Friday, December 09, 2022

I'm not sure there's a woman in this entire issue, Miss Wendell.

Because this is all reprints: from 1974, Tomb of Darkness #9, cover by Larry Lieber and Frank Giacoia.
"The Man of the Tomb" pretty much has to be reprinted here, doesn't it? After years of living underground due to atomic war, a scientist finally cracks his formula for reversing fission, which could end the war and make the surface of the planet habitable again...although, honestly, mankind would just wreck it up again, so why bother? This story was from 1954's Mystic #26, as was "The Living and the Dead!" and "Good Morning, Mr. Smith!" The latter of which appeared to be a straight-up lift of the Brain that Wouldn't Die but predates that film by eight years! Well, that been on the shelf for three years, but the plot dated back to 1925, anyway. I'll qualify for an educational grant yet!
"Juggernaut" is a variation of the Jagannath myth, albeit with a grifting priest: sacrifice yourself to the crushing sacred wheels of the Vishnu wagon, and gain eternal salvation! Be sure to leave your stupid worldly possessions to the priest before you do...The crooked priest is savvy enough to know, he just needs one sucker, to get the ball rolling, as it were, and trips one peasant under the wheels. Which encourages others! Still, he'll get his. (From 1953's Adventures into Terror #24, written by Paul S. Newman, art by Gene Colan.)
Lastly, in "The Living and the Dead!" (art by Al Eadeh) mystery writer Oscar gets a lot of ideas from the supernatural plots of his friend John, by tut-tutting them as worthless garbage, then reworking them just enough to present as his own. Except John has his own reasons for telling Oscar all these stories...
I took a moment to check out Mike's Amazing World, to see what else was on the racks when Mystic #26 came out. EC's Haunt of Fear #23 was out same month; just saying...

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