Astounding Stories #120

([circa 1976 - 1977])

So Shall Ye Reap... Death! (Table of Contents: 1)

Nick Fury / comic story / 20 pages (report information)

Script

Jim Steranko

Pencils

Jim Steranko

Inks

Frank Giacoia; Joe Giella (assist)

Letters

Sam Rosen

Genre

spy; superhero

Characters

Jimmy Woo; Dum Dum Dugan; Nick Fury; Clay Quartermain; Val [Contessa Valentina Allegro de Fontaine]; Centurius [Dr. Noah Black] (Nobel Prize winner, Marvel's 1st black villain); P.D.Q. Werner (movie director); Tiffany (actor); Brad Carter (actor); Kong (robotic prop)

Synopsis

The SHIELD agents try to stop Centurius aka Dr. Noah Black, a madman who plans to rain down fire on the entire Earth for forty days and nights, cleansing it so his creations can start anew on a world "without the threat of mass murder, intimidation, fear". With the help of a visiting movie company, Fury and Woo his plans. Centurius dives into his own evolution ray while his Automated Rebirth Colonizer inexplicably crashes right into the dormant volcano that served as his lab, wiping out the entire island.

Reprints

• from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (Marvel, 1968 series) #2 (July 1968)

Indexer Notes

Centurius becomes the 3rd Steranko villain to use the phrase "Parable Of Doom" (see page 10, panel 9), though to date there appears no connection whatsoever between him, Baron Strucker & Scorpio. Last panel on page 5 altered due to the Comics Code Authority; inadvertently, the new panel is far more "suggestive" than the one it replaced! Original panel restored in 2000 reprint. Joe Giella (longtime friend of Frank Giacoia) assists; Fury's face in page 10, panel 7 is clearly his work.

The Creature Who Invaded Capital City! (Table of Contents: 2)

The Fly / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Robert Bernstein

Pencils

John Rosenberger

Inks

John Rosenberger

Letters

?

Genre

superhero

Reprints

• from Adventures of the Fly (Archie, 1960 series) #17 (January 1962)

Land of Vanishing Men (Table of Contents: 3)

comic story / 4 pages (report information)

Script

Carl Wessler

Pencils

Joe Sinnott (signed)

Inks

Joe Sinnott (signed)

Letters

?

Job Number

H-594

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Ted Benson; Joe Ausler; Larry Wiley

Synopsis

Three men who dream of the adventure of knights join a mirage in the desert set during the Crusades.

Reprints

• from Strange Tales (Marvel, 1951 series) #45 (April 1956)

Indexer Notes

Writer credit from foreword by Michael J. Vassallo from Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Strange Tales #5 (Marvel, 2007 Series).

Sorry, Wrong Planet (Table of Contents: 4)

comic story / 4 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Bernard Baily

Inks

Joe Sinnott ?

Letters

?

Job Number

H-592

Genre

science fiction

Characters

Jeff Miller

Synopsis

An alien with orders to colonize Earth lands and asks the first person he sees if he is on Earth. The man sarcastically answers him "No, it's Mars." The alien disappears and scientists detect through telescopes the colonization activity on Mars, which the alien has mistaken for Earth.

Reprints

• from Strange Tales (Marvel, 1951 series) #45 (April 1956)

Witch Who Wouldn't! (Table of Contents: 5)

comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

Richard Hughes ?

Pencils

Emil Gershwin

Inks

Emil Gershwin

Letters

Ed Hamilton

Genre

fantasy-supernatural

Characters

Ben Talbot; Hazel; Miss Frobish

Synopsis

Ben Talbot finds an infant in the New England woods and raises her, but when he wants to marry her and use her occult abilities to amass wealth and power, she returns to the woods where her accelerated aging process soon makes her an old evil witch.

Reprints

• from Adventures into the Unknown (American Comics Group, 1948 series) #101 (October 1958)

Turn Back O' Time! (Table of Contents: 6)

comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Joe Gill ?

Pencils

Bill Molno

Inks

Sal Trapani

Letters

?

Job Number

3641

Reprints

• from Tales of the Mysterious Traveler (Charlton, 1956 series) #10 (November 1958)