Friday, October 04, 2019

Vonntor, Valtorr, tomato, to-mah-to.


He's Valtorr on the Ron Wilson cover for 1975's Vault of Evil #21, but was Vonntor inside and in the original Russ Heath story from 1953's Uncanny Tales #14. (Not #37 as noted on the front page!) Vonntor is on a strangling spree, but even with a cop eyewitness and later photos of him in the act, the police chief won't press charges because the fingerprints don't match the victims' throats! I was going to call "no way" on that one, but per some sources it's not impossible. Of course there's a twist, which the GCD spoils on both those links there.

Also this issue: "Nothing," from 1951's Mystic #6. A scientist returns from a time-travel trip, to attempt suicide. You'll see it coming! From 1963, "The Man on the Scaffold!" is a later Lee/Ditko short from Strange Tales #106, which featured the Human Torch and the Fantastic Four on the cover: I didn't think these horror/suspense stories lingered after the FF's intro. The reprint info is wrong on that story as well; but the last one, "The Rescue" was from the aforementioned Uncanny Tales #37 from 1955. A young man enlists in World War I "to fight for future generations of America!" Who might bail him out of that mess.

Yeesh, Russ Heath, Stan Lee, and Steve Ditko, and this reprint was still weaker than a Gold Key book!

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