531 – Not Man-Bat

While EC was producing some of the most thought-provoking stories of their time, I can’t say the same thing was happening over at DC. In Batman #76 (February 1953), the Penguin escapes and starts assaulting Gotham City with giant mythical birds that appear to have powers. Amidst basilisks, dragons, and rocs, the Penguin introduced a […]

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530 – Judgment Day!

In EC’s Weird Fantasy #18 (January 1953), the now-infamous story of “Judgment Day!” appears. This tells the story of an astronaut from Earth who lands on a planet populated by sentient robots to see if the planet is ready to enter the great Galactic Republic. After being taken through the orange robot’s society, the astronaut […]

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529 – Stretching Believability

In “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with Superman”, a story from Superman #81 (January 1953), the writers get even crazier with Superman’s costume. Earth passes through a kryptonite dust cloud, meaning all of Earth’s air has become lethal (or is it just weakening?) to Superman for one day. He retreats under the water and solves […]

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528 – Dis-Member

Speaking of dismemberment, The Haunt of Fear #17 (December 1952) also features a story drawn by Jack Davis called “Garden Party!”. A wife is driven insane by her insensitive boob of a husband who tramples her prize petunias during a barbecue – naturally she dismembers him and roasts his bits on the barbecue. EC Comics […]

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527 – Ghastly Graham

The Haunt of Fear #17 (December 1952) continues to showcase Ghastly Graham Ingels‘ artwork with a truly twisted tale called “Horror We? How’s Bayou?”. In this twisted tale, a creepy Sidney, living in the Bayou, lures strangers out to his lonely home so that his insane brother Everett can murder them and dis-member them. After […]

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526 – Time Loop Mystery

In the there-are-no-new-ideas department, House of Mystery #11 (December 1952) features a story in which a man discovers a way to manipulate time, but then accidentally becomes trapped on a single day. Deja vu? Sadly this is just the twist ending of the story, and they do not delve too deeply into what a time […]

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525 – Super-Fat Boy of Steel

The beginnings of putting Superman / Superboy in increasingly crazier situations starts in Superboy #24 (December 1952). In “The Super-Fat Boy of Steel!”, experimental rays from the college of agricultural has made all the teens of Smallville fat over night, including Superboy/Clark. Naturally it is undone as fast as it happened, and spoiler alert: Lana […]

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524 – Stranger Dimensions

While the Phantom Stranger has so far steered clear of actual paranormal activity, we get much closer in Phantom Stranger #4 (December 1952). A man experimenting with a book of spells has apparently summoned hairy demons and then has disappeared. The Phantom Stranger investigates and discovers strange hairy creatures. He captures one and convinces it […]

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523 – Superman’s Big Bro

Continuing the tradition of Jor-El super-coincidences in which Jor-El was involved with nearly every entity that Superman meets from space… In Superman #80 (November 1952), Superman discovers an alien has crash-landed on Earth and carries with him instructions from Jor-El mentioning his son. Superman assumes this means “Halk Kar’ is Superman’s older brother. Of course […]

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522 – Ray Bradbury Credits

Apparently EC comics had a bad habit of plagiarizing Ray Bradbury‘s short stories for their comic books. This resulted in the writer sending a letter to EC comics, who decided to credit Ray Bradbury on nearly every cover starting in October 1952. Above is a panel from a 1948 short story called “The Long Years!” […]

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