Atlas oversight on my part... I do hope you can forgive me!

Cauldron of Evil

Time for a macabre lil stroll through the ominous 'ol Ozark mountains, where wicked weird witchcraft still runs rampant-- and all just a mere hop, skip, and one jittery jump away from Karswell Manor as well! Ace Mag art pro, Jim McLaughlin, lays the atmosphere on thick as a hick with a tick about to explode on his di-- errrr, okay, --time to lay off the alliteration for awhile, I seriously do believe *gag! From the August 1952 issue of The Hand of Fate #12, plus we have one more from this eerie ish up next too-- so stay tombed!

Love Trap

My buddy Richard sent over this fun Iger Shop illustrated tale from the June 1953 issue of Strange Fantasy #6.  He also profusely apologizes for the blurriness on page 4! No worries though, this scary space story is still a blast, and somehow fits nicely within our month of posts-- I mean, it certainly feels like Farrell trying their hand at an Atlas style sci-fi horror 5-pager, doesn't it? Annnnd if anybody is singing "Love Trap" to the tune of "Love Shack", I beg you stop it now. I mean it...

The Ugly Man

How about we finish up this Atlas Fest with another one from the October 1952 issue of Suspense #23. And similar to our previous post, it's another tale about lousy 'ol looks, looks, looks! But a story illustrated by joltin' Joe Maneely is of course anything but "lousy", because not only is this 4-page, mini-masterpiece of mad science also written by Stan Lee, it's got zombies, werewolves, ghosts, plus, a fantastically funny finale! Don't believe me, eh? Wanna bet?

Skin-Deep

Is everyone enjoying these Atlas Suspense stories? I guess it had been a while since we had ourselves an Atlas Fest around here, and you guys definitely let me know it! And we have a few more to go, including one starring this glamour puss who thinks she's the be all / end all in beauty! Boy, does she ever have a thing or two to learn... from the October 1952 issue of Suspense #23, and featuring some real nice art from Syd Shores.

The Old Woman

If you remember at the start of this month, we took a look at the superb, early 1940's work that Paul Reinman supplied for the Pep Comics' "Bentley of Scotland Yard" mysteries. And here comes Reinman again, 10 years later and still plugging away as strong as ever for Atlas, with a very unusual, wonderfully written, wildly drawn story via the Dec. 1951 issue of Suspense #12. And despite the somewhat aggravating, off-register printing here, I still freakin' love that odd, final page close-up of the old woman, not to mention that beautifully bleak ending...