I used to hate in old sci-fi stuff when to seem futuristic, ordinary items like clothing or small appliances were given catalog sci-fi noises, bings and beeps and whistles. Why would anyone want a beeping hat? But there's every possibility something is beeping at you in your home right now, so...Let's see what else the future holds in this issue! From 1974,
The Twilight Zone #56, cover by George Wilson.
"The Vandals" is the cover story, and the lead has to catch up with the reader, as he was an amnesiac, having lost all memory in a bad future-truck crash. He's put in the care of a pretty mnemo-therapist, who he calls Nemo; and she calls him Jon. (Was his ID lost in the crash? They should know
his name.) Jon is disturbed, when on a walk with Nemo, they see a "rest and relaxation" club swarm a car, smashing the hell out of it, and finally firebombing it. Nemo finds it perfectly ordinary: the club left their account number by the wreck, so the owner could be reimbursed later. She invites him to join her own R&R club that evening, where they blow up a rather nice house, shouting "remember the Bruteway-49 trashing!" It's a rallying cry like "remember the Alamo" even though no one really remembers it, just that it was the start of R&R clubs, shortly followed by the destruction of the Eiffel Tower, Mount Rushmore, and the Taj Mahal.
Jon tries to talk Nemo out of what he considers vandalism, but she still considers it normal and right. He then tries to stop a club--dressed as clowns, on their way to blow up 'J.Namath Stadium'--who of course also disagree. Destroying things made jobs, right? Made room for new things. Jon is warned, standing in the way of a legal R&R action gave them the right to kill him; but he wakes up before the hammer blow lands. 'Jon' was really Harry Green, an ordinary trucker from 1974. While still wondering about his dream, he sees a convertible doing 80 in town, and the passenger throws a firebomb (or large firecracker) into a trash can, blowing it up. The crowd of onlookers laughs, seemingly delighted, and even the cop seems not to care since no one was hurt. Harry notices it happened, on the corner of Broadway and 49th...in the Twilight Zone. (Written by
Arnold Drake, pencils by Adolfo Buylla.)
"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is a bit of fun: Mrs. Mooney, a cleaning lady for a lab, is more than sick of cleaning up after those big-shot scientists. But, she notices a leaking chemical seems to produce "instant shine!" so she uses it to clean up, dreaming of turning it into wealth and leisure...until it starts to grow and fill up the lab! This is a Gold Key story and as such has a very different ending than an EC version would have, but it's still charming and might remind you of other experiments. (Art by John Celardo, and no Rod Serling in this one.)
Next, "A Taste of Immortality," in which a young woman is hit and killed by a car on a busy street. A doctor is on the scene, but finds it's too late to do anything...since based on the condition of the body, she had been dead for five years or more! The woman's identification indicated she worked at a club (did that used to be a thing, ID for a job like that? 'If found dead, please return to the Tropicana.') and the doctor goes there to find fading hypnotist Mesmerus, who might have been depressed and drunk before he got the news. Mesmerus admits, he had been engaged to her, but she was dying of an incurable disease, so he basically hypnotized her to live. The doctor of course wants in on that action, threatening to expose Mesmerus if he didn't...can you blackmail a hypnotist? That seems like a great way to think you're a chicken for the rest of your life. After his treatment, the doctor decides he didn't want anyone else to be immortal, so he kills Mesmerus, but is spotted leaving the scene and caught. He's nonchalant at his trial; what were they going to do, kill him? Um, no: since there was no motive for the crime, the judge has him put in an institution for the criminally insane for life; and he's dragged away screaming he wants to die. No "
Escape Clause" for him! (Written by Paul S. Newman, art by Luis Dominguez.)
Finally, "The Night of the Ravens" has the Ravens, your typical couple waiting for the rich uncle to die so they can get the inheritance. This rich uncle had a massive aviary full of actual ravens; and while the wife doesn't care for the uncle, she hates the ravens. When the uncle kicks it, she gets pecked by a raven when feeding it, so the husband poisons them and buries them. Dead ravens then start turning up around the house--I think the time to leave would be when you find one in the freezer, don't wait for one in your bed! Anyway, moral, don't mess with ravens. (Written by John Warner, art by Adolfo Buylla.)
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