Weird Fantasy #17

(January-February 1951)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 1) (Expand) /

Vault of Horror / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Child of Tomorrow! (Table of Contents: 2)

comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Gaines (co-plot); Al Feldstein (co-plot, script)

Pencils

Al Feldstein [as Feldstein] (signed)

Inks

Al Feldstein [as Feldstein] (signed)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

Genre

science fiction

Characters

Jerry Gordon (mining engineer); Linda Gordon (Jerry's wife, death, in flashback); Tim (mining engineer, death, in flashback); Bill (mining engineer, death, in flashback); Jerry and Linda's murant son (death)

Synopsis

A mining engineer, 750 feet underground in a mine, feels the ground shaking and eventually emerges from it to discover massive destruction caused by a series of atom bombs dropped on the area. He learns in coming days that the nation had responded with hydrogen bombs, destroying the enemy in just four days. What he soon learned to his horror that all other people were being mutated by the radiation from the war... including his own child.

Reprints

• in Tales of the Incredible (Ballantine Books, 1965 series) #U2140 (March 1965)
• in Weird Fantasy (Russ Cochran, 1980 series) #1 (1980)
• in Weird Fantasy (Russ Cochran, 1992 series) #5 (October 1993)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #6 - Child of Tomorrow and Other Stories (July 2013)
• in The EC Archives: Weird Fantasy (Dark Horse, 2014 series) #1

Keywords

atomic bomb; hydrogen bomb; July 4 1971; South America; U. N. Ore and Mineral Division

Indexer Notes

Some of the story occurs in flashback.

The Time Machine and the Shmoe! (Table of Contents: 3)

comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Harvey Kurtzman

Pencils

Harvey Kurtzman

Inks

Harvey Kurtzman

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Ben Oda

Genre

science fiction

Characters

Donald Yubyutch [aka a shmoe] (lab cleaning man); Professor Serutane; unnamed King

Synopsis

Professor Serutane creates a time-top machine and Donald volunteers to go along with the professor, who promptly turns him down. But, filled with heroic-like tendencies, Donald goes back in time in the machine all by himself into the 9th Century, where he is pronounced mad and assigned cleaning duties.

Reprints

• in Weird Fantasy (Russ Cochran, 1980 series) #1 (1980)
• in Weird Fantasy (Russ Cochran, 1992 series) #5 (October 1993)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #27 - Man and Superman and Other Stories (2020)
• in The EC Archives: Weird Fantasy (Dark Horse, 2014 series) #1

Keywords

time travel

Indexer Notes

Script credit from Tales of Terror: The EC Companion.

SuspenStory Fans! (Table of Contents: 4) (Expand) /

Crime SuspenStories / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.5 page (report information)

To---? (Table of Contents: 5)

text story / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

? (spot illustration)

Inks

? (spot illustration)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Genre

fantasy-supernatural; science fiction

Characters

Markson; unnamed Flight Engineer

Synopsis

A ship heading for Jupiter experiences gyro problems, passes by Jupiter and is marooned in space with no contact in the entire solar system.

Reprints

• in Weird Fantasy (Russ Cochran, 1980 series) #1 (1980)
• in The EC Archives: Weird Fantasy (Dark Horse, 2014 series) #1

Keywords

Jupiter

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 6) (Expand) /

Picture Stories From the Bible / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.5 page (report information)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 7)

Cosmic Correspondence / letters page / 1 page (report information)

Script

Bill Gaines ?; Al Feldstein ?

Pencils

? (spot illustration)

Inks

? (spot illustration)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Reprints

• in The EC Archives: Weird Fantasy (Dark Horse, 2014 series) #1

Indexer Notes

Letters from Nancy Peterson, Eddie Killeen, and Louis Coale.

Deadlock! (Table of Contents: 8)

comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Wally Wood (and plot) [as Woody] (signed)

Pencils

Wally Wood [as Woody] (signed)

Inks

Wally Wood [as Woody] (signed)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

Genre

science fiction

Characters

unnamed ship's Captain (death); unnamed ship's Sergeant (death); ship's crew (all die); alien ship creatures [Hvah; Zkoh; Broh] (all die)

Synopsis

Two years in outer space and the Earth crew spots a strange-looking craft leerily approaching it. They communicate via an automatic brain machine and their mistrust of one another's intentions becomes clear, so they end up destroying each other.

Reprints

• in Flashback (DynaPubs Enterprises, 1971 series) #1 (1971)
• in Weird Fantasy (Russ Cochran, 1980 series) #1 (1980)
• in Weird Fantasy (Russ Cochran, 1992 series) #5 (October 1993)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #12 - Spawn of Mars and Other Stories (January 2015)
• in Aus dem EC-Archiv - Wally Wood (All Verlag, 2018 series) #1 (Dezember 2018)
• in The EC Archives: Weird Fantasy (Dark Horse, 2014 series) #1

Indexer Notes

Source for plot credit is “Against the Grain” (Stewart 2003, page 40).

Story inspired by "First Contact" by Murray Leinster.

Script revision from Al Feldstein to Wood by Craig Delich. Source for the Wood script credit "Spawn of Mars and Other Stories" (2015).

Cover story.

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Prediction of Disaster! (Table of Contents: 9)

comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Al Feldstein

Pencils

Jack Kamen

Inks

Jack Kamen

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

Genre

science fiction

Characters

Professor Henley Horton; unnamed Coogen (Dean of State University); unnamed Secretary of State University; John D. Pentport III; Ken (newspaper reporter)

Synopsis

Professor Horton discovers that the Beta Orion is going nova and about to explode... and does. Then he makes a startling discovery: one can determine when a star is about to explode by noting an excess of infra-red rays. He successfully proves that theory, then accidentally discovers that the Earth's sun is about to go nova and seeks to warn the world.

Reprints

• in Weird Fantasy (Russ Cochran, 1980 series) #1 (1980)
• in Weird Fantasy (Russ Cochran, 1992 series) #5 (October 1993)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #24 - The Martian Monster and Other Stories (February 2019)
• in The EC Archives: Weird Fantasy (Dark Horse, 2014 series) #1

Keywords

Beta Orion; Daily Bugle; Gamma Pegasus; State University