STRANGE TALES 103 (1962)
by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby
Don’t get your hopes up, Mr. Mxyzptlk doesn’t show up in this one.
This guy on the cover is having WAY too much fun.
It’s not a bad cover, but I would’ve preferred if they used the first page instead.
At school, Johnny overhears about a mysterious sinkhole.
And apparently that’s enough to have him investigate, but it’s not interesting enough for the rest of the Fantastic Four. This time I won’t blame them.
I wonder what’s behind it?
Sounds legit.
Or at least more legit than the real culprits, which the Torch discovers later that night… ALIENS.
The aliens disappear before the Torch can do anything. He confronts the old man, who turns out to be an alien himself.
“Anti-matter electrons which convert ordinary air into a liquid chemical”.
I love Silver Age technobabble.
Then the alien brings him to the Fifth Dimension for… reasons, I guess.
These aliens were planning to invade Earth, and the reason why they’re sabotaging the construction of new houses is… the swamps just HAPPEN to be a passageway to their dimension.
I’ll bet anything that Johnny isn’t paying attention to any of this.
This is Valeria (no relationship to Doom’s love interest), who rescues Johnny thanks to her Hypno-Ring ™.
I’m not so sure that these guys would’ve been able to conquer Earth, honestly.
The Torch defeats the alien army by creating a super-tornado (!!!!!)…
…saves the girl…
…inspires a rebellion with a bit of sky writing…
…and captures the alien tyrant.
Valeria asks Johnny to stay. Amazingly, despite the fact that they have known each other for… what, half a day at most? He’s not really interested.
And so Johnny returns to school, unable to get Valeria off his mind.
I, on the other hand, will completely forget this story in the next five minutes.
Historical significance: 0/10
Valeria does have a couple more appearances. Despite the fact that Johnny sometimes lists her when he talks about the women he’s fallen in love with, things never went anywhere.
Silver Age-ness: 9/10
Aliens from another dimension are ruining housing projects to prevent us from discovering their invasion plans!!!
Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
Once again, the Jack Kirby art is the only saving grace: Stan Lee and his brother Larry are clearly phoning it in. Nothing about the 5th dimension stands out, Valeria is very bland, and the way the Torch stumbles into the alien plan is just stupid.
Cancer count: 6
Adding asbestos tanks.