I think we all agree that most comic book plots could not be transferred to the real world: the doings in a comic book could not possibly happen in real life. But at ACG they often upped the ante on disbelief, asking us to accept extraordinary craziness in the plots. Such is the case of “The Tiny Space-Girl,” illustrated by Kenneth Landau. This 1955 tale piles one unlikely event on top of another. Entertaining story, but bizarre.
[SPOILER] I assume it was written by editor Richard E. Hughes. The ending seems downbeat for Hughes, whose stories usually ended up with the characters achieving their goals of removing obstacles until they find their personal bliss. In other words, a happy ending. Not so this time.
[END OF SPOILER]
Nice cover by Ogden Whitney. From
Adventures Into the Unknown #63 (1955):
Many of us have had to deal with people who don't understand the difference between order and rectilinearity. When they get control, they turn our lives into miserable chaos. I think that tbe ending is meant to express that misery. But my principal reaction is disgust with the alleged hero, who didn't recognize the danger.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you find these oddball comics? Silly as it is, it's highly entertaining. I like the ending, it could be a great flick starring Bruce Campbell (there's even a resemblace with Steve). I just wonder if on that planet lives a race of intelligent Micro-Ducks!
ReplyDeleteYeesh, that ending. MST3K fans will be familiar with The Phantom Planet but perhaps not so familiar with the comic-book adaptation, which likewise ends on a disheartening note, as the titular asteroid and its entire miniature culture is immolated by the rockets of the spacecraft which rescues the "hero."
ReplyDeleteAs a huge ACG fan,I must remind you that this story was printed very shortly after AITU was converted from a horror comic to a code approved general fantasy title.If you look at these early pieces,you will see that they end on a low note much more often than later fare.Some of these stories have us rooting for the hero/heroine,and the unhappy ending seems thrown in.Thankfully,the series became way less pessimistic as it progressed.
ReplyDeleteCheryl, the snap ending, with a death, is surprising for ACG. Even in their pre-Code comics the endings usually ended on a positve note. In 1954 there was talk from editor Richard E. Hughes in his usual editor's page, even while all of the external hubbub that brought in the Comics Code was going on, of presenting stories with "shock" endings, a la EC. There were a few stories like that they actually published. I wonder if this wasn't one of the holdovers from that experiment.
ReplyDeleteOk, then, now I know something more about comics and their history. Thank you, and thanks to J D, who told me about your blog! I really enjoyed this strip, highly entertaining, as J D says. The shock ending, one in the hundreds of possibilities.
ReplyDelete