DR. LORCH'S SIXTH POTION

Dr. Simon Lorch is obsessed with concocting a potion that will turn a man into one that possesses primordial strength. After five tries, he drinks the sixth one himself and turns into not only a man who has primordial strength, but is also a primordial beast! He goes on the usual killing spree until he is stopped (aka killed) by one of his previous experiments. Poor Dr. Lorch, he should have stopped at five tries!

This one's from Ace's WEB OF MYSTERY #3 (June 1951) with pencils by Mike Sekowsky and inks by Vince Alascia.

NOTE: I've began to go back into some of my earlier posts and started adding labels that are descriptive of some of the common themes found in pre-Code horror comics, such as today's "mad doctor" trope. I'll be including things like cannibalism, hanging, etc. when I come across them. This will be a work in progress for a while.

DYING FOR HIS ART

Mark Glass is so obsessed with painting his true love, Lois, that he declares he'll come back from the dead as he perishes from a fire in his studio. True to his word, he returns from the grave to finish his work. The problem is, he's been burned to a crisp which has a deleterious affect on Lois's continued affection.

"Mission From the Grave" appeared in ADVENTURES INTO DARKNESS #11 (Standard Comics, September 1953) illustrated by Mike Sekowsky.

TERROR BENEATH THE TIDES!

Fans of vintage horror comics will likely recognize this cover by Frank Giusto from BAFFLING MYSTERIES #7 (Ace, March 1952). The popular pre-Code image was even made into one of Super7's action figures. It illustrates a scene from the story, "Terror Beneath the Tides" with pencils generally attributed to Mike Sekowsky. Note the cover is colored to match the "seaweed" description in the story, but the interiors depict the underwater creatures as having fish scales and white hair and beards.

Readers may also recognized the set-up as being similar to a novel which later became a blockbuster film featuring a certain giant shark.

Cover art by Frank Giusto.

MAD KILLERS MENACE OUR SAFETY!

This comic's title, WHO IS NEXT? (#5, Pines/Standard Comics, January 1953) says it all as the stories are some of the most nasty and brutal you're bound to come across. One in particular is especially violent, as a teenager works his way through murdering two women in "Don't Let Me Kill", illustrated by Mike Sekowsky.

Alex Vorple is not only a troubled kid, he's also ugly. Turning his anger toward women, he follows a girl home from a dance, sneaks through her bedroom window and bashes her head in with a table lamp. He meets a girl at another dance that actually pays attention to him, but he goes a little too far with his amorous intentions. Feeling rejected again, he strangles her to death.

This story doesn't end well for Vorple, but in the meantime, it aims right at the heart of teenage angst, uncertainty and peer pressure. Isn't that horror enough?

WHAT'S FATE GOT TO DO, GOT TO DO WITH IT?

These stories really don't have much to do with fate, but they do provide some light horror fare. We've got disembodied heads, a werewolf (with an all too-familiar plot) and a couple other monster types to sate our thirst for four-color horror. The story titles promise much, but don't deliver like some other horror comics did at the time. Still, it's a pretty good looking book, thanks to the likes of Lou Cameron, Rocco Mastroserio and Mike Sekowsky. If the truth be told, there were a lot of other horror comics at the time that were also flavored with a heavy serving of vanilla.

THE HAND OF FATE began with issue #8 after MEN AGAINST CRIME was shelved with its seventh issue. It ran for 19 issues, from December 1951 to December 1954, when Ace was crushed by the weight of the Comics Code Authority.

NOTE: The two-page text story, "Unburied Dead" is reprinted from CHALLENGE OF THE UNKNOWN #6 (Ace Magazines, September 1950).

Does Ace's THE HAND OF FATE get any more "horrifying"? We'll find out in later posts.

THE HAND OF FATE

Vol. 1 No. 8 (First issue)

December 1951

Humor Publications Inc. (Ace Comics)

Editor: ?

Cover: Kenneth Rice

Pages: 36

Cover price: 10 cents

CONTENTS

"The Revolt of the Heads"

Script: ?

Pencils: Lou Cameron

Inks: Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio

"A Hand of Fate Mystery #1" (one page)

Script: ?

Art: ?

"Canyon of the Living Dead"

Script: ?

Art: Jim McLaughlin

"A Hand of Fate Mystery #2" (one page)

Script: ?

Art: ?

"Death Howls By Moonrise"

Script: ?

Pencils: Maurice Gutwirth; George Appel

Inks: Vince Alascia ?; Maurice Gutwirth; George Appel

"Monster of the Bayous"

Script: ?

Art: Mike Sekowsky

Inks: Vince Alascia