Customer Reviews

Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Menace - Volume 1

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This comic book was Atlas(Marvel) Comics answer to EC Comics horror comics of the 1950s. The stories were all written by Stan Lee(at first), with art by the best artists working for Atlas. All stories are told by the narrator as if the reader was the main character in the story. For example, the first story in the first issue starts out, "Your name is Lou Briggs... You live in a plain, furnished room in an ordinary apartment house in Upper Manhatten!". Every story ends with a "twist" ending. The artwork is usually excellent, and most of the stories are good, although the comics got worse near the end of the run, after Stan Lee stopped writing. All eleven issues of the comic book are included here, beautifully reproduced. Even the text pages from the comic books(which most readers at the time didn't bother to read) are included. Most of this book is quite enjoyable, if you like old horror comics. I should also mention that Menace featured the first appearances of two characters who were revived by Marvel years later; The Zombie and The Human Robot from Agents Of Atlas.

...the answer was "We surrender!"

This book was widely billed as Atlas' finest horror title, specially published to compete with the very successful Al Feldstein scripted EC horror titles. The stories were scripted by Stan Lee and the artists were to be the cream of the Atlas crop - Bill Everett, Russ Heath, Joe Maneely, Gene Colan, etc.

The results were less than stellar. The art was (and is) all it was supposed to be but the stories were imperceptably different in quality than the other Atlas titles and well below the EC titles. Few stories show any originality and many are childish or just plain silly.

The good news is that taken on its own terms, as a reprint of half century old stories and art that the reader might have a more academic than literary interest in, the book works well. The reproduction is superb and the introduction by Dr. Michael Vassallo places the stories in their proper cultural context.

I give the book 4 stars for its historical interest but for the reader uninterested in the history looking for entertainment there is little to be had here.

If you want to compare this to the 50's EC titles then EC blows this stuff away. If you want to call this the B-movie version of pre-code horror comics you are right on track.

In this presentation the overall look of the book is great. Most of the splash pages are worthy of a poster.However, some of the stories are way too short. Average 5 pages. Not a lot of room for development and some endings are highly predictable

For cool art and cheap thrills this is worth picking up...even if the in depth story telling is lacking.

Ok, these tales are not near as good as E.C. horror comix of the day. But these have excellent art and standard horror plots mainly. Atlas rarely had graphic gore either, unlike many other very gruesome horror mags of the day. These mainly would have had no problem being published after the comics code. Still these are decent enough little horror tales and they do feature a classic tale or two as well, bill everett's 'zombie' is a true masterpiece; and it's great to read them in such a nice book format. Comics never looked this good , the book format makes the colors and art stand out and of course it's not faded as many comics are that are from the early 50's either. These are the eras best tales of horror but they are expertly drawn and good enough to be enjoyable. They won't compare generally script wise to the best horror mags of the day (witches tales, and many others) but they are good enough to take home and enjoy.

I really enjoyed this Atlas re-release. The quality of the re-production is great and the pages are crisp and clean. I think this is the best Atlas reprint I have purchased. The original series only ran for 11 issues which are all here. The writing and artwork is nearly up to the industry standards of the EC brand. Loved this book, wish there were more Menace out there.

Menace is, so far, the most memorable of the Atlas Era Marvel Masterworks that I have read. Other titles that I have perused through from that time period include: Atlas Era Heroes (featuring the Sub-Mariner, Captain America, and Marvel Boy from the 1950's), Strange Tales, and Tales to Astonish.

Excellent artwork and short stories, over a half-century later, continue to amaze even the readers of the most contemporary graphic novels. Themes are often centered around watching what you say (Mad Hatter, eat your heart out!), how the apparently best laid plans of the devious can go astray in a humorous or morbid context, and just how unwise it can be to make a deal with the devil. Notwithstanding, along with the outstanding story plots, which contain very few holes by the way, are the illustrative sketches that make each frame come to life. Before the Jim Steranko psychedelic artwork that would be immortalized as beyond what mere words could describe some fifteen years later, eye-catching contributions in this early fifties collection that were perfectly in sync with Stan Lee's mind's eye were the highly detailed sketches and inks of the then very young and talented Joe Sinnott, John Romita, Sr. and Gene Colan.

Okay, some of you might ask,"What makes Menace so special in comparison to the prolific volumes that have been contributed by Stan Lee and the cohorts from his generation?" The answer is this. Each story is original, each tale is easy to recall and thus not likely to be mixed up with other works of fiction, and each ending is so profound that it will likely endure in the reader's memory bank for years to come. In other words, for those who have an appreciation for the separate acts of the movie, Pulp Fiction, or who opt to eschew the other Twilight Zone episodes in favor of the early ones written exclusively by Rod Serling, Menace, not surprisingly, will likely delight.

Very fun collection of older Marvel horror tales from many years ago.
Several classics, in my opinion.
Definitely worth the money.
I enjoyed several weeks of fun reading.
Full color, too.
MAB