I'm not Scared

[Tnerb]

Or There's Nothing to "Fear"

 

In 72', the Silver Age of comics or what it would one day eventually be known as had ended. The Bronze Age started two years prior and the old guard has joined with the new. The horror comics of the fifties and sixties have long since ended but the seventies brought about a conglomerate of stories, characters, and reprints.

 

As time passes, memories fade and/or distort. As much emphasis I place on my New Mutants #15 as the beginning of my collection, it wasn't my first comic book, I attribute that honor to a oversized treasury edition of Star Wars, but there's a chance, however slim that my first introduction to comic books could have been a reprint compilation by Stan Lee, Larry Leiber, Don Heck, Steve Ditko, and Jack Kirby.

 

Fear #8 had four vignettes from both Journey into Mystery #62 and Tales of Suspense #26, these were released in November of 60' and 61' respectively. I read, reread, hidden, lost, found, read again, twisted, torn, crumbled and eventually lost again. It was decades before I found another copy. The memories resurfaced as I perused a box of comics at the Philadelphia Comic-Con. The John Severin cover rekindled enough to realize it was worth the four dollars to read a book from my past.

 

This was a true reader copy. The back of the board was marked (3.0), I would grade it a 4.5 and hope that one day I will be able to acquire a 9.8 copy as well as ungraded copies of the two comic books that spawned the issue. The four mini stories are "It Crawls by Night", also the book title, "Never Trust a Martian", "I Can't Escape the Creeping Things" and lastly "The Face". I still have yet to determine my favorite story.

 

I looked through the whole book looking for credits. The first two didn't have any. I had to check out Comicbookdb.com to get an inkling of who was credited and some of the information provided had question marks next to their names.

 

To begin "It Crawls by Night" was pencilled by Jack Kirby and inked by Richard Ayers. It was seven pages. The .20 cover price and June 1972 publication date are indicators I did not buy this off the rack when it was new. I'm going to pretend that years later when my Aunt noticed my Cousin's interest in girls increase while his desire for comic books waned must have been the chance to get rid of them. Instead of throwing them out, I became the receptacle for their destruction rather than the more traditional trash can.

 

The questionable aspect is who in their right mind would give a reprint of horror stories dubbed Fear to a child. I would guess I was four or five when a stack of comic books were given to me and the issue was pressed in between issues of Crazy and Sub-Mariner.

 

The second title "Never Trust a Martian" written by Larry Leiber, plotted by Stan Lee, and illustrated by Don Heck also had to be looked up on the Comicbookdb website. This was a story about communists wanting to take dominion over the Cold War with the United States. They hatched a plan to scare the American people by making them think that the Martians were attacking (something that was never done as well as H.G. Wells "War of the Worlds" radio drama). These same Russians were then kidnapped by actual Martians and taken away to Mars for fear that their invasion plans a 1000 years hence would be found out. It was six pages long.

 

The first two vignettes were from Tales of Suspense #26. They both started with the proverbial splash page. I'm curious if things were so different a single year earlier when Journey into Mystery #62 had "I Can't Escape from the Creeping Things" as one of the stories. This story also was short, only six pages, but did not start off with a splash page. The three paneled page is the first of the three stories that has proof of an artist with the printed signature S. Ditko.

 

This five page story has my favorite two panels from any comic I have owned before 1984 on page three and four. Each of those pages has a picture of a tree growing to such a massive size its limbs engulf a Victorian styled mansion. I remember thinking how much they looked like a maze and if I ever find my original copy I'm pretty sure there will be pen marks as I tried to find the non-existent finish line.

 

The last story not only jumps back to Tales of Suspense but it also begins with a splash page. Were these oversized splash pages a way to entice new readers before scaring them? Did Dr. Wertham ever think these post "Seduction of the Innocent" published horror comic books would one day be reprinted in the seventies? Did Stan Lee and S. Ditko start signing their work preparing for their amazing creation?

 

Stan Lee's cursive print and S. Ditko steady hand have their claim of creativity in the lower right hand corner. I wish all these stories had the full credits attributed to the creators. Did Stan Lee use "Fear" as a way to show off the work to new readers, was it a way for Marvel to hold onto the rights a little bit longer? Did reading this book over and over create a tolerance to all the horror movies I ever saw that never scared me? An American Werewolf in London withstanding.

 

It's slightly ironic that one of my first comic book experiences were by three of the greats that would take me well into my twenties before I appreciated who they were. Eventually I will get Tales of Suspense #26 and Journey into Mystery #62 but until then I'm going to read Fear #8 again.

 

Thank you Stan, Steve, And Jack.

 

Thanks for Reading

 

Tnerb

 

Ps. An honorable mention also goes to George Klein who also has an art credit on "It Crawls by Night".

 

If anyone else knows anything, please add below

 

And for something completely different...

 

http://tnerb-myfirstblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/living-on-tipping-wage.html

 

See more journals by Tnerb

[kaholo1256]

tNerb,

 

First the comic, honestly love the history that everyone imparts here when it comes to the Journals. I learn more about some of my favorite artists while also learning about legends than anywhere alse. In simply reading off the names its truly a who's who of the comic legend world that came together for each of these.

 

Now to what I really enjoyed. So for the first time I clicked on your additional link and read a part of your blog...and commented but was stuck in the anonymous category. Anyways after reading it was a little curious and read another. "Sit as Long as You Like" By far the best thing I have read in weeks. You are an individual_without_enough_empathy Sir and I have more respect for you now than ever before. I'm thinking while reading this they tipped you well and all the while wasn't prepared for where your story was going. Love it. You have gained yourself another follower in your blog.

 

For All others, if you havent read it you really do need to.

 

Awesome

[kaholo1256]

wow, i didn't know this site had a vulgar meter on it... didn't say or type individual_without_enough_empathy on here wrote something else...starts with an A ends with a hole.... I guess whatever CGC put on here can work though. Learn something new everyday.

[Ronnylama]

Living life is an interesting place indeed and in deed.

Horror has always blended through my memories. The Twilight Zone was scary when I was young and I still have vivid perceptions as I watch them as an older man...same with the books I wish to recollect (Watchmen being first thought). Alan Moore has a strange sense of reality within these moments for me even still. As for Rod Serling (who also wrote Planet of the Apes) I wish he would have delved into the comic genre more......funny with his Pal Mall cigs.....

[etanick]

tNerb,

 

First the comic, honestly love the history that everyone imparts here when it comes to the Journals. I learn more about some of my favorite artists while also learning about legends than anywhere alse. In simply reading off the names its truly a who's who of the comic legend world that came together for each of these.

 

Now to what I really enjoyed. So for the first time I clicked on your additional link and read a part of your blog...and commented but was stuck in the anonymous category. Anyways after reading it was a little curious and read another. "Sit as Long as You Like" By far the best thing I have read in weeks. You are an individual_without_enough_empathy Sir and I have more respect for you now than ever before. I'm thinking while reading this they tipped you well and all the while wasn't prepared for where your story was going. Love it. You have gained yourself another follower in your blog.

 

For All others, if you havent read it you really do need to.

 

Awesome

 

I agree...I read Tnerb's rants as the server and enjoyed them. I have spent a large part of my college years working in restaurants and cafeteria so I can feel his frustrations.